Perimeter Mall is a

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

in Perimeter Center,

Dunwoody, Georgia Dunwoody is a city located in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. As a northern suburb of Atlanta, Dunwoody is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. It was incorporated as a city on December 1, 2008 but its area establishment dates back to ...

, a suburb 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 498,7 ...

, near the interchange of Interstate 285 (the Perimeter) and

Georgia State Route 400 Georgia State Route 400 (SR 400; commonly known as Georgia 400) is a freeway and state highway in the U.S. state of Georgia serving parts of Metro Atlanta. It is concurrent with U.S. Route 19 (US 19) from exit 4 ( In ...

. It is the second largest shopping mall 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 ...

, the largest being the Mall of Georgia in

Buford, Georgia Buford is a city in Gwinnett and Hall counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,144. Most of the city is in Gwinnett County, which is part of the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta Metropolitan ...

. The mall is anchored by

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 ...

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and ...

, Von Maur, 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 ...

. Perimeter Mall is different from other shopping malls in Atlanta in that it includes open-air shops, upscale restaurants, and salons, connected by gardens and paths. It also features

valet parking Valet parking is a parking service offered by some restaurants, stores, and other businesses. In contrast to "self-parking", where customers find a parking space on their own, customers' vehicles are parked for them by a person called a ''valet ...

. It can be accessed by

MARTA Marta may refer to: People * Marta (given name), a feminine given name * Märta, a feminine given name * Marta (surname) : István Márta composer * Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer Places * Marta (river ...

Dunwoody station Dunwoody is a train station in Dunwoody, Georgia, on the Red Line of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) rail system. It is located at the southwest corner of Perimeter Mall, and also serves the surrounding high-rise offi ...

, which opened at the southwest corner of its

parking lot A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...

in 1996.

History

Perimeter Mall opened in 1971 and was the fourth mall to open in DeKalb County, after

Avondale Mall Avondale Mall, originally known as ''Columbia Mall'', opened in 1964 as an enclosed mall in the state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The mall's original name came from its location at the intersection of Columbia & Memorial Drive ...

in 1964,

North DeKalb Mall North DeKalb Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located in unincorporated DeKalb County, near Decatur, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Opened in 1965, the center currently comprises more than eighty-five stores on one level. Anchor s ...

in 1965, and the

Gallery at South DeKalb The Gallery at South DeKalb, formerly South DeKalb Mall, is a shopping mall owned by Thor Equities. The mall is located at the intersection of Candler Road and Interstate 20 in the Panthersville CDP of DeKalb County, Georgia. History The mal ...

in 1968. Its original

anchor store In retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are typically located at the ends of malls. Wit ...

s were Rich's and

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, Gi ...

, which made it very similar in design and layout to the nearby

Greenbriar Mall Greenbriar Mall is a shopping mall in the Greenbriar neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia that opened in 1965. The anchor stores are Beauty Master, Dollar Tree, Greenbriar Furniture, Macy's (closed April 2021), and Citi Trends. There are 2 vacant ...

. Perimeter Mall was the first mall in metro Atlanta to be located outside of I-285. In 1977, the first Great American Cookie Company store opened at the mall. In 1982, an additional wing that included a Davison's was added. This gave the mall a T shape. Davison's became

in 1986. On April 25, 1990, James Calvin Brady, A 31-year-old man with a psychiatric history opened fire with a revolver in the Food court, killing one person and injuring 4 others before turning himself in to the police. A brand new 5-level parking garage was built in November 1997. On February 20, 1998,

opened its first location in the

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

, a 3-level 230,000 square foot store in the mall. The same year Nordstrom opened, the mall was expanded again.

Cheesecake Factory The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is an American restaurant company and distributor of cheesecakes based in the United States. The company operates 219 full-service restaurants: 206 under The Cheesecake Factory brand and 13 under the Grand Lux C ...

would officially open at Perimeter Mall in 2000.

closed that same year, and the store was

demolish Demolition (also known as razing, cartage, and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down of buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a bu ...

ed to make way for a new

, which opened in 2005.

The Rouse Company The Rouse Company, founded by Hunter Moss and James W. Rouse in 1939, was a publicly held shopping mall and community developer from 1956 until 2004, when General Growth Properties (GGP) purchased the company. Beginnings - Moss-Rouse Company ...

, the original owner of the mall, sold the property to General Growth Properties in 2003. Rich's became

Rich's-Macy's Rich's was a department store retail chain, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, which operated in the southern U.S. from 1867 until March 6, 2005 when the nameplate was eliminated and replaced by Macy's. Many of the former Rich's stores today f ...

in 2003 and the original Macy's closed and became

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the business. It became a di ...

the same year.

became just Macy's in 2005. In 2012, it was announced Von Maur would replace Bloomingdale's which would also close. On January 5, announced that it would take over that location and would set up its second location in Georgia at the mall. In 2013, the

food court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dinner. ...

was renovated and a

Chipotle Mexican Grill Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (, ), often known simply as Chipotle, is an American chain of fast casual restaurants specializing in bowls, tacos and Mission burritos made to order in front of the customer. Chipotle operates restaurants in the Uni ...

was added. In 2015–2016, the mall underwent renovations including new ceramic flooring, new lighting, modern seating areas, updated restrooms and new signage. Some of the mall's original 1970s decor was replaced. Finish Line and Lazy Dog will open.

List of anchor stores

References

External links

Official website
{{Brookfield Properties 1971 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Brookfield Properties Buildings and structures in DeKalb County, Georgia Dunwoody, Georgia Shopping malls established in 1971 Shopping malls in the Atlanta metropolitan area Tourist attractions in DeKalb County, Georgia