A Visit to Citadel Mall (SC) 

I live right by there, and right now, I go there every day. I almost cry with all the stores closing. Respect for this mall

Northwoods Mall isn’t newer. It opened in 1972.

@@SCICU2 I stand corrected. I had never been to that mall when I was there in the 80s, so I assumed it was newer. Guess I should have looked it up first. Doh!

@@StaPuft99 it's easy to assume that because while under the ownership of CBL & Associates they definitely pumped much more money into remodeling Northwoods Mall's interior and exterior on several occasions while spending nothing to improve Citadel Mall. A portion of Northwoods is actually newer than Citadel, as the wing that currently houses Dillard's was added in 1985 when Thalhimer's was added as an anchor (in the space that now houses Dillard's). The Jacobs Visconsi & Jacobs group (later The Richard E. Jacobs Group) built Citadel Mall and acquired Northwoods around 1985 at which time they remodeled it, added JCPenney and built the wing leading from Center Court to Thalhimer's (now Dillard's).

CBL & Associates never spent a time toward improving Citadel Mall. Had they invested over time in keeping the mall relevant and modern, it wouldn't be in the place it is now. It's in a great location. But when you own a property that large and never touch it in any way to improve it, no merchant in their right mind is going to want to make a long term leasing investment.

I agree the opening music of this video was particularly awesome.

They should have deep pockets. The "SRE" in their name (TMP SRE 1 LLC) stands for Singerman Real Estate - a Chicago hedge fund with $$$.

They haven’t done crap so far, I go there only for the target since I would need to go all the way mount pleasant for the other target, and with gas prices and time, it really doesn’t make since. But if going to the mount pleasant location was a realistic option, I would go there.

Seems like most that had a Sears also had a JCP to go along with it

@@WhittyPics yeah that makes sense

@@WhittyPics Around Boston many malls didn’t have a JCPenney, until some were added on in the 90s.

@@butterboiii9810 We had Jordan Marsh and Filene's

It's hard to believe that Sears significantly expanded that store in the 1990's by adding onto the wing where the auto center is located. If you look at the exterior you can see where the brick changes color about 3/4 of the way down the front wall of the building.

I wish they'd bring back the fountains. The original fountains were very cool and extremely architecturally interesting. There were 3 large fountains total which were replaced by smaller concrete fountains during the 2000's Richard E. Jacob's remodel. While under receivership the most recent concrete fountains were removed and are one of the main elements whose loss made the mall extremely BLAND and uninteresting. Here's hoping TMP SRE 1 LLC will add fountains back to the mix.

It's hard to even picture how it used to be. It was so incredibly nice and had a great tenant mix of fairly upper-end stores. Sadly the stores they featured all ended up fading away on a national level and Citadel Mall really had nothing to do with their loss. Many of the chain stores in Citadel sadly all went bankrupt across the country at the same time leaving Citadel with huge voids all at one time that they were not able to recover from.

I thought that was quite ironic as well. I think they've since fixed it. Thankfully!

I agree.

There also was a corn dog place and arcade at that entrance.

It's my understanding that Rue21 signed a lease contingent upon the mall adding Citi Trends. Rue21 was added and lasted less than a year after the parent company began closing locations. Mall shoppers weren't particularly thrilled about Citi Trends opening at the mall. Their lease at nearby Ashley Landing shopping center had already been terminated as that center's owners sought to bring in more upscale tenants. The move to Citadel Mall wasn't seen as a positive step toward helping to attract nicer stores at Citadel with Citi Trends being a lower-end discount store. Citi Trends was added while the mall was in receivership so I'm certain that the main goal at that time was leasing space vs securing higher-end tenants. The Citi Trends space encompasses the original Eckerd Drug space so it's quite large and I'm sure the lease of that much space to anyone was considered a win.

The Cititrends space was originally an Eckerd Drugs and the portion where the entrance is located was One Hour Photo and a hallway leading to the mall office and restrooms. The hallway was relocated to accommodate Cititrends.

It’s a shame that the American Military Museum had to vacate for Cititrends. There are so many empty spaces. It’s too bad that they couldn’t relocate to one.

Its just sad they couldnt get any camera footage of Charlestown Square because THAT mall had a look that made it stand out.

Northwoods is doing okay.

October 2020

@@DoomieGruntVentures Thanks.

The UFO-style fixtures are actually a newly-installed high-tech security and wireless Internet system.

Here is more info on the lighting/Internet system. The manufacturer set up a display explaining their technology in the former Kay Jewelers space. juganu.com/

The two malls here in Charleston were designed with zero feel or flavor of the community where they are actually located... this “might” change based upon the EpiCenter plans... but let’s see.

I agree. It had many more tropical plants and Palmetto trees back in the day. More greenery and the Palmetto trees definitely need to be brought back.

They took alot of that out. If you look at the floor you will see spots where the flora was but they re tiled it.

Misery loves company