Mall of Georgia


Mall of Georgia is an enclosed super-regional shopping mall located in unincorporated Gwinnett County, Georgia, near the city of Buford, northeast of Atlanta. Opened in 1999 like Arbor Place Mall, it is currently the largest shopping mall in both the Atlanta Metropolitan Area and the state of Georgia, consisting of more than two hundred stores on three levels. The mall's anchor stores include Belk, Dillard's, JCPenney, Macy's, and the state's third Von Maur, while other major stores include Barnes & Noble, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Haverty's. Also featured in the mall is a large village section, comprising lifestyle tenants and restaurants in an outdoor setting, as well as a 500-seat amphitheater. In 2017 the Mall of Georgia renovated the indoor food court area by updating the seating arrangements, furniture styles, and color schemes. Mall of Georgia was built by and is still owned by Simon Property Group. A portion of the Ivy Creek Greenway runs along the shopping mall area.

History

The Mall of Georgia opened August 13, 1999 featuring Dillard's, JCPenney, Lord & Taylor and Nordstrom as its anchor stores, with Bed Bath & Beyond, Haverty's, and Galyan's as additional mini anchors. The Mall of Georgia also has a 20-screen Regal Cinemas and an IMAX Theater; other IMAX theaters are located at Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta, The National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning and Regal Augusta Exchange Stadium 20, AMC Southlake 24 in Morrow & IMAX in Augusta. In 2000, Atlanta-based Rich's was added on, and many more mall stores were added, bringing the total number of stores in the mall to more than 200. Lord & Taylor closed their location in 2003 citing an overly competitive regional marketplace and was subsequently replaced with a brand new Belk in 2005. Following Federated Department Stores' decision to consolidate nameplates in 2003, the Rich's store at Mall of Georgia was dual-branded as Rich's-Macy's, and the Rich's name was dropped entirely in 2005.
Nordstrom closed in 2015 and reopened as Von Maur in 2016.

Current anchors

The statue atop the mall is of Button Gwinnett, one of the first men to sign the United States Declaration of Independence and for whom its location of Gwinnett County is named.