Every town has a place that tells you more about its past than any historical marker ever could. For Murfreesboro, that place is Stones River Mall. It has been a symbol of ambition, collapse, reinvention, and survival - sometimes all at once.
Built on optimism in the late 1980s and nearly lost before it ever opened, the mall has spent more than three decades reshaping itself to fit whatever the retail world demanded next.
The story of Stones River isn't just about shopping.
It's about a city that grew up around it, an economy that kept changing faster than anyone expected, and a property that's had to reinvent itself every time it looked like the end.
A Rocky Beginning (1989–1992)
Stones River Mall's beginnings could have been the end.
Construction wrapped in 1989, but before the grand opening could even take place, the original developer went bankrupt.
The nearly finished property went into foreclosure, standing largely empty despite being ready for business.
Even amid that uncertainty, two determined tenants went ahead and opened: Walmart and Goody's began operating in 1989.
A year later, Sears and Carmike Cinemas joined them, bringing some legitimacy to what was otherwise a ghost mall.
It wasn't until 1992 that the property stabilized.
A partnership between Stones River Real Estate and Aronov Realty (a Montgomery, Alabama-based firm founded in 1952 by Aaron Aronov and one of the oldest retail real estate developers in the Southeast) officially launched the mall to the public.
The design fit its time: a large central fountain, a small food court, a carousel, and an arcade called Aladdin's Castle.
The mall's footprint spanned roughly 497,000 square feet across 45.3 acres, strategically placed on Old Fort Parkway, just off Interstate 24 and a few miles from Middle Tennessee State University - an ideal location for tapping into Murfreesboro's growing population and student traffic.
Mid-1990s Transitions and Expansion (1995–1999)
By the mid-1990s, Stones River Mall was already going through its first identity change.
Walmart exited in 1995, leaving behind a cavernous space that soon found a new life as Castner Knott, the Nashville-based department store chain that opened its 13th location there in 1996.
Castner Knott had roots going back to 1898, with stores across Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky.
Retail activity around the mall also began to boom.
A Home Depot opened next door on April 18, 1996, further solidifying Old Fort Parkway as Murfreesboro's retail epicenter.
In 1997, JCPenney joined as another major anchor, giving the property a well-rounded mix of national brands.
Then came another wave of change: in 1998, Dillard's acquired the entire Castner Knott chain, instantly transforming the Murfreesboro store into a Dillard's location.
One year later, the mall received its first renovation in 1999, modernizing the interiors and updating amenities to compete in a rapidly expanding retail market.
2000–2005: Quiet Stability After the Storm
The new millennium started with a setback.
Carmike Cinemas, which had been part of the mall since 1990, closed in August 2000 after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The closure left the mall without a theater for years, a loss that hurt weekend foot traffic.
Still, the early 2000s were relatively steady years.
With a loyal customer base and a growing Murfreesboro population, the mall continued to operate without much fanfare.
No new anchors arrived, but no major ones left either.
It was a calm before another storm - this time, a self-imposed one.
The Major Makeover (2006–2009)
Between 2006 and 2008, Stones River Mall underwent its most ambitious transformation yet, a near-total reconstruction that turned it from a traditional enclosed mall into a modern "lifestyle" shopping destination.
The redevelopment was drastic: the existing JCPenney and Dillard's buildings were demolished, along with the food court wing.
The carousel, the Aladdin's Castle arcade, and the original central fountain, all nostalgic relics of the 1990s mall era, were removed.
The property's new design focused on open-air elements and experience-based retailing.
The former Dillard's site was demolished to create an outdoor concourse, part of a broader shift toward lifestyle centers blending retail, dining, and leisure.
The new JCPenney included a relocated food court, while Books-A-Million joined as a junior anchor.
By the end of the decade, the mall boasted over fifty stores, far more than it had at its 1992 debut.
But the timing was unfortunate: the Great Recession hit in 2008, and by 2009, Goody's closed as part of the chain's nationwide collapse.
2010–2015: A Stable Center in a Growing City
While many malls struggled in the early 2010s, Stones River Mall held its ground.
In 2015, new ownership arrived: Sterling Organization, a Palm Beach–based private equity real estate firm specializing in retail properties, acquired the mall through its institutional fund, Sterling Value Add Partners II, LP.
At that time, the mall's anchor lineup included Dillard's, Sears, and JCPenney, alongside tenants like Aeropostale, Books-A-Million, Electronic Express, Hancock Fabrics, Chuck E. Cheese's, PacSun, Bath & Body Works, Shoe Carnival, Versona, Hibbett Sports, Victoria's Secret, and restaurants such as T.G.I. Friday's, Olive Garden, and Buffalo Wild Wings on the outparcels.
When Sterling Organization bought the mall, its team recognized a strong local market: nearly 130,000 people lived within five miles, with average household incomes above $68,000.
Roughly 35,000 cars passed the property each day, making it one of the busiest retail corridors in Middle Tennessee.
A New Era of Entertainment (2016–2018)
Sterling leaned into entertainment as the new driver of mall success.
In June 2016, it signed a lease with Carmike Cinemas for a new 47,000-square-foot, 9-screen dine-in theater called the Ovation Cinema Grill.
The plan included luxury recliners, a bar, and Carmike's signature "BigD" auditorium - a massive 70-foot-wide, wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling screen.
To make way for it, Sterling demolished the old food court and the space once occupied by Books-A-Million, which was relocated to the former Hancock Fabrics site.
Construction began in early 2017, but before completion, Carmike was acquired by AMC Theatres.
The project became AMC Stones River 9, which officially opened on June 22, 2018, featuring a MacGuffin's bar, reclining seats in every auditorium, and premium sound and screen technology.
Later that same year, the property got a new identity: Stones River Town Centre.
The rebrand reflected a shift from a conventional mall to a "town center" blending shopping, dining, and entertainment.
Anchors Out, New Life In (2018–2020)
The name change came just in time for another round of upheaval.
Sears Holdings filed for bankruptcy on October 15, 2018, and within weeks announced the closure of 40 stores nationwide, including Stones River's.
The Murfreesboro Sears shut its doors by February 11, 2019.
But the space didn't stay dark for long.
By September 2020, Strike & Spare, a regional family entertainment center, opened in the old Sears building, bringing bowling lanes, laser tag, arcade games, and cosmic bowling - the kind of attractions that draw families, not just shoppers.
By the early 2020s, Stones River Town Centre had settled into a hybrid identity: part enclosed mall, part open-air lifestyle complex.
The food court, closed in 2017, was replaced by dispersed dining and entertainment venues across the property.
Newcomers such as KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot, Amped Fitness, and RockBox Fitness added energy and diversity.
The Latest Chapter (2024–2025)
In November 2024, longtime anchor Dillard's announced it would close its Stones River Town Centre store by January 2025, ending nearly thirty years in Murfreesboro.
Dillard's didn't publicly explain its decision, but corporate filings around that time showed a 4% drop in retail sales, alongside lower net income and slightly higher operating expenses.
Industry observers speculated that the closure was tied to lease negotiations, since the Murfreesboro Dillard's was the only Tennessee location the company leased rather than owned.
Meanwhile, JCPenney's real estate, including the Stones River Mall location, changed hands in 2025 when Onyx Partners Ltd., a Boston-based private equity firm, purchased 119 JCPenney properties for $947 million.
Despite this, the Murfreesboro store remains open and operational.
Looking Back, and Ahead
Stones River's story isn't just the story of a mall.
It's the story of what happens when a place outlives the era it was built for.
It began in debt and doubt, found its footing in the mall boom, tore itself apart to stay relevant, and somehow managed to keep going while most of its peers disappeared.
Every decade has thrown something new at it: bankruptcies, rebrands, the death of its anchors, the slow fade of traditional retail, and the rise of entertainment as a survival strategy.
And yet the place still matters.
It still pulls in students from Middle Tennessee State, families from the suburbs, and anyone else who wants to remember what it felt like when shopping was an event.
Now, with Dillard's gone and another round of uncertainty ahead, the Town Centre stands at a familiar fork in the road.
Survival has never come easy here, but it's what this property does best.
The carousel is gone. The fountain's been moved. The names on the storefronts keep changing.
But somehow, Stones River keeps finding new ways to stay alive.