Greenbrier Mall is a nearly regional mall in

Chesapeake, Virginia Chesapeake is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,422, it is the second-most populous independent city in Virginia, tenth-largest in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 90th ...

, United States in the

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...

metropolitan area. The mall has a hillside terrain, with entries on both upper and lower levels. It serves communities on the east coast in the states of Virginia and

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. The mall currently has 114 retailers, three anchors (

Dillard's Dillard's, Inc. is an upscale American department store chain with approximately 282 stores in 29 states and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Currently, the largest number of stores are located in Texas with 57 and Florida with 42. The ...

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...

, and

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 ...

with one vacant anchor last occupied by

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 ...

), several eateries at the mall's food court, including

Chick-fil-A Chick-fil-A ( , a Word play, play on the American English pronunciation of "wikt:filet#Pronunciation, filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain which is the country's largest which specializes in chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Coll ...

, several restaurants including Abuelo's,

Olive Garden Olive Garden is an American casual dining restaurant chain specializing in Italian-American cuisine. It is a subsidiary of Darden Restaurants, Inc., which is headquartered in Orange County, Florida. As of 2012, Olive Garden restaurants accounted ...

Red Robin Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc., more commonly known as Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews or simply Red Robin, is an American chain of casual dining restaurants founded in September 1969 in Seattle, Washington. In 1979, the first franchised ...

, Black Pelican Seafood, and Cinema Café dinner movie theater.

History

The mall's original anchors were

Miller & Rhoads Miller & Rhoads was a Virginia-based department store chain. Throughout its 105-year lifespan, the store played an active role in the Richmond, Virginia community, along with its friendly cross-street rival Thalhimers. The Richmond flagship locat ...

(sold to

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 ...

in 1990),

, and Leggett, a division of

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, ...

Hess's Hess's was a department store chain based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company started in 1897 with one store, originally known as Hess Brothers, and grew to nearly 80 stores by its peak in the late 1980s. The chain's stores were closed or sold ...

was added in 1987.

Proffitt's Proffitt's was a department store chain based in Alcoa, Tennessee. On March 8, 2006, the Proffitt's and McRae's stores were converted into Belk stores. Belk acquired the two chains in July 2005 from Saks, Inc. History Beginnings Jeweler Dav ...

, which acquired the former Hess's in 1993, was sold to

in 1996. The Leggett store briefly operated as Belk before it was traded to Dillard's in 1998 as part of a mutual exchange. The former Belk became a men's and children's auxiliary store. In 2003, Greenbrier Mall underwent an extensive renovation. Dillard's consolidated both stores to the former Proffitt's at the east end with a reconstruction. In addition, the mall received a new color scheme and its current "G" mall logo, and the former Leggett/Belk/Dillard's building was converted to

. In April 2004, during the renovation,

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 ...

acquired the mall from Gregory Greenfield & Associates, Ltd. for $102.5 million. A year later, the new JCPenney department store was completed, and officially opened at the north end of the mall. In 2006, as part of a nationwide transition, Hecht's was rebranded as

. In 2015,

Sears Holdings Sears Holdings Corporation was an American holding company headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It was the parent company of the chain stores Kmart and Sears and was founded after the former purchased the latter in 2005. It was the 20th-l ...

spun off 235 of its properties, including the Sears at Greenbrier Mall, into Seritage Growth Properties. On June 28, 2018, Sears announced that its store would be closing as part of a plan to close 78 stores nationwide. The store closed in September 2018. In 2019, Gameworks, formerly Jillians, announced it will move to MacArthur Center by spring 2020. However these plans has been shelved due to the closure of all (expect 1) of their locations. In 2020, a

Rosie's Gaming Emporium Rosie's Gaming Emporium is a chain of gambling parlors in the U.S. state of Virginia, owned by Churchill Downs, Inc. and affiliated with its Colonial Downs racetrack. The Rosie's brand was established in 2019. As of 2023, there are seven Rosie ...

, a bar, four restaurants, and a hotel was proposed to take the lot formerly occupied by Sears. On September 15, 2020, Chesapeake City council withdrawn proposal because traffic concern on 2 intersections along Greenbrier Pkwy, Crosssways Blvd, and Eden Way North. On March 10, 2022, the mall was placed into receivership with CBL & Associates anticipating returning the property to the lender. The property officially transferred to the lender in October 2022.

References

External links

Greenbrier Mall
official website
CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.
mall owner {{CBL Properties Shopping malls in Virginia Shopping malls established in 1981 CBL Properties Tourist attractions in Chesapeake, Virginia 1981 establishments in Virginia