Born and raised in Gainesville, GA and Lakeshore mall was my childhood spot. When I was hanging out here my family would always go to the Can't believe its Frozen Yogurt store and go straght to the arcade spot they had. I remember they had a lock out night and play all the games out want until the AM's. I went back when they started the gutting and destruction of all the old stores. I look at this video now some of my childhood spots still there. The Books-a-million is the OG store that stands there by this day.
When I was a kid this mall was soo fun to go to, it had a movie theater, arcade and a food court... and a few years back it had a carousel but now it's mega dead 😢
Spent many of my teenage years back in the early 1990s at this mall. Worked at the mall in the now defunct food court for nearly 11 years as well as few other places in the mall during that time. Pearl Nix, one of the people behind the creation of this mall, is a distant relative by marriage. As a mall employee, I can tell you that as much good that Colonial properties did for Lakeshore, it did a ton of damage thanks to issues with their security staff harassing mall vendors and customers among other things. Hundreds if not thousands of customers were told that their business was not wanted at that mall by management and security. They listened and went to places like Discover Mills and The Mall of GA which welcomed their business. I don't know the logic behind what happened but I know for a fact that it happened. Unlike what you mentioned in the video, I don't have a lot hope for the future of the property. The Square in Gainesville and its surrounding blocks is doing amazing business and I don't think the people who now own this mall have the guts to follow suit with what was done to make the area around the square a commercial success. Mind you, I'd love to be proven wrong but, based on what I know of the area, I will probably not be. Really sad too because I have so many memories of my teens and twenties (and even before) connected to that mall.
Welcome to my hometown! This mall was an incredible piece of our city back in the day. It was really considered the hub of downtown at one point. Now that all the buzz has moved to the main square, along with the popularity of the Mall of Georgia in Buford, Lakeshore has gone downhill. I will say, though, you should come back and see how packed this place gets during the Christmas season. A lot of seasonal shops rent out spaces, and a Santa's Lap event packs this place out. Us locals are hopeful for some of the rumors we've heard from developers' plans... coworking areas, pop up restaurant spaces, mixed use areas, etc.
I have to say I liked the aesthetics of this mall too. It's modern in a very tasteful way that fits the area it serves. Plus the fountain and trees in the center court give it a lot of character.
Glad you came to that mall. It was a fun place to be. I live 10 miles from it. Dick's took the fun away from it. I also heard it is going to be redeveloped soon. It got sold to someone else. If it does get redeveloped, I'm gonna miss that mall. I have childhood memories of that place. I made 3 videos about that place. I need to redo that.
I like the renovation, that Colonial did with this mall. A modern renovation, that doesn't look ugly and actually is decent. I didn't realize this mall, used to have a JCPenney mall through anchor. Good job with this video!
It was a great mall back in the day. After the Mall of Georgia opened it lost a lot of shoppers to the bigger, new mall. You should have seen the beautiful hand carved Italian Carousel that was at the food court. Lots of good memories.
This has an updated look, but if you imagine this with a 70s/80s vibe, this is almost exactly what Lexington Mall in Kentucky was like. Same size, same number of shops, same plus sign layout with anchors at the tips and a social area in the center. Lexington Mall's logo was even designed to mimic this layout. I think it was this channel where I saw someone in the comments talking about Lex Mall, sorry if not. Blast from the past for me though, I'm gonna have to visit this one some time. Thanks for the upload.
Back in the day when Chick Fil A was in the food court.. the arcade and the cheap theater tickets. The good times! I still live in Gainesville and i havent set foot in the mall ages ago. well i guess dicks counts since ive gone in there to get fishing stuff.
This mall is deceptively empty for having such a nice full main entryway. The center court is really nice, I am guessing the different colored lights are from the old days.
Does Gainesville need another strip mall? Well. NO. But Lakeshore Mall wasn't a 'strip mall'. It was actually the best shopping area in Gainesville in the day. But I guess the owners would be more interested in making it another desolate waste area I guess. Hell, then they could probably right it off as a tax break these days
Great Vid Doomie, it truly is a sad seeing for one of my nearby malls! It is struggling although there are new tenants inside, a few of them were new! Like the toy store closed and reopened and a few of the others! Great Vid! Have a great day
