Friendly Center is a large, open-air mall located in northwestern
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte, North Car ...
, near the interchange of
Wendover Avenue and Friendly Avenue.
History
The shopping center opened in August 1957, and with its inward orientation, Friendly Center could be classified as an outdoor
lifestyle center. Its anchor tenants include
Belk,
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 ...
(formerly
Thalhimer's
Thalhimers was a department store in the Southern United States. Based in Richmond, Virginia, the venerable chain at its peak operated dozens of stores in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and one store in Memphis, Tennessee. Thalh ...
, later
Hecht's), 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 ...
. Other tenants include
Barnes & Noble and
Old Navy, The Grande Theatre is a 16-screen multiplex cinema operated by Regal Cinemas. It also contains
Harris Teeter's flagship supermarket location encompassing 72,000 square feet (6,700 m2) and
Whole Foods Market. There are specialty "
foodie" stores tucked away in the back corner by Harris Teeter such as the Savory Spice Shop and Midtown Olive Oil. It features a number of national retailers such as
Banana Republic,
Victoria's Secret,
Bath & Body Works, Express,
The GAP,
Eddie Bauer,
Talbots, and
Birkenstock Feet First.
In early 2006, construction of "The Shops at Friendly Center" began after the nearby
Burlington Industries office building was demolished. Its opening on October 19, 2006 introduced retail shops that had not previously been present in the
Piedmont Triad market such as an
Apple Store,
Brooks Brothers,
REI,
J. Crew, Coldwater Creek (closed in 2014),
White House Black Market,
Pendleton Pendleton may refer to:
Places
;United Kingdom
*Pendleton, Lancashire, England
*Pendleton, Greater Manchester, England
;United States
*Pendleton, Indiana
* Pendleton, Missouri
*Pendleton, New York
*Pendleton, Oregon
*Pendleton, South Carolina
*Pe ...
, J. Jill, and Johnston & Murphy. Several chain restaurants located in the center, including
P.F. Chang's
P. F. Chang's China Bistro is an American-based, casual dining restaurant chain founded in 1993 by Paul Fleming and Philip Chiang that serves Asian fusion cuisine. Centerbridge Partners owned and operated Chang's until acquired by the private eq ...
, Fleming's Prime Steak House and Wine Bar, Bravo Cucina Italiana, and
Mimi's Cafe. On November 8, 2006, a Harris Teeter supermarket opened as the chain's largest in North Carolina.
On April 3, 2007, Starmount Company put Friendly Center up for sale along with most of their other commercial real estate. On October 5, 2007,
CBL & Associates contracted to buy Friendly Center and all of Starmount Company's retail and office holdings. On January 4, 2008, The Triad Business Journa
reported that CBL & Associates paid more than $200 million for Friendly Center and the Shops at Friendly Center.
References
External links
Friendly Center official site
{{CBL Properties
CBL Properties
Shopping malls in Greensboro, North Carolina
Shopping malls established in 1957