Comments on: Madison Square Mall; Huntsville, Alabama

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 02:03:12 +0000

I mentioned that the “Footaction” store was being emptied in my last comment on Jan. 29. The good news is it was moved temporarily to a smaller spot upstairs temporarily for a remodel of their downstairs store (formerly the large Merry-Go-Round store). Today (a Saturday) the mall was busy, but the number of empty stores is really hurting the atmosphere. Both escalators on the food court end leading up to the Sears entrance were out the whole time I was there today, making it impossible to walk a loop around the whole mall with working escalators. I doubt that any mall in the country has worse escalators than this one. They’ve had this problem at least since 2004 and replacing them with new ones did not fix the problem.

By: Jon

Jon — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 23:34:37 +0000

I hope that doesn’t happen. My family began visiting this mall shortly after it opened. Being from a small town over an hour away, we traveled to Huntsville monthly for several years in the mid-80s for orthodontist appointments. On almost every trip we would hit the mall before returning home.

When I moved to Huntsville to attend UAH in ‘93, I visited this mall frequently and saw a lot of movies at the Madison Square 12. I remember when the American Cafe opened and how busy it was initially.

Working in Research Park, I still visit the mall 2 or 3 times a week for lunch. I still buy things at GNC, American Eagle, & Sears. Like everyone else, I’ve noted the store closings that have accelerated over the past 3 years. Hopefully its fortunes will change. I have a lot of good memories associated with this mall and hope it can weather these times.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:39:21 +0000

Last night, I observed that the “5 7 9″ store, a long-time tenant on the lower level near Belk (the old Parisian) is in the process of closing. It appeared that the “Footaction” store that is in the old large Merry-Go-Round location (lower level between center court and the escalators to Sears) was being partially emptied out, although there were no “closing” signs. This past week, one of the escalators on the JCPenney end has been out every time I’ve been, so I reversed my walking pattern so I’d always use the one that was working. One night, one of the escalators was out on the food court end and the security office is right next to the escalators in the old library branch location. The security folks didn’t even bother turning it back on.

I’m wondering how long it will be before one of the main anchor stores leaves. Normally, I don’t see this level of decline in inline stores until 2 out of 5 of the main anchors have gone from a mall this size. I’m not even sure that getting a new department store to fill the void left in the old Pizitz space would reverse the decline here now, but I hope I’m wrong.

The mall isn’t in as bad a shape as Hickory Hollow, but it’s starting to be a lot like East Towne Mall in Knoxville with so many vacancies. It would take a while for it to go completely down like Century Plaza or Mall of Memphis, but 3 years from now, I wouldn’t be surprised to see nearly everything but Sears closed there.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:10:23 +0000

The Hallmark Card shop, a very long-term tenant, has a sign stating that they’ll close near the end of February. I believe that store is an original tenant that had never moved since the mall opened. I’ve noticed that some of the second-tier stores closed after the holiday season. The whatever-it-was store in the old Tanius Shoes/Electronics Boutique slot that used to be at the bottom of the east escalators before they were moved is now empty. It appears that every store on the lower level in the short wing leading to JCPenney is empty except for one.

If one of the anchor stores leaves, this will become another Hickory Hollow or Century Plaza.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:17:50 +0000

Buckle at Madison Square now has signs stating that they’ll close January 11, 2010. It’ll be interesting to see what else leaves after the holiday season.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:11:09 +0000

That mezzanine area of Parisian at Madison Square changed a good bit over time. Either no idea worked well for that oddly-placed area or they just wanted to keep changing it. It’s an easy area for shoppers to miss because they tend to walk around the main floor areas on the lower and upper levels. That area was halfway between, requiring walking up or down steps or using the elevator (something mall shoppers tend to not do because of the escalators).

In the early 90s, there was a sandwich shop there and I made use of it sometimes and ate lunch there. It didn’t last long, though. Back then, the mall was a huge lunch destination and it was often difficult to find a seat in the food court after getting food. There were more “name brand” fast food places in there then, plus Ruby Tuesday and Morrison’s were big draws.

The most recent thing to come and go in that Parisian mezzanine area was Club Libby Lu. Now, it’s just a plain old little girls’ clothing department. Different merchandise had been tried there over the years and it seems the most logical thing to put there is something that someone coming into the store is looking for specifically and will go to the trouble to go to it. For example, if they put part of the men’s clothing section there, I’d probably not notice it for months and seldom go down to it.

Belk changed very little about the store other than converting some of the non-retail space into retain when they moved into that old Parisian and I think they should have replaced those harsh metal-halide light fixtures lighting the middle area with some other type with a much higher CRI (color rendering index). It would make the store look better and the merchandise in that section more attractive.

A big mistake Belk at Madison Square made was closing their men’s restroom for women’s use during the busiest shopping season late last year. It appeared that they were remodeling their restrooms. When they were done, the restroom hadn’t been remodeled at all. Evidentally, they remodeled the women’s one but not the men’s, and they had no men’s room for months.

By: dwl

dwl — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:32:37 +0000

I went to the Madison Square Mall the other day to shop at Sears. Sorry to see it in such sad shape. I actually worked setting up one of the original stores as a teenager before the mall opened. The mall was miles ahead of the other retail outlets in Huntsville at that time. The Parisian store was an elegant department store, with a cookie shop on the mezzanine, and there were many stores never seen in the area before, such as B.Dalton (or was it Waldebooks?), Blachs and Caster-Knot. Not an extremely high-end mall, but very nice.
The other day, however, the parking lot was almost empty. The movie theater behind the mall is now showing second-run movies. Across the road, Barnes and Noble, Circuit City, a car dealership and other outlets are now empty. So, it appears that the entire area is in decline. Sad to see the beginning of the end.

By: Cate

Cate — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 23:35:18 +0000

I agree. I don’t like going to this mall anymore. For one thing, it’s out of my way and not worth the drive on that end of town. Parkway Place is much closer to me and is much cleaner and safer. Also, I will spend money in most of the stores it has to offer. Madison Square Mall is dirty and isn’t safe. Every time I have had to make a trip to that mall, I notice more vacant spots. I think it’s on life support and is dying a slow death. With all of the vacant stores in and around the mall, I’m sure it’s going to go under, if it already hasn’t. I remember when Parkway Place was Parkway City Mall years ago and it was a run-down mall. It was eventually torn down and was re-built into a very nice facility. Maybe not all hope is gone. Maybe the same could happen for Madison Square one day, but for some reason, I don’t see it happening. My problem isn’t just the fact that the mall is so run-down, it’s the crowds that are attracted there. I do not go to that mall by myself and neither do my female friends or family memebers. They need better security and management that cares about the running of the mall.

By: Steve Gentry

Steve Gentry — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:43:45 +0000

I don’t allow my kids in there any more. It’s what has become known as the “ghetto mall”. Too much black attitude, and too much ebonic profanity. It’s a doomed mall waiting to die. I predict it’ll be a flea market within 5 years. Parkway place, the other mall in town is clean and family friendly, I’ll go there from now on. Recommend you do the same. there have been fights, stabbings and general thug behavior on a regular basis, and it’s only getting worse.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:58:00 +0000

The Game Stop location on the lower level is now closed. That used to be EB Games and Electronic Boutique a long time ago, and a Tanius Shoes in the early 90s). The escalators used to come down right in front of that store, but when the escalators moved a distance down the way near JCPenney, it probably cut the traffic to that store. Also, the two game stores in the mall ended up being owned by the same company, so they no longer felt the need to have 2. Software Etc. was upstairs and EB downstairs.