Mall of Memphis

The Mall of Memphis and the commercial area that developed around it prospered throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s. However, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, several deadly shootings and a rash of robberies occurred on or near the mall's parking lots. These events led to the Mall of Memphis developing a reputation for being unsafe and being nicknamed the "Mall of Murder". A study done by Rhodes College in 2006 shows the media's impact of giving the mall this reputation and also studying how the mall's nickname may have resulted in its death.{{cite web

| url = http://www.mallofmemphis.org/Main/Timeline

| title = Mall of Memphis Timeline

| access-date = September 14, 2006

| work = The Mall of Memphis

}}

In the 1990s, in an effort to escape the growing crime in the area, many of the mall's clientele moved east to Germantown, Collierville, Bartlett and Cordova, making trips to and from the mall longer and less convenient. A new mall, the Wolfchase Galleria, opened in 1997 between Bartlett and Cordova. Other shopping centers and big box retailers opened near the new mall. This took away most of the business from the Mall of Memphis and the commercial area surrounding it. Later, the closure of anchor store Service Merchandise due to a corporate bankruptcy, and the 2001 closures of anchors JCPenney and Dillard's drove away most of the remaining clientele.{{cite news |last1=Kilborn |first1=Peter T. |title=Mall closure |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cRVIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uAANAAAAIBAJ&pg=1603,4597263&dq=oak-court-mall+dillard%27s&hl=en |access-date=November 25, 2021 |work=Record-Journal |agency=New York Times News Service |date=December 28, 2003 |page=C6 |via=Google News}} Without anchor stores, the Mall of Memphis could not afford to remain in operation.

The mall underwent an extensive renovation shortly before it closed, in an unsuccessful attempt to attract new business. Although new tenants opened, the full renovation was never completed, which would have included a face lift and a name change to Memphis Park Galleria. This meant that when the mall was closed and demolished, many of its features, such as benches, railings, elevators and interior decor, were still in new condition, having seldom been used.

By April 2007, a newspaper report by The Commercial Appeal stated that Wal-Mart planned to build a 176,000 square-foot Supercenter location on a portion of the site. At the time, the retailer was under contract to purchase approximately 22 of the former mall site's {{convert|95|acre|m2}} for the project.{{cite news

|first=Amos

|last=Maki

|title=Wal-Mart to rise at old mall site

|url=http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/business/article/0,1426,MCA_440_5461948,00.html

|work=The Commercial Appeal

|date=April 4, 2007

|access-date=April 13, 2007

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070428015339/http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/business/article/0%2C1426%2CMCA_440_5461948%2C00.html

|archive-date=April 28, 2007

|url-status=dead

}} However, due to corporate decisions about building too much too fast, Wal-Mart abandoned plans to build on the site.{{cite news |last=Maki |first=Amos |title=Shopping a dead mall site -- With Wal-Mart out, owner eyes industrial development |url=http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/jan/06/shopping-a-dead-mall-site/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080109110153/http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/jan/06/shopping-a-dead-mall-site/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 9, 2008 |access-date=November 25, 2021 |newspaper=The Commercial Appeal |date=January 6, 2008}}

The site of the Mall is now a TAG Truck Center by Lonestar Truck Group.{{cite news |last1=Wade |first1=Don |title=TAG Truck Center Prepares to Open On Former Mall of Memphis Site |url=https://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2017/dec/2/tag-truck-center-prepares-to-open-on-former-mall-of-memphis-site/ |access-date=January 22, 2022 |work=The Daily News |date=December 2, 2017}}{{cite news |last1=Corbet |first1=Michelle |title=See inside: TAG Truck Center's new $30 million dealership on former Mall of Memphis site |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2018/01/23/see-inside-tag-truck-centers-new-30-million.html |access-date=January 22, 2022 |work=Memphis Business Journal |date=January 23, 2018}}{{cite news |last1=Risher |first1=Wayne |title=TAG Truck Center marks completion of Mall of Memphis site revitalization |url=https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/money/industries/logistics/2018/03/28/tag-truck-center-mall-memphis-site-revitalization/460190002/ |access-date=January 22, 2022 |work=The Commercial Appeal |date=March 28, 2018}}

• Dead mall

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.deadmalls.com/malls/mall_of_memphis.html Deadmalls.com: Mall of Memphis]
• [http://www.mallofmemphis.org/ MallofMemphis.org Tribute wiki]

{{s-start}}

{{s-ach|rec}}

{{s-bef|rows=2|before=Hickory Hollow Mall
Nashville, Tennessee}}

{{s-ttl|title=Largest mall in Tennessee|years=1981–1988}}

{{s-aft|rows=2|after=Hamilton Place
Chattanooga, Tennessee}}

{{s-end}}

{{Memphis shopping centers}}

{{Memphis, Tennessee}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mall Of Memphis}}

Category:1981 establishments in Tennessee

Category:2003 disestablishments in Tennessee

Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 2004

Category:Buildings and structures in Memphis, Tennessee

Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Tennessee

Category:Demolished shopping malls in the United States

Category:Shopping malls established in 1981

Category:Shopping malls disestablished in 2003

Category:Shopping malls in Tennessee

Category:Tourist attractions in Memphis, Tennessee