What Really Happened to Arbor Place Mall in Douglasville, GA?

Back When the Mall Was the Main Event

In 1999, Arbor Place opened in Douglasville, Georgia. The timing mattered. Retail was still local, still tactile, still built around the idea that people might spend a few hours walking between stores just to see what was new.

Douglas County had never seen anything on this scale before. Over one million square feet. Anchors with national reach. A movie theater with stadium seating.

People came for something new. Some are still coming. Most malls don’t get that sentence.

Site Plan, Square Footage, and Store Commitments

Arbor Place was developed by CBL & Associates Properties and opened on October 13, 1999.

It came with over 1,000,000 square feet of space, a clear signal that Douglasville was no longer just a stop between larger markets.

It was the first full-scale retail development in Douglas County.

At the time, that meant more than convenience. It changed where people shopped, and in some cases, where they worked.

The mall launched with a mix of anchor tenants: Dillard’s, Sears, and Parisian.

Each took prime spots. Sears and Dillard’s were placed at opposite ends of the mall’s central corridor.

Parisian went to a center with visibility from Douglas Boulevard.

The developers built a fourth space for Uptons. That store chain shut down before it could move in.

Instead, Old Navy and Bed Bath & Beyond moved into a split-level unit, which was unusual at the time.

The upper level led into Old Navy. The lower level became home to Bed Bath & Beyond.

Only one of the two had an external entrance.

The design included indoor and outdoor entrances for multiple stores, plus an 18-screen Regal Cinemas.

The theater opened with stadium seating, which in 1999 meant wider aisles and better views, still relatively new for suburban theaters.

Anchor Transitions and Square Foot Turnover

The mall’s first major shuffle came in 2001, two years after opening.

The space originally built for Uptons had sat empty until Dekor, a home furnishings chain, moved in.

It didn’t last. Dekor liquidated within months. The space shifted again in 2003, this time to JCPenney.

That change stuck. The chain took over the anchor spot and has remained active there ever since.

Rich’s opened at the mall in 2002. That brought in a department store brand tied closely to Atlanta retail history.

But the Rich’s name didn’t last long. By 2004, the store carried a hybrid Rich’s-Macy’s label.

In 2005, it was fully converted into Macy’s.

The sequence matched changes at other malls in the region as Federated Department Stores folded regional chains into the Macy’s banner.

Parisian closed in 2007. That wasn’t unique to Arbor Place. The chain had been sold off and slowly phased out.

Belk moved into that footprint later the same year.

It kept the two-story format, filling out apparel and home goods across both levels.

Meanwhile, the mix of junior anchors remained fluid.

Borders Books & Music opened with the mall in 1999 but eventually shut down as the chain collapsed nationwide.

Bed Bath & Beyond stayed in operation until December 2020.

Old Navy remained upstairs in the split-level unit originally built for that and Bed Bath & Beyond.

Lease Losses, Bankruptcy, and Retenanting Pressure

Sears announced its closure at Arbor Place on November 7, 2019.

The decision was part of a national phase-out of the company’s physical stores.

That closure left a two-level anchor vacant. The upper level went dark.

The lower level found a new tenant: Conn’s HomePlus opened there in 2023, but the timing was shaky from the start.

Conn’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2024.

By mid-year, the company confirmed it would shut down all locations.

That includes the Arbor Place store, which had operated for less than 18 months.

With the exit of Conn’s, the mall returned to having two empty anchor spots—one being the full former Sears footprint.

Bed Bath & Beyond had already exited in December 2020.

For nearly four years, the space remained unused. Then, in December 2024, Planet Fitness opened in that location.

Belk also downsized. In February 2023, the department store shut its existing two-story space for conversion into a Belk Outlet.

The remodel took just under two months. By April 8, 2023, the outlet store had only opened on the first floor.

The second floor remains unused.

Turnover in these large retail units created layout gaps and traffic shifts inside the mall.

Footfall changed corridors. Anchor draws no longer pulled evenly from every side.

Some stretches, especially near closed spaces, grew quiet while others picked up the slack.

The pattern resembled what’s happened at many late-1990s suburban malls.

Active Tenants and Remaining Retail Square Footage

As of early 2025, Arbor Place holds these active anchors: Macy’s, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Belk Outlet, Old Navy, H&M, and Regal Cinemas.

Two others—Sears/Conn’s HomePlus, and Belk’s second floor—are vacant.

Those gaps take up a large portion of the mall’s perimeter, especially on the north and east wings.

But the retail core hasn’t emptied out.

The Landing at Arbor Place, a connected open-air section, houses restaurants and service-oriented tenants that operate under separate leases.

That section’s tenancy looks more stable.

It has hosted rotating seasonal events and recently brought in health and fitness operators that do not rely on daily retail traffic in the same way traditional stores do.

The mall’s interior tenant list, as of spring 2025, still includes more than 100 stores.

National brands like Victoria’s Secret, Forever 21, American Eagle, Build-A-Bear Workshop, SHOE DEPT., and Aerie remain in place.

ULTA Beauty operates one of the higher-profile inline stores, located near the food court.

New additions have leaned toward smaller-format specialty retail.

In 2024, De Soap Boutique opened with a product catalog focused on skincare formulas.

New Square, an Atlanta-based streetwear label, followed with a storefront offering casual fashion and logo-driven apparel aimed at younger buyers.

These tenants use much less square footage than the anchor units and lean into niche markets rather than broad department store inventory.

Retailer turnover remains frequent, and vacancy levels fluctuate.

But no large-scale redevelopment has been announced.

Square footage remains divided mostly as it was laid out in 1999, with changes happening tenant by tenant, one lease at a time.

Public Policy, Events, and Youth Policy Enforcement

Arbor Place Mall operates a Youth Supervision Policy (YEP) that takes effect on weekends.

Visitors under 17 must be accompanied by an adult on Fridays and Saturdays after 6:00 pm.

The policy remains in place in 2025. It’s displayed near main entrances and enforced by on-site security, especially around the food court and cinema.

Public-facing events have remained a central part of the mall’s programming.

In March 2025, the Big Rock Amusements Carnival returned for a 10-day run in the mall’s parking lot.

Rides, concessions, and outdoor attractions drew family foot traffic, though the event was fenced off from the main entrance.

That same month, the mall hosted Easter Bunny photo sessions near Macy’s.

Pets were permitted on designated days.

Cultural programming has continued as well. In February 2025, Arbor Place held the fourth annual Black History Fashion Show.

That event was set in the mall’s center court, with runway seating added temporarily.

No structural changes were made to accommodate it, but foot traffic spiked during show hours.

In addition to event planning, the mall has made room for regional or niche retailers to test small spaces.

Miss A, a low-cost beauty retailer, is preparing to open a 3,000-square-foot store sometime in 2025.

The store will likely open near the former Sears wing.

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