Raleigh Springs Mall was an enclosed shopping mall serving the city of Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The site is located on the north side of Memphis, on Austin Peay Hwy. just north of Interstate 40. Opened on August 11, 1971 as one of the city's first two shopping malls, owned and managed by Angela Whichard, Inc., Raleigh Springs Mall originally featured about seventy stores later to be remodeled and feature a twelve-screen multiplex, with four anchor stores, formerly occupied by Sears, JCPenney, Goldsmith's and Dillard's. The theater closed in December 2011, Sears closed in April 2011, and the other three anchors closed in 2003. The mall was later seized by the City of Memphis in favor to build a city Civic Center. The mall closed with 3 business still operating, City Trends, World Diamond Center, and a church. Some of the anchor stores JCPenney and Sears have been demolished leaving the movie theater, Dillard's, and the main building left. As of the end of 2016, the remaining buildings were surrounded by gates.
History
Raleigh Springs Mall opened in 1971. Developed by the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation as one of the first two malls in the Memphis area, it featured four major anchor stores: national chains JC Penney and Sears, as well as local chains Lowenstein's and Goldsmith's. A Woolworth dime store also served as a junior anchor next to JC Penney; after the Woolworth store closed in the 1990s, it was replaced with a twelve-screen multiplex. Initially the dominant mall in the Memphis area, Raleigh Springs Mall would lose several stores over time as newer malls opened, such as Hickory Ridge Mall and Mall of Memphis. Hickory Ridge Mall, in turn, has lost most of its national tenants as well, while Mall of Memphis has been demolished; both of these malls lost most of their business to the newer Wolfchase Galleria, which opened in 1997. By the 2000s, Raleigh Springs Mall had begun to lose many of its tenants. In early 2003, Dillard's announced that its location at Raleigh Springs Mall would be one of several stores closed that year. Goldsmith's parent company Federated Department Stores, who was in the midst of significant corporate reorganization at the time, announced that the Goldsmith's location at Raleigh Springs would be shuttered by April of the same year. Finally, the JC Penney store was closed as well, leaving Sears as the only anchor store. Starting in 2005, Wal-Mart began negotiations with Simon Property Group to open a Supercenter at the mall. These plans would call for the demolition of the former JC Penney space, as well as the mall's movie theater, to make way for the Supercenter. However, these plans never materialized, and Wal-Mart signaled its intentions of staying at its current location when it started renovating it in early 2010. In January 2011, Sears confirmed that its location in the mall was to close on April 3, 2011. This left the Raleigh Springs Mall without an anchor store.
Demolition and Re-development
In November 2016, the City of Memphis officially purchased the Raleigh Springs Mall property, making way for a complete demolition and re-development of the space into a civic center. The City of Memphis plans to spend approximately $32 million in capital to create a civic plaza on the space once occupied by the Raleigh Springs Mall. The civic plaza will consolidate city services that were previously held at various locations. A modern technology-based library, traffic precinct, and police precinct will be constructed on the property. In addition, the civic center will house an 11-acre pond, green space, 1-mile walking trail, and community pecan grove. A skate park will be constructed near the police station and will offer an outdoor recreational skate area. Ten years in the making, this redevelopment champions the efforts of District 1 Councilman Bill Morrison to eradicate blight from the community, by revitalizing this unused property. With support from the Raleigh Community Council, this project has involved consolidated efforts. The re-development is designed by OT Marshall Architect. The Sears Auto Shop was demolished in May 2016. On May 31, 2017 the mall was getting demolished. On July 31, 2017the lot was cleared. By August 2017, the entire mall demolition was complete. The groundbreaking ceremony for the Raleigh Springs Town Center was held on December 2, 2017.
