Comments on: Raleigh Springs Mall; Memphis, Tennessee

By: Mike B

Mike B — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:31:45 +0000

Does anyone know if Simon Bartolo Company(Sp?) developed Rivergate Mall in Goodlettsville (Nashville) TN? It opened in 1971, the same year as Raleigh Springs and the original floorplans were almost identical.

By: cavalier973

cavalier973 — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:27:12 +0000

I remember going into the front entrance and being hit with the smell of Chick-fil-a and the sound of “the Peter Gunn Theme” playing on the “Spy Hunter” game in the arcade. I lost so many quarters trying to get past the first screen of “Dragon’s Lair”…. Across from Chick-fil-a was the movie theater where my dad took my brother and I to see “Empire Strikes Back”. As you moved to the end of the main hall, you passed by a cookie shop on the right, an A&W restaurant on the left, and wound up facing the entrance to Goldsmith’s. My favorite sstore was the software boutique to the right and on the same side as Goldsmith’s. Those were the days when Nintendo was just getting big (the NES), and Sears had one set up near its toy dept (back when Sears had a toy dept). Sometimes the machine was set up with a timer; if you picked Mike Tyson’s Punch-out, the timer would reset just as you were about to start the fight with Glass Joe. Its funny, the things you remember.

By: dan

dan — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:44:56 +0000

@Ryan,
The Hickory Ridge Mall is a total dead mall. Only Sears is left. It’s owned by some sort of church and the whole place (except Sears) is shuttered. The Hickory Ridge Mall website is still up and says it’s reopening Summer 2009 but I doubt it. A visit a week ago showed some sort of work being done (contractor’s trucks) but the place is roped off. If they’re reopening anytime in the next two years, I’d be surprised. The macy’s sign is still up. The old Target just west of the peoperty is a super seedy pawn shop now. It takes up the whole Target building.
Sears actually owns their 100,000+ square foot space. The rest of the mall (490,000 sqft) is vacant.

By: dan

dan — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:37:53 +0000

The Raleigh Springs Mall is a dead mall for sure. There are only about twenty stores there and only one ancor (Sears) that looks a little forlorn. On a Saturday morning at 10:30 there were only about a dozen shoppers in the Sears. Oddly, the vacant Dillards space has a for sale sign with a Nashville area code. The JC Penney is completely sealed up and no evidence remains inside the mall except the mall guide (or Mallmanac) showing a big space with a number assigned to it. It’s in really bad shape.
Oh, and that refresh it went through was haphazard and incomplete. Mixing tacky current design elements with the 1971 architecture doesn’t work.

By: Grant Wadsworth

Grant Wadsworth — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 02:51:45 +0000

I moved to memphis in 1996. The mall still had its four anchor stores but many other things were closed. The entire area needed an over haul which came to late. Wolfchase Galeria was under construction when we moved their and that was the final nail in the cofin for Raleigh Springs Mall. It is a shame that Management companies do not keep aging malls up to spead with the new malls. They always seem to have about a thirty year or less life and then die no matter what city you go to. Raliegh is no different.

By: M.C.

M.C. — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 22:52:38 +0000

wow, i can’t believe it’s so empty, but it looks tons better than it did in the ’80s when i used to hang out there. i doubt much of the original scene there still exists, but i remember that every visit started with a stop at the Hot Sam’s inside the front door on the right. we’d usually head down to the Musicland, Spencer gifts, and take a stroll through Dillard’s and Goldsmith’s to check out the new Swatch watches and Coca Cola polo shirts. after a few hours checking out the sights (read: girls!) we’d head back home, usually with a stop at Cat’s records on the corner of Coleman and Austin Peay just to see if there were any good deals in the clearance racks. occasionally i’d go with my grandmother to the Woolworth’s, where they had a cafe, and we’d have lunch. i remember that place having excellent hamburgers! back then the mall wasn’t in poor shape at all, but it was definitely in need of some updating. nonetheless we had a lot of fun there, and it’s a shame to see it in such sad shape. i imagine they’ll probably put up some big box stores or a Wal-Mart (the world’s most evil retailer, as i refer to them) and raze the rest of it, taking the memories of countless people along with the structure. the last time i was in Memphis i took a drive through Raleigh and was struck by how far the neighborhood has slumped, and i guess the mall is just another victim of the downfall. what a shame. not really a spectacular place as malls go, but it took up a lot of my time.

By: Kate

Kate — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:49:27 +0000

Wow, this is sad. I grew up in the neighborhood just East of the mall and I remember when it opened. Mom was thrilled at the prospect of NOT having to drive down to Southland or Sears Crosstown. My girlfriends and I rode our bikes to Raleigh Springs and wasted countless entire days there – I guess we were pioneer mallrats! I performed in recitals there and even attended the charm school classes held in the basement at Sears. I learned to drive in the mall parking lot after hours.
We moved out of state in 1980 and it was a long time before I began to look back, so the news of my old community going to hell is a nasty surprise. Can it be rehabilitated? I sure hope so.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:19:38 +0000

I recall shopping here on trips from Little Rock and I had last been in Memphis in 1985 before moving here in 1997 for grad school. They have the original decor still with the cheesy fountain in the center. The renovations came way too late since people started shopping at Wolfchase in 98-and 99. I work for the City and think Wal mart is not going to build here. There is a fledgling Super K mart up the street and wal mart has a history of taking old K marts and making them wal marts. This was true in Texas where they chased K mart out of the state.
There is a proposal to de mall the site and make it a urban town center type of development.

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:47:09 +0000

I have not been to Raleigh Springs in almost 10 years and it was pretty bad back then. I remember it as been dingy and pretty boring. I also remember it as being one of the last malls you could smoke in. There was a square in the middle of the mall where you would let you smoke. As far as Hickory Ridge goes, my parents went by there in June. They said the area is getting bad. None of my friends in Memphis will go near that mall, which is sad because I have fond memories of having dance recitals there and shopping when I was a kid. They said most of the mall is still closed and does not appear to be reopening anytime soon, if it ever does.

By: Zach

Zach — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:09:52 +0000

The mall looks like it was remodeled by Feldman Mall Properties. The directory is in the same font as my local mall, Golden Triangle Mall in Denton, TX, also owned by Feldman. The whole mall also looks like conceptual drawing of what Feldman wanted to do with Golden Triangle, but has yet to do.