Avondale Mall, originally known as ''Columbia Mall'', opened in 1964 as an

enclosed 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 ref ...

in the state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, United States. The mall's original name came from its location at the intersection of Columbia & Memorial Drives near

Avondale Estates Avondale Estates is a city in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,960 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area and is near Decatur. History In the 1890s, lots were sold in the area, which was kno ...

. It was demolished in 2007.

Anchors

The mall's original anchors were

Davison's Davison's of Atlanta was a department store chain and an Atlanta shopping institution. It was the major competition to Rich's and it took the Macy's name in 1986. Founding Davison's first opened its doors in Atlanta in 1891 and had its orig ...

and

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

developed the mall, which consisted of of shop space on two levels and was the second-largest mall in Atlanta at the time. After Sears closed and before renovations began, some indoor and outdoor shopping mall scenes for the

Chuck Norris Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. He is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu jitsu and judo. After serving in the United States Air Force, Norris won many martial arts champions ...

movie " Invasion USA" were filmed here. The "entry" crash of the Chevy pickup into the mall was shot at the mall's main entrance. The scenes inside the mall with the Nissan pickup were inside the mall nearest the Davison's end. The escalator scene was inside the old Sears building, and the "exit" crash through the window was on the western side of Sears on the first level (the movie then cut to an exterior scene of a mall in South Florida). After the filming, Columbia Mall was purchased by Cadillac Fairview and Scott Hudgens Co. in 1983, who announced plans to renovate the space. At the same time, Sears announced that it would close its store there. The mall was expanded into both floors of the former Sears store, which were subdivided into smaller tenant spaces. At one time, the lower level of the old Sears building housed a new, smaller Sears Outlet Store, which became a Goody's for some time. The mall also featured a McCrory's.

Later years

The decline at the mall began in the 1970s and 1980s. When the two anchor stores left in 1984 and 1995, the mall was unable to attract replacements. Management tried in 1995 to increase foot traffic. After Davison's/Macy's left the mall, that anchor building's upper floor was converted to a 16 screen movie theater, while the lower floor remained vacant except for a newly built stairwell leading from the lower level mall to the upper level theaters. This addition to the mall may have helped keep them up and running for another 6 years, but the mall was closed at the end of 2001.Greene, Kelly (16 December 2001)
Tough times for the nation's older shopping malls
''

The Day (New London) ''The Day'' newspaper, formerly known as ''The New London Day'', is a local newspaper based in New London, Connecticut, published by The Day Publishing Company. The newspaper has won Newspaper of the Year and the Best Daily Newspaper Award from t ...

'' (reprint from ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'')

Demolition

Demolition of the mall began in February 2007. The last two walls of the old Sears came down on March 21, 2007. The former mall was replaced with a

Walmart Supercenter Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

, as well as space for condominiums and commercial outlets. This plan met with strong resistance from residents of nearby

. However, the Walmart opened in March 2008.

References

{{Shopping malls in Georgia (U.S. state) Buildings and structures demolished in 2007 Demolished shopping malls in the United States Defunct shopping malls in the United States Buildings and structures in DeKalb County, Georgia Shopping malls in the Atlanta metropolitan area Shopping malls established in 1964 1964 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 2001 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state) shopping malls disestablished in 2001