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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Arbor Place Mall is huge disappointment! Dillards merchandise is over priced! Macy’s merchandise looks cheap , lacks good quality. There’s nothing to attracts me to shop there. I either go to Perimeter or Town Center Malls. There’s not any stores I would shop at! The mall is always full of unruly teens, young people , a thugs. CBL needs to rethink their marketing strategy!
Thanks for expressing your concerns. Your feedback highlights the importance of having a diverse range of quality stores and a pleasant shopping atmosphere.
Crime that’s what happened
Thank you for saying it directly. Perception of safety matters just as much as the numbers.
While I agree that the mall has some challenges, I am thankful that we still have the option to shop locally. If you prefer to shop in the absence of “young people,” you can try times when they are in school or earlier morning hours on the weekends. If the mall does not suit your needs, then it is okay to scroll on and keep driving an hour.
That’s a fair point about timing. Weekday mornings or early hours on weekends often show a different version of the mall—quieter, more focused, and less crowded.
Arbor Place need to bring a Dave and Busters. Also bring bak New York and Company. What about a Massage Envy.
Your suggestions reflect a desire for variety that’s not extreme—nothing flashy, just a broader mix that gives people reasons to visit for more than one task.
It was once agreat place. Now since the demographics have changed. All the so called progress in the county, has resulted in letting those crime ridden cities near us bringing their crime here.
This comment speaks to a larger regional issue: how suburbs handle growth when that growth includes more movement, more diversity, and more pressure on services like policing and transit.
Of the 3 malls I prefer Arbor Place
That preference says something important—Arbor Place, for all its struggles, still meets some need better than its nearby counterparts.
Arbor Place Mall used to be a Wonderful mall. But it has gone down hill, I mean to the bottom. You must consider the area and all the problems that it deals with. We used to go to the Mall all the time. But I would not go to the mall now at all. I would be afraid to go the the mall, you never know
what might happen to you. Such as, being robbed, car jacked, grabbed by someone with a gun. So no Thank You to Arbor Place Mall.
Thank you for putting your hesitation into words. That perspective is part of the larger story, not just about Arbor Place, but about what happens when a place loses its sense of security.
Arbor Place Mall is one of the few malls that continues to have a steady flow of traffic. The closing of major retail stores cannot and should not be blame on the residents of Douglasville. It seems that the owners could be more selective in the stores they choose to occupy space. Borders should have been replaced with Barnes and Noble or BAM should have been offered more square footage. It appears that more leasing space is provided to more urban centric stores. The Three Dollar cafe was never replaced with another restaurant. The type of retail chosen should be wholesome and family oriented. Arbor Place Mall aligns with Perimeter and Cumberland Mall shoppers minus the few hiccups all malls have experienced. Let’s try to build a sustainable mall instead of complaining. This only results in another empty building in the community
You’re right to call for focus over frustration. Malls do evolve, but without community input and a long-term plan, they often drift. A sustainable future starts with naming what’s missing, just like you did here.
Torrid also has closed, which is a big disappointment.
Torrid’s departure also signals broader pressure on mid-size specialty brands. Even chains with a clear following are shrinking their physical footprint.
For me, it changed when they closed KB Toys and Disney. My kids were not excited to go to the mall any longer. All they had to offer was the Chevrolet play area and Buid A Bear that was more for very small children.
Changes like these don’t always show up in the sales reports, but they absolutely shift the energy. When parents start to say, “There’s nothing left for us here,” you can bet foot traffic is heading out the door as well. Your comment puts a real-world voice to what a lot of local families noticed.