The Wonders of Carolina Circle Mall

Carolina Circle Mall Carousel crica 1993 Photo by Cory Maiden

On Wednesday, August 4, 1976, Carolina Circle Mall opened in Greensboro, NC. It was situated between the 16th St. and Cone Blvd. exits on US-29. Anchored by Belk, Ivey's, and Montgomery Ward, the mall was expected to be a big success.

Nearly 30 years later, the mall is being torn down to make way for a Wal-Mart Supercenter. Just what caused this tragic death? Bad location, lousy attractiveness, and poor management. Let's look at the history of this great mall.

As stated above, the mall opened on August 4, 1976. This pure white mall included a Belk, Ivey's, Montgomery Ward, ice rink, six screen theater, and a Picadilly Cafeteria (Good Eating!). The Belk was your basic Belk with your apparel, fragile goods, and etc. I was always amazed by the entrances and their brass entrances. Talk about coolness! I dont' remember much about Ivey's/Dillard's. I remember an orange glass elevator with lightbulbs and wooden walkways. Montgomery Ward was a lot like Sears. They had your aparrel, electronics, lawn/garden equipment, furniture, and etc. 1970's were written all over that store. Burnt orange and lime green carpeting, and all that good stuff. One great store. As of 2005, you can still smell that Montgomery Ward smell.

Soon after the mall opened, it started going downhill. Stores were leaving, the architecture became outdated, and crime lurked. It's cross town rival Four Seasons Town Centre wasn't helping Carolina Circle very much. Especially when Four Seasons opened their 3rd floor in 1987.

However, a silver lining was shown and the mall received a face lift. Finished in 1988, new features included a new emblem, brighter lighting, new pink and blue/green color scheme, food court, and carousel. The new carousel and food court required removel of the famous ice rink. People were mad because at the time, it was the only ice rink in Greensboro. The renovation helped a little bit and some stores returned for a little while. This new look I think is very cool. Tin can lights, mirror collums with blue lights ontop, walls with green and pink, bathroom style flooring, and circular tree pots.

Anyway, probably the worst Carolina Circle event occured in 1991 when a 54 year old man was shot while walking out of Montgomery Ward. This was a major hint that the mall's dangerous. Then in 1992, the Greensboro Police opened a satellite station at Carolina Circle to improve security. This made a lot of customers believe that the mall needs one and that there's a lot of bad happenings there. In September of 1993, George D. Zamias bought the mall and promissed to market it aggressively. This purchase didn't include a facelift like the last purchase, so nothing much happened. In 1994, the United States Postal Service signed a 10 year lease on the first floor of Belk. Belk kept the second floor opened as a store.

The late 90's was Carolina Circle's time in it's death bed. 1998-2002 was the time that the three most important stores closed. The last store to close at the mall was Montgomery Ward. The business there at the time was pretty good but the nationwide closure of the Mongtomery Ward chain was the what took Carolina Circle off life support. That day in February 2002 was a sad day of silence. The mall that went through the life of disco, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the first Gulf War, the OJ Simpson trial, the Oklahoma City bombing, and 9/11, had died.

So what does the future hold for the Late Carolina Circle Mall? Currently, the mall is being torn down and sometime in 2006, a Wal-Mart Supercenter will open along with a home improvement store, and many other shops. If everything goes as planned, Wal-Mart will open 30 years after Carolina Circle opened. So the years will be a similar life.

And why do I consider this mall a roadgeek? The mall was situated beside one of the greatest US routes ever. US 29 goes from Pensacola, Florida to Washington DC. If it were still open, I would have a roadgeek meeting at Carolina Circle.

Remember, once the entire mall is gone and demolition has finished, you'll hear it first at Road City.