Ansley Mall is an open-air

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

in the Piedmont Heights neighborhood of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

at 1544 Piedmont Avenue at the intersection of Monroe Drive near the Atlanta

BeltLine The Atlanta BeltLine (also Beltline or Belt Line) is a open and planned loop of multi-use trail and light rail transit system on a former railway corridor around the core of Atlanta, Georgia. The Atlanta BeltLine is designed to reconnect neig ...

trail. Ansley opened in 1964, sending

Midtown Atlanta Midtown Atlanta, or Midtown, is a high-density commercial and residential neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. The exact geographical extent of the area is ill-defined due to differing definitions used by the city, residents, and local business ...

's Tenth Street shopping district into decline.Tommy H. Jones, "Margaret Mitchell House: Historical Context"
/ref> The single-level center had of leasable area and was anchored by a

Woolworth's Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to: Businesses * F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores * Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shops ...

variety store A variety store (also five and dime (historic), pound shop, or dollar store) is a retail store that sells general merchandise, such as apparel, automotive parts, dry goods, toys, hardware, home furnishings, and a selection of groceries. It u ...

and Colonial supermarket. The tenant list of the 3.2-million-dollar complex included twenty-six retailers. It was a "twin" of what is now officially called the Crossroads Shopping Center, better known by its name in its heyday, Stewart-Lakewood Center, an open-air shopping center on Metropolitan Parkway (formerly Stewart Avenue) at

Langford Parkway Langford may refer to: Places Australia * Langford, Western Australia Canada * Langford, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island * Rural Municipality of Langford, Manitoba England * Langford, Bedfordshire * Langford, Essex * Langford, Norfolk * ...

(formerly Lakewood Freeway) in the Sylvan Hills neighborhood of southern

. Stewart-Lakewood was built in 1962 by the same company and in the same style as Ansley and was also considered a major regional retail center. "Major retail center statistics", U.S. Census Bureau, 1963
/ref> In 1969, a movie theater in the mall was the site of the ''Lonesome Cowboys'' police raid, a seminal moment in the history of the LGBT community in Atlanta. The mall was renovated in 2010, the works carried out by Earthstation. Anchors include

Publix Publix Super Markets, Inc., commonly known as Publix, is an employee-owned American supermarket chain headquartered in Lakeland, Florida. Founded in 1930 by George W. Jenkins, Publix is a private corporation that is wholly owned by present and ...

supermarket, an

LA Fitness LA Fitness (doing business as LA Fitness International LLC) is an American gym chain with more than 700 clubs across the United States and Canada. The company was formed in 1984 and is based in Irvine, California. History LA Fitness was founde ...

gym, and a

CVS Pharmacy CVS Pharmacy, Inc. is an American retail corporation. A subsidiary of CVS Health, it is headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. It was also known as, and originally named, the Consumer Value Store and was founded in Lowell, Massachusetts, in ...

. It is owned by Selig. The Ansley Mall area rivals

Cheshire Bridge Road Cheshire Bridge Road is a mainly north–south thoroughfare of Atlanta, Georgia, USA traversing the Morningside-Lenox Park and Lindridge-Martin Manor neighborhoods from Piedmont Avenue to Buford Highway just north of Interstate 85. While the co ...

and the intersection of 10th and

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

as the most popular gathering area for gay men in Atlanta. Across Clear Creek is Ansley Square, a strip mall with more

gay bars A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) clientele; the term ''gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT communities. Gay bars once served ...

and gay-friendly spaces."LGBTQ Neighborhoods", Atlanta Visitor's Bureau
/ref>

References

External links

Official Facebook page

Page on "Mall Hall of Fame" (blog)

{{Shopping malls in Georgia (U.S. state) Shopping malls in the Atlanta metropolitan area Shopping malls established in 1964 Gay villages in Georgia (U.S. state) 1964 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) LGBT African-American culture