Local Knowledge: A trip down memory mall

Tiger Woods, Drew Barrymore and Charlize Theron have something in common with the Macon Mall.

They all turn 50 this year.

That’s right. The venerable Macon Mall – once the home address of shoe stores, camera shops, beauty salons and the city’s first Chick-fil-A – is the big Five-Oh. 

The Macon Mall opened on July 30, 1975, changing the face of retail in Middle Georgia forever. 

This week’s Local Knowledge takes a deep dive into what was once the largest enclosed mall in Georgia, with 1.48 million square feet of retail space. 

See how many questions you can answer and learn something along the way.

1. What were the mall’s original two bookstores?

(A) Books-A-Million and Barnes & Noble

(B) Gottwals Books and Golden Bough

(C) Dalton Booksellers and Walden Books

(D) Border’s and Bear’s Books

2. What country music singer came to Macon for the ribbon cutting on the new $50 million mall expansion in February 1997? (Hint: He has a daughter named Miley.)

(A) Hank Williams Jr.

(B) Billy Ray Cyrus

(C) Slim Pickens

(D) Jason Aldean

3. Mori’s Gifts and Luggage, which was located on the upper level next to Sears, once sold a novelty gift invented by Macon native Durwood “Mr. Doubletalk” Fincher. What was it?

(A) Toe Floss

(B) Pet Rock

(C) Bacon Strip Band-Aids

(D) Ceramic Elephant Planter

4. The expansion of the mall in 1997 added more than 40 stores, including two new anchors – Dillard’s and Parisian – bringing the total to six. Dillard’s, which later moved to the Shoppes at River Crossing,  is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Parisian was acquired by Saks and then Belk, but no longer operated under the name Parisian. It had its company headquarters in what Southern city?

(A) Jacksonville, Florida

(B) Birmingham, Alabama

(C) Paducah, Kentucky

(D) Columbia, South Carolina

5. Which national chain retail sporting goods store was a longtime tenant of the mall?

(A) Oshman’s

(B) Dick’s

(C) Academy Sports

(D) Bass Pro Shop

6. While the Macon Mall was once the largest enclosed mall in Georgia, which of the following is NOT true about Westgate Mall, its forefather down the street on Eisenhower Parkway?

(A) It was the first enclosed mall in the state.

(B) The Friends of the Library held its first book sales there for 27 years from 1969-95.

(C) When Westgate’s 800-seat, six-screen “rocking chair” theater opened in 1965, it was the city’s first new indoor movie theater in 30 years. 

(D) It was home of the largest Chuck E. Cheese in the nation.

7. When the mall expanded in 1997, it became one of the largest in the state until which new mall opened in the
Atlanta suburbs two years later?

(A) Perimeter Mall (Dunwoody)

(B) Cumberland Mall (Marietta)

(C) Mall of Georgia (Buford)

(D) North Point Mall (Alpharetta)

8. With retail occupancy at only 65-75% in 2009, the Macon Mall partnered with Macon Arts and the Middle Georgia Art Association to dedicate an “Art Space” in the mostly vacant east wing. It was only the second of its kind in the U.S. Where was the first?

(A) Bridgeport, Connecticut

(B) St. Louis, Missouri

(C) Dallas, Texas

(D) Pocatello, Idaho

9. One of the original anchors, Davison’s, rebranded to Macy’s, then to what iconic Atlanta department store in the late 1990s before reverting back to Macy’s.

(A) Kohl’s

(B) Target

(C‚ Rose’s

(D) Rich’s

10. The second level of the food court once featured what kind of ride for children?

(A) Carousel

(B) Bungee jumping

(C) Camel

(D) Ax throwing

11. What body of water had to be diverted to make room for the construction of the mall’s 423,000-square foot expansion of the east wing?

(A) Lake Tobesofkee

(B) Walnut Creek

(C)  Lake Wildwood

(D) Rocky Creek

12. The Macon Bibb County Board of Elections Offices are now located in the area once occupied by which
department store?

(A) Belk’s

(B) Sears

(C) Davisons

(D) JC Penney

Click here to view answers

(1) C. (2) B. (3) A. (4) B. (5) A. (6) D. (7) C. (8) B. (9) D. (10) A. (11) D. (12) B. 

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