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 third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

, near the interchange of

Wendover Avenue Wendover Avenue is a road in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. Most of the road is hybrid in character: it is like an expressway in that it has a mix of interchanges and traffic light-controlled intersections, but like a boulevard ...

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 A lifestyle center (American English), or lifestyle centre (Commonwealth English), is a shopping center or mixed-used commercial development that combines the traditional retail functions of a shopping mall with leisure amenities oriented toward ...

. Its anchor tenants include

Belk Belk, Inc. is an American department store chain founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, North Carolina, with nearly 300 locations in 16 states. Belk stores and Belk.com offer apparel, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, ...

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. Thalhimer's ...

, later

Hecht's Hecht's, also known as Hecht Brothers, Hecht Bros. and the Hecht Company, was a large chain of department stores that operated mainly in the mid-Atlantic and southern region of the United States. The firm originated in Baltimore, Maryland. By 20 ...

), 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 ...

. Other tenants include

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 U. ...

and

Old Navy Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of the Old Navy stores are its ...

, The Grande Theatre is a 16-screen multiplex cinema operated by Regal Cinemas. It also contains

Harris Teeter Harris Teeter Supermarkets, Inc., also known as Harris Teeter Neighborhood Food & Pharmacy, is an American supermarket chain based in Matthews, North Carolina, a suburb of Charlotte. , the chain operates 261 stores in seven South Atlantic states ...

's flagship supermarket location encompassing 72,000 square feet (6,700 m2) and

Whole Foods Market Whole Foods Market IP, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon, is an upscale American multinational supermarket chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from hydrogenated fats and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. A US ...

. There are specialty "

foodie A foodie is a person who has an ardent or refined interest in food, and who eats food not only out of hunger but also as a hobby. The related terms "gastronome" and "gourmet" define roughly the same thing, i.e. a person who enjoys food for pleas ...

" 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 In political science, the term banana republic describes a politically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the export of natural resources. In 1904, the American author O. Henry coined the term to describe Honduras and neighboring ...

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer known for high visibility marketing and branding, starting with a popular catalog and followed by an annual fashion show with supermodels dubbed Angels. As the largest ret ...

Bath & Body Works Bath & Body Works, LLC. is an American retail store chain that sells soaps, lotions, fragrances, and candles. It was founded in 1990 in New Albany, Ohio and has since expanded across 6 continents. In 1997, it was the largest bath shop chain in ...

, Express,

The GAP The Gap may refer to: Places Australia * The Gap, New South Wales, a locality near Wagga Wagga, New South Wales * The Gap, Northern Territory, a suburb of Alice Springs, Northern Territory * The Gap, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland ...

Eddie Bauer Eddie Bauer, LLC is an American clothing store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Eddie Bauer sells its merchandise via retail stores, outlet stores, and online and via phone, with a call center in Groveport, Ohio. Its flagship store is ...

Talbots The Talbots, Inc. (doing business as Talbots and stylized as TALBOTS) is an American specialty retailer and direct marketer of women's clothing, shoes and fashion accessories. As of 2018, the company operated 495 Talbots stores in the United S ...

, and

Birkenstock Birkenstock Group B.V. & Co. KG is a German shoe manufacturer known for its production of Birkenstocks, a German brand of sandals and other shoes notable for their contoured cork footbeds (soles) made with layers of suede and jute, which conf ...

Feet First. In early 2006, construction of "The Shops at Friendly Center" began after the nearby

Burlington Industries Burlington Industries, formerly Burlington Mills, is a diversified American fabric maker based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Founded by J. Spencer Love in Burlington, North Carolina in 1923, the company has operations in the United States, Mexi ...

office building was demolished. Its opening on October 19, 2006 introduced retail shops that had not previously been present in the

Piedmont Triad The Piedmont Triad (or simply the Triad) is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of North Carolina anchored by three cities: Greensboro, North Carolina, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Winston-Salem, and H ...

market such as an

Apple Store The Apple Store is a chain of Retail, retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell various Apple products, including Macintosh, Mac personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad tablet computers, Apple Watch smartwatches, Apple ...

Brooks Brothers Brooks Brothers, founded in Manhattan, New York, in 1818, is the oldest apparel brand in continuous operation in America. Originally a family business, Brooks Brothers produces clothing for men, women and children, as well as home furnishings. B ...

REI Rei or REI may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Rei, a story arc of the anime ''Higurashi When They Cry'' *Rei, a shapeshifting godlike dragon in the Australian webcomic series ''Vainglorious'' *Rei I, II and III, episodes of ''Neon Genesis Eva ...

J. Crew J.Crew Group, Inc., is an American multi-brand, multi-channel, specialty retailer. The company offers an assortment of women's, men's, and children's apparel and accessories, including swimwear, outerwear, lounge-wear, bags, sweaters, denim, dr ...

, Coldwater Creek (closed in 2014),

White House Black Market White House Black Market is an American women's clothing retailer headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida. The multichannel brand, founded in 1985, specializes in upscale clothing. White House Black Market owns and operates various clothing and acc ...

, Pendleton, J. Jill, and Johnston & Murphy. Several chain restaurants located in the center, including P.F. Chang's, Fleming's Prime Steak House and Wine Bar, Bravo Cucina Italiana, and

Mimi's Cafe Mimi's Bistro + Bakery (formerly Mimi's Café) is an American restaurant chain with 46 locations in 12 states. Originally headquartered in Tustin, California, its headquarters moved to Dallas, Texas in 2014 after 36 years in California. It serve ...

. 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 CBL Properties (previously CBL & Associates, Inc., then CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.) is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers, primarily in the Southeastern and Midwestern United States. The company is ...

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