Comments on: Cloverleaf Mall; Richmond, Virginia http://www.labelscar.com/virginia/cloverleaf-mall News and Views of Malls, Shopping Centers, and Retail Chains Past and Present Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:31 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: TenPoundHammer http://www.labelscar.com/virginia/cloverleaf-mall#comment-125675 TenPoundHammer Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:36:58 +0000 http://www.labelscar.com/virginia/cloverleaf-mall#comment-125675 Where was the McCrory? I'm guessing where Deb Shop later was (next to JCPenney)? Where was the McCrory? I’m guessing where Deb Shop later was (next to JCPenney)?

]]> By: Chesterfield Kid http://www.labelscar.com/virginia/cloverleaf-mall#comment-123435 Chesterfield Kid Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:30:19 +0000 http://www.labelscar.com/virginia/cloverleaf-mall#comment-123435 I grew up in Chesterfield from the mid 70's thru the mid 90's. When I was a kid back in the early 80's Cloverleaf Mall was the mall to go to. Going down there was always something we looked forward to as kids. It was big, full of busy stores. I saw Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back there, as well as numerouos Disney movies back before VCR's were a household standard and they would re-run old movies at theatres. That whole stretch of Midlothian Tnpk. was full of great retailers back then. Best Products and Wards across the street, Toys R Us a bit further west, Putt Putt Golf, etc. Chesterfield Mall pretty much sucked back then. It was a fraction of the size it is today or even after it first expanded and became Chesterfield Town Center. However, even back then if you crossed Chippenham to the east of Cloverleaf Mall you could see the bad tide of urban decay coming that continued spreading west down Midlothian Tnpk. causing retailers to continue closing and relocating further west. K-Mart and the Old America Store were pretty much as far as my mother would take us. I moved in 96 and I remember hearing about the murders but I don't think i was living in VA at the time that they happened. I don't know if my mom ever went back there after that or not. Even by that time Cloverleaf Mall had been suffering. It was pretty evident to many back then what was in the future for that mall. It was definately not the me place that it had been when I was a kid. Kelly, you are right about the giant sphere shaped fountain. There was another fountain a little further down, I think it was where the old theater/ foodcourt corridor joined. I grew up in Chesterfield from the mid 70’s thru the mid 90’s. When I was a kid back in the early 80’s Cloverleaf Mall was the mall to go to. Going down there was always something we looked forward to as kids. It was big, full of busy stores. I saw Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back there, as well as numerouos Disney movies back before VCR’s were a household standard and they would re-run old movies at theatres. That whole stretch of Midlothian Tnpk. was full of great retailers back then. Best Products and Wards across the street, Toys R Us a bit further west, Putt Putt Golf, etc. Chesterfield Mall pretty much sucked back then. It was a fraction of the size it is today or even after it first expanded and became Chesterfield Town Center. However, even back then if you crossed Chippenham to the east of Cloverleaf Mall you could see the bad tide of urban decay coming that continued spreading west down Midlothian Tnpk. causing retailers to continue closing and relocating further west. K-Mart and the Old America Store were pretty much as far as my mother would take us. I moved in 96 and I remember hearing about the murders but I don’t think i was living in VA at the time that they happened. I don’t know if my mom ever went back there after that or not. Even by that time Cloverleaf Mall had been suffering. It was pretty evident to many back then what was in the future for that mall. It was definately not the me place that it had been when I was a kid.
Kelly, you are right about the giant sphere shaped fountain. There was another fountain a little further down, I think it was where the old theater/ foodcourt corridor joined.

]]> By: Jonah Norason (Pseudo3D) http://www.labelscar.com/virginia/cloverleaf-mall#comment-115195 Jonah Norason (Pseudo3D) Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:48:06 +0000 http://www.labelscar.com/virginia/cloverleaf-mall#comment-115195 @Carl, scary midway fair? Please elaborate... @Carl, scary midway fair? Please elaborate…

]]> By: RVA Chica http://www.labelscar.com/virginia/cloverleaf-mall#comment-115089 RVA Chica Tue, 25 Aug 2009 04:45:05 +0000 http://www.labelscar.com/virginia/cloverleaf-mall#comment-115089 My family knew one of the Cloverleaf Mall murder victims, Charlita Singleton. She was a kind-hearted, religious woman with a loving husband just working to help feed her kids. Noone deserves the die the way she and her co-worker did. Can't believe police still haven't found who did it. My family knew one of the Cloverleaf Mall murder victims, Charlita Singleton. She was a kind-hearted, religious woman with a loving husband just working to help feed her kids. Noone deserves the die the way she and her co-worker did. Can’t believe police still haven’t found who did it.

]]> By: Carl http://www.labelscar.com/virginia/cloverleaf-mall#comment-108541 Carl Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:07:31 +0000 http://www.labelscar.com/virginia/cloverleaf-mall#comment-108541 I remember my father working at that Sears when I was a child. We would meet him for lunch at Piccadilly, and then wander for awhile. Sadly, when they had that really scary "midway" fair there about 10 years ago, it hit me that the mall would never recover. Like Azalea Mall, maybe razing it to the ground, and building something else may be in order. I remember my father working at that Sears when I was a child. We would meet him for lunch at Piccadilly, and then wander for awhile.

Sadly, when they had that really scary “midway” fair there about 10 years ago, it hit me that the mall would never recover.

Like Azalea Mall, maybe razing it to the ground, and building something else may be in order.

]]> By: melinda http://www.labelscar.com/virginia/cloverleaf-mall#comment-100625 melinda Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:57:59 +0000 http://www.labelscar.com/virginia/cloverleaf-mall#comment-100625 @AceJay, That was actually the theater, there was a Sears Auto center and it was in the front of the mall where the entrance was located. She took no pictures of that. @AceJay, That was actually the theater, there was a Sears Auto center and it was in the front of the mall where the entrance was located. She took no pictures of that.

]]> By: Mustang GT http://www.labelscar.com/virginia/cloverleaf-mall#comment-93304 Mustang GT Sun, 26 Apr 2009 04:07:10 +0000 http://www.labelscar.com/virginia/cloverleaf-mall#comment-93304 Cloverleaf failed because of crime. Go to DeadMalls.com then click Landover Mall in Maryland. I've experienced this personally as well. That is Cloverleaf's fait. Also look at Dixie Square Mall in Illinois. Hope that Cloverleaf gets torn down before it gets to the point of Dixie Square Mall. What happened to Cloverleaf was crime got so bad in the area that shoppers stopped shopping at Cloverleaf. The stores stopped getting the business they wanted to stay open so they started pulling out. It gets worse. Customers were scared to shop their. Then it got even worse. The employees still working there were scared to walk out to their cars at night. Then even more stores closed. After that, the mall found itself loosing more and more money, creating a loss, forcing it to close. Cloverleaf failed because of crime. Go to DeadMalls.com then click Landover Mall in Maryland. I’ve experienced this personally as well. That is Cloverleaf’s fait. Also look at Dixie Square Mall in Illinois. Hope that Cloverleaf gets torn down before it gets to the point of Dixie Square Mall. What happened to Cloverleaf was crime got so bad in the area that shoppers stopped shopping at Cloverleaf. The stores stopped getting the business they wanted to stay open so they started pulling out. It gets worse. Customers were scared to shop their. Then it got even worse. The employees still working there were scared to walk out to their cars at night. Then even more stores closed. After that, the mall found itself loosing more and more money, creating a loss, forcing it to close.

]]> By: George Gray http://www.labelscar.com/virginia/cloverleaf-mall#comment-83107 George Gray Sat, 17 Jan 2009 07:38:05 +0000 http://www.labelscar.com/virginia/cloverleaf-mall#comment-83107 Cloverleaf....wow. I do have fond memories of the mall. It was the second mall I remember going to (Azalea being the first) and remember spending many hours with my mother at McCrory's and a few other stores. I remember seeing Star Wars in the original cinemas (which were where the food court went. The cinemas went in the building at the back of the lot.) Cloverleaf's original interior was a dark, 60's style with tacky faux wood trim. I rather liked the mid to late 80's remodel...until about 1991 or so when it started to look tacky. Seems the Miami Vice look got old quick. I can also remember eating many meals in the Piccadilly and the other restaurant across from the Piccadilly. Both flanked the main entrance. The other commenters are mostly right: that double muder pretty killed the mall. It was already showing signs of decay before then, but that pretty much killed it. Cloverleaf….wow. I do have fond memories of the mall. It was the second mall I remember going to (Azalea being the first) and remember spending many hours with my mother at McCrory’s and a few other stores. I remember seeing Star Wars in the original cinemas (which were where the food court went. The cinemas went in the building at the back of the lot.)
Cloverleaf’s original interior was a dark, 60’s style with tacky faux wood trim. I rather liked the mid to late 80’s remodel…until about 1991 or so when it started to look tacky. Seems the Miami Vice look got old quick.
I can also remember eating many meals in the Piccadilly and the other restaurant across from the Piccadilly. Both flanked the main entrance.
The other commenters are mostly right: that double muder pretty killed the mall. It was already showing signs of decay before then, but that pretty much killed it.

]]> By: Shopping malls facing first-quarter fears : Richmond Biz News http://www.labelscar.com/virginia/cloverleaf-mall#comment-81934 Shopping malls facing first-quarter fears : Richmond Biz News Sun, 04 Jan 2009 22:36:03 +0000 http://www.labelscar.com/virginia/cloverleaf-mall#comment-81934 [...] Richmond’s shopping mall history follows the national narrative closely. The first indoor shopping center was built in Minnesota in 1956. Six years later, Azalea Mall in North Side debuted as Richmond’s first enclosed shopping mall. For the next 30 years, suburban shopping malls boomed. In the 1970s, Cloverleaf Mall and Chesterfield Towne Center opened within five years and five miles of each other. Willow Lawn, built as a strip mall in the 1950s, was enclosed in the 1980s. [...] [...] Richmond’s shopping mall history follows the national narrative closely. The first indoor shopping center was built in Minnesota in 1956. Six years later, Azalea Mall in North Side debuted as Richmond’s first enclosed shopping mall. For the next 30 years, suburban shopping malls boomed. In the 1970s, Cloverleaf Mall and Chesterfield Towne Center opened within five years and five miles of each other. Willow Lawn, built as a strip mall in the 1950s, was enclosed in the 1980s. [...]

]]> By: Local Malls Facing First-Quarter Fears | Downtown Short Pump http://www.labelscar.com/virginia/cloverleaf-mall#comment-79588 Local Malls Facing First-Quarter Fears | Downtown Short Pump Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:32:06 +0000 http://www.labelscar.com/virginia/cloverleaf-mall#comment-79588 [...] Richmond’s shopping mall history follows the national narrative closely. The first indoor shopping center was built in Minnesota in 1956. Six years later, Azalea Mall in North Side debuted as Richmond’s first enclosed shopping mall. For the next 30 years, suburban shopping malls boomed. In the 1970s, Cloverleaf Mall and Chesterfield Towne Center opened within five years and five miles of each other. Willow Lawn, built as a strip mall in the 1950s, was enclosed in the 1980s. [...] [...] Richmond’s shopping mall history follows the national narrative closely. The first indoor shopping center was built in Minnesota in 1956. Six years later, Azalea Mall in North Side debuted as Richmond’s first enclosed shopping mall. For the next 30 years, suburban shopping malls boomed. In the 1970s, Cloverleaf Mall and Chesterfield Towne Center opened within five years and five miles of each other. Willow Lawn, built as a strip mall in the 1950s, was enclosed in the 1980s. [...]

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