Southgate Mall (Elizabeth City)

Southgate Mall

2011 Second-generation Southgate Mall sign, replacing original forty foot pylon.
Coordinates 36°17′44″N 76°13′30″W / 36.29556°N 76.22500°W / 36.29556; -76.22500Coordinates: 36°17′44″N 76°13′30″W / 36.29556°N 76.22500°W / 36.29556; -76.22500
Address 1409 West Ehringhaus Street, Elizabeth City, North Carolina 27909 USA
Opening date 1969
Management Thalhimer
No. of stores and services 33
No. of anchor tenants 2 (1 vacant)
Total retail floor area 250,000 square feet (23,226 m2)[1]
No. of floors 1
Parking 1,250 spaces
Website www.southgatemallec.com

Southgate Mall is the sole enclosed shopping center in the sixteen county Historic Albemarle region of northeastern North Carolina. Located on West Ehringhaus Street (US 17 Business) in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, the mall is currently anchored by Belk and until its closing in early April 2015; JCPenney.

Construction of the mall started in 1967 at a cost of $3 million ($21.2 million in 2014 dollars), opening two years later as Southgate Plaza Shopping Center with senior anchors Belk-Tyler and W.T. Grant. Junior anchors Winn-Dixie and People's Drug filled positions intermediate to anchors and smaller shops.[2] [3] [4]

Senior anchors

Elizabeth City Belk in January 2015. One of three late 1960s prototype stores designed for smaller-format enclosed malls, the other two are in Kinston, NC and Savannah, GA. Unlike the Southgate location, these locations have been heavily modified beyond their original appearances.
Elizabeth City Belk during renovation re-dedication in October 2013. The store's first extensive renovation since 1988 radically rearranged its interior configuration, but did not affect the exterior.

Belk remains the sole original anchor, having undisputed domain over Southgate's eastern end since 1969. The Southgate location is notable as one of the first three mall-based prototypes Belk developed in the mid to late 1960s as the company prepared to transition from downtown and strip mall locations to enclosed malls.

Boasting preformed concrete arches, these prototypes were among the first mall-based Belk stores to have a distinctive architectural design, one that paved the way for countless facade variations among all future Belk stores. Alas, the other two prototypes located in Vernon Park Mall, Kinston, NC and Oglethorpe Mall, Savannah, GA, have since had their exteriors heavily modified beyond original resemblance. [6]

The Elizabeth City store is the last prototype to retain its original arched architecture, albeit as of October 2012 having beige paint obscure the once-bare concrete arches. Another innovation was the circular arrangement of drywall-partitioned departments surrounding a central jewelry department, now standard among modern department stores, but unique for the 1960s where many stores retained open floor plans.

However, extensive renovations in 1988 and October 2013 have since radically altered the decor and layout, gradually removing outmoded features such as the garden center (mid 1990s), catalog/bill paying area (early 2000s), tailoring room (2013) and various specialized display alcoves (kitchenwares – early 2000s, juniors – early 2000s, fine china – 2013, etc.), all of which were converted into additional storage. Interestingly enough, all of these spaces returned to the sales floor during the store's $1.8 million 2013 renovation, eliminating most remaining alcoves and angular walls in favor of 90 degree corners and straight walls, especially along the store's perimeter.

April 20, 2015 photo of the now-shuttered JCPenney at Elizabeth City, NC's Southgate Mall. Was W.T. Grant from 1969–74; Roses from 1974–94 and JCPenney from 1996–2015

The original West-end anchor W.T. Grant closed in 1974, immediately converting to a Rose's location which remained until corporate downsizing in 1994. The space was unoccupied for two years before JCPenney relocated in 1996 from the former Winn-Dixie space it had inhabited since the supermarket's departure in 1985 for an off-mall location. JCPenney declined the full volume of the Roses space, partitioning extra square footage into additional small shop spaces as well as a considerable extension of the mall corridor. Two of these spaces became home to an enlarged Hibbett Sports as well as an extension of the Goodys/Burke's Outlet store.

A basic small-town Penney, the Elizabeth City location contains fewer frills than its cross-mall rival, with apparel, bed, bath, shoe and kitchenware selections considerably more sparse, its only advantage an in-store salon.

This store was slated as one of 40 under-performing JCPenney locations that the company planned to close by April 2015. [7] [8] [9]

Junior anchors

West junior anchor of Southgate Mall. Original tenant Winn-Dixie 1969–1985; JCPenney from 1985–1996; Roses Express from 2002–2003; Goody's from 2005–2009; Burke's Outlet from 2011 to present.

Original junior anchor Winn-Dixie left the mall in 1985 for a new off-mall location, and was immediately replaced by JCPenney which relocated from downtown Elizabeth City. In 1996 JCPenney moved a second time to the 1993-vacated Rose's location, leaving the location vacant until 2002 when a short-lived Rose's Express store was established then vacated the following year in 2003. The space was again unoccupied for two years until 2005 when Goody's moved in, occupying the location until the chain's bankrupt demise in 2009. The space has since been occupied by Burke's Outlet since February 2011.

East junior anchor of Southgate Mall. Original tenant People's Drug/Revco/CVS 1969–2003; Dragon Buffet from 2003 to present.

The other original junior anchor, People's Drug was acquired by and converted to Revco in 1994. Acquisition of Revco by CVS in 1998 led to retention of the location until relocation in 2003 to a free-standing off-mall location, leaving the mall without a drug store for the first time since its opening. A locally-owned Chinese restaurant and existing mall tenant, Dragon Buffet, immediately relocated from the former Roses cafeteria location adjacent to JCPenney. Conversion of the former drug store to an operational restaurant was completed in late 2003.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.southgatemallec.com/information/leasing/ Southgate Mall floor plans, Southgate Mall. Accessed 23 February 2012.
  2. ↑ http://digital.ncdcr.gov/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16062coll18/id/103404/rec/26 100 Milestones of 1967, The State, Vol. 35, No. 15 (January 1, 1968), page 48.
  3. ↑ http://digital.ncdcr.gov/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16062coll18/id/53168/rec/1 100 Milestones of 1969, The State, Vol. 37, No. 15 (January 1, 1970), page 52.
  4. ↑ http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=3000000&year1=1967&year2=2014 US Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI calculator.
  5. 1 2 3 4 http://www.southgatemallec.com/assets/media/1346349595-map%20detailed%202012.pdf Southgate Mall floor plans, Southgate Mall. Accessed 23 February 2012.
  6. ↑ http://www.belk.com/AST/Misc/Belk_Stores/About_Us/History/chapters/Chapter_11.jsp Belk corporate history website, Chapter 11.
  7. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/08/jc-penney-closing-stores-2015_n_6436518.html These J.C. Penney Stores Will Close In 2015. Huffington Post. Accessed 8 January 2015.
  8. ↑ http://www.dailyadvance.com/node/2765903 J.C. Penney to close Southgate Mall store in EC. The Daily Advance. Accessed 9 January 2015.
  9. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/01/08/business/ap-us-jc-penney-store-closures-list.html A List of Stores That JC Penney Plans to Close. The New York Times. Accessed 9 January 2015.
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