Last summer, I took a rather extensive trip down to the mid-Atlantic to build up a large stock of photos and content to keep Labelscar going through the winter. I saw an awful lot (and was disappointed at the time that I couldn’t see more) and clearly overestimated how much I’d get done during the cold and supposedly slow winter months. So much for hunkering down with steaming cups of hot cocoa and cranking out three posts a day–I’m still working through that backlog.

One of the more curious malls I visited, and one that I initially planned to post right away, is the General Growth-owned Laurel Mall in Laurel, Maryland, a suburb about halfway between Washington, DC and Baltimore. This fading mall had signs then warning of an impending renovation and revitalization, something that was very clearly in dire need. While the mall was not in awful shape and still had a fair number of tenants, it seemed to be doing surprisingly poorly given the strategic location between two major metropolitan areas.

The 663,000 square foot Laurel Mall opened in 1977, although the present-day mall cobbles together pieces of two older outdoor shopping centers. Laurel Shopping Center housed a Giant Foods and Hecht’s, while a standalone Montgomery Ward was a block away. New York mall developer Shopco bridged the two with the large, two level enclosed mall in 1977, also adding a JCPenney store. By most accounts, the mall did fine through the ’80s and ’90s, although it was less-dominant than area malls like Columbia Mall and White Flint Mall. Then, in 2001, trouble began. Like many malls throughout the country, Laurel Mall was dealt a severe blow by the bankruptcy and closure of Montgomery Ward, and the simultaneous troubles of JCPenney made matters worse, causing the mall to lose two of its three marquee tenants within a year. Customers dwindled and favored other malls and the situation grew increasingly bleak, placing Laurel Mall in receivership a few years back. Today’s anchor stores are Macy’s, Burlington Coat Factory, and International Furniture Liquidators. Note that, as my photos were taken in July 2006, Hecht’s was still around.

According to a recent Washington Post article, the mall is due for a major facelift. The center’s foreboding parking deck, which creates an ugly (and unphotographable) facade along US1, will be demolished and replaced by an outdoor promenade with stores and restaurants. The interior of the mall will remain during Laurel’s reinvention, and will be given a facelift: new owner Somera hope to add a bookstore, movie theatre, and other lifestyle-oriented tenants, while also incorporating decorative elements such as a fountain (it’s outdoor, kids; don’t get too excited) and a clock tower reminiscent of the nearby B&O Railroad station.

It remains to be seen how it turns out, but this relatively charmless mall could certainly use something. Plagued by vacancies, a dingy appearance, and (possibly unsubstantiated) fears of crime, it seems worn out. It’s more successful (and slightly larger) than most typical “dead malls,” which is likely why its getting a deserved second chance. We look forward to seeing how the new plans progress, and are glad that, for once, a revitalization project will focus on maintaining the enclosed portion of the mall while modernizing the center.

Given how long it’s been taking me to produce original content lately, I should probably be naming this post “Chinese Democracy.” Instead, as Mr. Prangeway joked to me earlier, this post is about the “Mall of the Least Resistance;” a center with a relatively small photo set that I can put together before I collapse into a pile atop my keyboard. I swear I won’t be so busy soon; I miss you guys.

Prince Georges Plaza–retitled in 2004 as The Mall at Prince Georges–is a successful, mid-tier mall located in the inner-ring Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC, not far from College Park. Originally constructed as an outdoor plaza in the 1950s, the mall was enclosed at some later date. Sadly, my “research” on this mall is turning up quite little, so I may have to defer to the peanut gallery to fill in some details. Unlike a few malls we’ve posted about previously in Prince Georges County, such as the groovy Iverson Mall or the rubble pile over at Landover Mall, this one is located in the suburbs closest to DC’s Northeast quarter, and is not terribly far from College Park (and the Beltway Plaza, another distinctive old mall featured here before).

Despite the mall’s visible age, it appears as though it received a substantial renovation relatively recently, making things bright and shiny (and perhaps a bit boring). A 2002 article about the planned Target store at the center notes they’d replace the space vacated by G.C. Murphy, implying that the space was likely vacant a long, long time before Target arrived. The store finally opened in October 2004, according to this article about the mall’s $6 million renovation, which they peg as happening in 2004. The center mostly employs the classic single-dumbell design, although there are a few things that mix it up. The strange loop in the front of the mall (complete with a truly strange back hallway that hides the bathrooms) and various tucked-away big box anchors are somewhat unusual, as is the way that two of the three anchors are situated at the back of the mall yet in-line with the main concourse–a sure sign that the center began its life as an outdoor plaza.

My photos are somewhat unremarkable, partially due to the busy mall’s narrow main concourse. I did, however, manage to get a just-in-time shot of the Hecht’s store before the great switcheroo of 2006.

Gimme some history, boys and girls, so that I can go to bed.

When I was down in Washington, DC over the fourth of July weekend, I swung by the now-closed Landover Mall in Landover, once the largest mall in Maryland’s large, sprawling Prince George’s County. I’d known the mall was troubled (and possibly dead), but I found that I unfortunately missed the boat on ever getting inside.

I do, however, think that my trip was relatively well-timed because I was able to get this set of shots of the half-demolished rubble. While peeling back the skin of the building, the excavation revealed some really neat artifacts–most notably, the fully-intact, formerly interior-facing “Garfinckel’s” sign from an anchor store that closed in 1990 and was never replaced!

The Landover Mall was built in 1972 and owned and operated by Lerner Enterprises, the owner of several popular mall-based retail chains. The mall was initially very successful due to its strategic location at the eastern edge of the Washington, DC beltway, and sported Hecht’s, Woodward & Lothrop, Sears, and Garfinckel’s as anchor stores. Even though the Washington, DC area is pretty heavily-malled, the Landover Mall’s location still seems strong, especially given that other nearby malls (such as the Iverson Mall, the Forest Village Park Mall, or the also-shuttered Capital Plaza Mall) are much smaller.

The mall’s decline began in the late 1980s, in a time when concerns were growing about the safety of the area and the development of newer centers further out in suburbia was booming. Lerner Enterprises’ relatively disengaged management style didn’t seem to help either. Garfinckel’s went out bankrupt in 1990, Woodward & Lothrop closed their store five years later. JCPenney briefly replaced them in 1998, but closed their store just three years later when they were unable to stem the tide of the mall’s decline. Hecht’s also fled the mall upon the opening of the outdoor Bowie Town Center in 2001, leaving Sears as the lone anchor store at the mall. The mall was finally shuttered in 2002, although Sears has persevered and was even still upon when we visited.
All of the outdoor, rubble photos on this page were taken by us on July 1, 2006, with the exception of the following two great shots taken of the mall interior in 2002, and the above image of the mall’s pylon lit up at night. These were graciously loaned to us by our friend Gary at the DC Grocery MSN Group. These photos are copyrighted (and not mine), so don’t steal ‘em and make me look like a jerk. They also have MANY more available on their site if you want to dig in deeper!

In recent times, Labelscar has gotten some fantastic submissions from readers, and this piece on the Salisbury Mall in Salisbury, Maryland is one of ‘em. CCMoore, a regular reader, sent us these notes and photos of the Salisbury Mall, which was displaced by a larger and newer center about 15 years ago. It seems that there’s increasing local pressure to raze the abandoned, derelict, and apparently somewhat crime-ridden mall site, so if you happen to be in the area, swing by and take a look before it’s too late. Without further ado, here’s what CC had to say:

“I’m only 26, so the Salisbury Mall predates me by about 12 years. I do, however, remember going there as a kid, and while it wasn’t the most exciting place to go in the early 90s, I have since come to appreciate its place in local Delmarva History.

I’ve done some research, so before I describe the malls current state, here’s a bit of history.

The Salisbury Mall opened on October 16, 1968 in Salisbury, Maryland. At the time it cost somewhere around $5 million to build, with $2 million invested in interior details and the parking lot. The land covers about 80 acres and the mall’s west wing spans about 1/10 of a mile. When it opened, it was anchored by two national chains, The
Hecht Co. and Sears. On its opening day only 16 of the 40 stores were ready for business and Miss America was on hand for the ribbon cutting.

I would imagine a place like the Salisbury Mall was a big deal in this area. Delaware and the eastern shore of Maryland aren’t exactly the most metropolitan of places. From the ads, Hecht’s especially seemed quite a showpiece. The mall also included a rather large McCrory’s and a Kinney’s Shoes.

The details from there are a bit sketchy. I’m still working out specifics, but this is what I know. The mall’s east wing was constructed in the mid-70s, which now made the mall in the shape of an H. The new section included another chain, Hutzler’s, a movie theater and more stores. The malls west section had a very classic look with pillared entrances where as the east section was more modern, though the entire building is made of white brick and stone.

The mall seemed to do fairly well into the 80s until a new mall, the Centre at Salisbury was built and opened in July of 1990. At that time both Sears and Hecht’s left, leaving both anchors empty, and they would remain that way. The west wing eventually emptied out and was closed off from the rest of the mall. I have been told the ceiling
leaked and the up-keep was far too expensive. Still the mall soldiered on. In around 1991 or 1992, there was a murder in the ladies bathroom which sent more business away.

As far as I know, Hutzler’s became Peebles and most of the stores left when their leases ran out. Some people tell me there were businesses in the mall up until about 2 years ago, but you wouldn’t ever know from the condition it is in.

I found it one night driving home from the beach and without any parking lot lights, it’s a scary sight at about midnight. It literally takes up about 2 or 3 blocks in a fairly urbanized section of the town. But within its perimeter, it’s just dead.

I have been there a few times. The west wing still looks like it did when it opened about 40 years ago, if you can look past the decay and age. There are plans to tear it down, which is a shame because the more I learn about it, the more I see how much history is contained within its walls.

I [have included these] pictures. I am working with some people to make a documentary about this mall and the surrounding area, because it really serves as a commentary on how fickle mall culture and commerce in general can be. About a mile
away is the city’s downtown district which felt the mall’s presence when most of its stores left for the new construction. Those same businesses then left the old mall when the new Centre was constructed. It’s very interesting and somewhat sad.”

Thanks again CC! Submissions like these are always welcome. As you might imagine, it’s *impossible* to be everywhere at once, and we’ve already missed tons of malls entirely. If you’ve got anything, we’d love to hear about it.

EDIT 8/19/2007: In the 10 months since we originally posted Chris’ photos and commentary, he’s been working on his own blog that’s entirely about the old Salisbury Mall. In addition to historic and current photos, he even has some shots of the interior, which is in a rather sad, Dixie Square-like state nowadays.

Downtown Silver Spring is one of the more interesting downtown revitalization efforts that I’ve come across, in a large part because it incorporates an enclosed mall with the rejuvenated streetscape. The development encompasses two separately owned and maintained parcels–the indoor, 5-level (yet small, at only 300,000 square feet) City Place Mall; and the outdoor “urban neighborhood” of Downtown Silver Spring.

Silver Spring, Maryland is located at the top of the District of Columbia diamond, just inside of the Washington Beltway, in affluent Montgomery County. Arguably the second-largest city in Maryland after Baltimore, Silver Spring’s downtown experienced the same post-war lows as many major American cities, but like many has seen its downtown spring back to life in the 2000s.

The neighborhood surrounding Downtown Silver Spring and City Place has its roots (obviously) in Silver Spring’s historic downtown retail district, which included Hecht’s, JCPenney, and Sears in the 1950s. By the late 1980s, however, the area fell into decline and Hecht’s vacated their large store in the center of downtown Silver Spring. The former Hecht’s was converted to a tall enclosed mall–City Place–in 1992, but the mall failed to attract major tenants and became known as a budget mall. This is largely still at least somewhat true today, as City Place counts Marshalls and Burlington Coat Factory as its anchors. In this decade, however, a large portion of the downtown area surrounding the City Place Mall has been redeveloped as an active outdoor streetscape, with a variety of retail, restaurant, and entertainment-oriented tenants. Several streets are closed to vehicular traffic and used as pedestrian malls, and the development has a symbiotic relationship with the existing enclosed mall. Today the Downtown Silver Spring portion of the development has tenants like a 20 screen movie theatre, Whole Foods Market, Borders Books and Music, and Pier 1 Imports.

If I have any complaint with developments like these, it’s that they tend to be far more homogenous than the downtowns they replace. While I applaud any project that brings activity and life back to our faded downtowns, I hate that it has to eternally revolve around Starbucks and Cold Stone Creameries and that the end result feels like Celebration, Florida. For example, little separates the end product at Downtown Silver Spring from much of the work done 40 miles up the road in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor or from the Newport on the Levee development in Newport, Kentucky, across the river from Cincinnati. Even in their worst downswings, our cities derived their life from the unique businesses they hosted, from local restaurants to used CD and book stores. Developments like these are a start, but hopefully their visitors will fan out to surrounding blocks and enjoy the offerings of neighborhoods that aren’t leased by a single corporate parent.