An extant asset
(Source)
On one of our first trips from Huntsville to Orlando, we started with the tedious drive between my hometown down Highway 431 to the cities of Anniston and Oxford just before hitting the interstate to Atlanta. But I perked up when the freeway was in sight as right outside my window was a shopping mall.
Stills from an old Quintard Mall advertisement. (Source)
I could first see the plain, rectangular walls of a Sears come into view before a single level structure with several skylights connecting it to a JCPenney outlet. And nearly smack dab in the middle was a nameplate showing one of the most unusual names I’ve seen for an enclosed shopping center- Quintard Mall.
1- Quintard Mall lease plan ca. 1970. View the full PDF version here.
2- Quintard Mall lease plan ca. 1985. View the full PDF version here.
Of course, I was hoping for a flat tire or the need for gas to divert us to its confines. But, alas, it was not to be and we continued on with that JCPenney in the rear view mirror before entering I-20 on our way to Atlanta.
1 to 3- Three of the mall entrances. 4- The façade of the movie theaters. 5- The exterior of the original mall. 6- Martin’s former location. (Source for all)
It was a few years later before I was able to make my own way down to Oxford on that tedious drive. And although I was disappointed that there wasn’t much more than what could be see from South Quintard Avenue, being just a basic dumbbell, the drive was well worth the wait.
1 to 4- The interior concourses of Quintard Mall. 5- The food court in the new wing. 6- The mall entrance to the theaters. (Source for all)
The interior was still decked out in the earth tones of its times and, although dingy in places, the high ceilings made the building seem larger than it was. There were still plants in the planters and water in the water fountains; it was a living time capsule of retail architecture in the format’s early days.
Quintard Mall lease plan ca. 2000. View the full PDF version here.
I stopped at Quintard Mall again maybe once or twice through the years but always admired the early generation retail destination on my many trips down Highway 431. And I never forgot how giddy I felt when I first unexpectedly laid my eyes on it so many years before.
The JCPenney store. (Source for all)
Quintard Mall opened in 1970 as the first and to this day the only enclosed shopping center constructed in Calhoun County. Running mainly north to south, the top anchor opened as a Britt’s discount store with JCPenney holding down the south end.
1 & 2- The Sears store, now closed. 3 & 4- Dillard’s in the new wing. (Source for all)
Just over a decade later in the early eighties, Sears took over the then vacant Britt’s building. Few changes came over the ensuing years though the owners always planned on an additional wing extending to the east of the original mall.
Quintard Mall during its recent redevelopment. (Source for all)
Delayed by environmental concerns over the addition having to be built over Snow Creek behind the main facility, the new portion debuted in 2000 with a Dillard’s anchoring the far end as well as a food court and cineplex in between.
Quintard Mall lease plan ca. 2024. View the full PDF version here.
Sears exited Quintard Mall in 2016 and the whole of the complex suffered from vacancies due to newer outdoor developments as well as just being plain too large for the cities. In 2020, a major redevelopment took place eliminating the entire Sears building as well as the original enclosed portion of the mall. Surprisingly enough, JCPenney remains as the only location between Anniston and Nashville.
1 to 3- The “redevelopment” of the original mall. (Source for all) 4- The exterior of the 2000 wing. (Source)
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