Eastwood Mall (Birmingham)
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Eastwood Mall was an enclosed shopping mall located in metropolitan Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It was the second enclosed shopping mall in the Southeastern United States; this following the opening of North Carolina's Charlottetown Mall, which debuted on October 28, 1959.
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[edit] History
Eastwood Mall opened on August 25, 1960. It was located on Crestwood Boulevard (U.S. Highway 78), adjacent to the future route of I-20, and near the suburb of Irondale. The original tenant list included J.J. Newberry and S.S. Kresge Corporation dime stores, as well as J.C. Penney, a Kroger supermarket, and Colonial Stores supermarket, (which became a Hill's Food Store, and eventually evolved into Winn-Dixie). The mall had no major department stores until the mid-to-late 1960s. Anchors that have been connected to the center over time include the local chains Parisian, Pizitz, and Yielding's, as well as Service Merchandise.
Eastwood Mall was the creation of Newman H. Waters, who owned a chain of drive-in theaters in the Birmingham area, including one adjacent to where Eastwood was built. Early advertisements for the mall boasted of its "Air Conditioned Sidewalks" and dubbed it "The Merchandise City of the Future".[citation needed]
For quite some time, the mall was unique in that it had two cafeterias under the same name and management, one at each end of the mall; Barber Dairies was the original owner, who later sold out to Britling Cafeterias, who themselves sold one cafeteria to another operator and closed the other (Pioneer Cafeteria).
A movie theater opened on Christmas Day 1964 and was equipped to show Cinerama movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Ice Station Zebra. Eastwood Mall Theatre was also the site of the world premiere of the 1976 film Stay Hungry, which was set -and filmed- in Birmingham. Co-star Arnold Schwarzenegger, who won a Golden Globe award for his role in the movie, appeared at the opening, largely unrecognized by fans.
At the time of its 1966 expansion to 70 stores, Eastwood Mall was believed to be the largest enclosed mall in the Deep South, eclipsing anything that much-larger Atlanta had at the time.[citation needed]
In 1967, Newman Waters sold Eastwood Mall to Alabama Farm Bureau (today known as ALFA), which owned the property until the mid 1980s.
[edit] Decline
Eastwood Mall was once one of the leading malls in Birmingham, remaining enormously successful for 30 years and continuing to hold its own in the 1990s
In 1989, Eastwood Mall received a facelift, adding a food court with a glass atrium and a wall of video screens that made one big image, a Books-A-Million, and a larger space for Parisian. When larger cinemas came into favor, the Eastwood Mall Theatre was closed.
However, the renovations came with a cost. Mismanagemaent involved with the mall renovations led to overcharged rents, which drove many of Eastwood's old-time tenants out, therefore turning the mall into a virtual dead mall.
Wal-Mart bought the property from Lehman Brothers (the last owner of Eastwood Mall), and demolition of the mall began on June 23, 2006. It was completed about 10 weeks later. A Wal-Mart Supercenter opened on the site on October 22, 2007. This replaced the smaller Wal-Mart in nearby Irondale. It serves of one of the anchors of what is now called Eastwood Village, in honor of the South's first enclosed mall. Other anchor tenants of Eastwood Village, as well as some smaller shops, opened before Wal-Mart, and more are scheduled to open as of late 2007. Other anchors are: Party City, Ross Dress for Less, Old Navy, Ofice Depot, and Shoe Carnival. Inside the "Retail Center" entrance of Wal-Mart is a historical tribute to Eastwood Mall that contains a brief history of the mall, as well as several photos. The display was the work of Friends of Eastwood Mall in cooperation with Wal-Mart. Many Eastwood Mall fans, as well as the Friends of Eastwood Mall, hope to see an official historical marker placed on the site of Eastwood Village honoring Eastwood Mall.
