ASHLEY PLAZA MALL: CHARLESTON, SC
Randy Barton's Commentary
Posted January 2, 2006 (user submitted)
Ashley Plaza Mall was built in 1970 in Charleston, South Carolina when a vacant
space between an existing department store and grocery store in a strip
shopping center was filled in and an enclosed shopping mall created. This was
the first "true" indoor/enclosed mall in Charleston. The site, situated
between 2 major highways in a growing suburb was ripe for development. When
construction started on the mall, the site featured a J.M. Field's Department
Store which was connected to a Pantry Pride supermarket. Similar to today's
super centers, the stores were connected internally and it was possible to go
from the grocery store to the department store without having to go outside.
Also on the site was Condon's Department Store, a locally owned department
store with a location in downtown Charleston which was founded in the 1800's.
This was Condon's first attempt at a 2nd store and it was meant to serve the
growing population outside of the downtown area. When the mall opened, a 3rd
department store was created - Edward's - also a locally owned department store
which was originally founded in downtown Charleston. Edward's was similar to a
small-scale Wal-Mart or Kmart. The mall also featured a 2-screen General
Cinema and national tenants such as Revco Drug, Radio Shack, Thom McAn, Hickory
Farms, Piece Goods Shop, Friedman's Jewelers and a mix of locally owned shops.
The mall was dealt a crushing blow in the mid to late 1970's with the
bankruptcy of J.M. Fields and Pantry Pride, although these spaces were quickly
re-leased to Woolco Department Stores and Red & White supermarkets. At about
this time, Edward's was sold to Kuhn's Department Stores, a national chain who
operated a concept known as "Big K" (not to be confused with Kmart's "Big K"
stores). Kuhn's rebranded Edward's as "Big K/Edward's" and operated the store
under this name for a short period of time before being bought out by Wal-Mart,
who decided to discontinue the Big K stores as they were much smaller than a
typical Wal-Mart. The former Big K/Edward's space sat vacant for some time and
was occupied by several regionally based tenants including an unfinished wood
furniture store, a mattress store and an imports store. Another blow to the
center came with the announcement that Woolworth had decided to close all of
it's Woolco stores. The Woolco at Ashley Plaza Mall sat vacant for a number of
years before being subdivided and turned into a Brendle's Catalog Showroom and
a regional clothing store known as United Clothing, which also quickly folded.
In 1981, Citadel Mall opened less than 3 miles away. The majority of the
remaining tenants at Ashley Plaza Mall closed one by one leaving the mall
virtually empty. It was dealt a final blow with the closure of the General
Cinema and shortly thereafter by Hurricane Hugo in 1989 which ripped off
portions of the mall's facade, destroyed Brendle's and the neighboring grocery
store. The mall's owners, LaFrak Organization and The Cordish Company
announced plans to revitalize the center and rebranded it "Ashley Landing."
A
colorful new stucco facade was added, new more modern storefronts and signage,
and extensive landscaping.
Brendle's reopened, the neighboring grocery store space was leased by Big Lots,
and Burlington Coat Factory located at the center occupying space which was
configured by tearing out the individual mall stores and corridors to make one
large store. Condon's Department Store closed after over 30 years at the
center after a dispute with it's landlords. Today the shopping center features
A.J. Wright, Dollar Tree, Pivotal Fitness (a large 24-hour fitness center), Big
Lots, Burlington Coat Factory, several restaurants, and the only original
tenant - CVS/pharmacy (then known as Revco). Interestingly enough, the former
General Cinemas space is now occupied by a church and a portion of the former
Edward's store is also occupied by a 2nd church! Although Ashley Plaza Mall is
gone, the new "Ashley Landing" continues to prosper as a strip shopping center
in the heart of Charleston's suburban commercial district.
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Mark Podmore’s Commentary:
User submitted Jun 2008I was a child living in Charleston, SC, during the late 1960s/70s. When Ashley Plaza Mall opened, my parents would bring me and my three brothers with them every Friday night. Mom would grocery shop at Pantry Pride and Dad would peruse items in J.M. Field's.
My brothers and I would roam the mall; sometimes catching a movie. I had a cousin who owned an Orange Julius store in the mall.
At Christmas, Santa would be stationed right in front of the cinemas and we still have a photo of me and my brothers with Santa!
Many years later, after the mall's closing, I went to a DMV office to renew my license. The DMV office had an entrance adjacent to the rear of the cinema. One of the DMV employees allowed me to go into the entrance of the cinema and everything looked the same -- same salmon tile floor and all!
Thanks!
Mark Podmore
Columbia, SC
william hamby’s Commentary:
User submitted Dec 2006i just wanted to share my experiences with you all about going to the bigk edwards/ ashley plaza mall as a kid. i love reading these stories myself so i thought that maybe i could give back just a bit. well, i left charleston in late 1982 and relocated to florida with my mother and brother.
my best memories of bigk were going to the cinema there and playing the arcade games that used to stand up right behind the ticket box( you had to walk up some stairs to get in the theatre). the first and only movie that we ever saw there was The Empire Strikes Back. they used to keep it hella cold in the theatre and when the hoth planet scenes would play it made me feel like i was there, it just left one hell of an impression. my brother and i used to go over to the Woolco and play in the toy section for as long as possible (until my mothers husband made us go) and we both had our favorites. mine was always super joe or the 6 million dollar man figs and my bro was all about sasquatch. :)
AFTER the movies we would all go to a little arcade just up the road called the Sundae Bar and Gameroom ( right next to showbiz pizza place)i used to love going there, it was all a kid could ever want. after a couple of hours there, we would go back home and disappear around the way to where they were building the Citadel Mall. WE WOULD PLAY IN THE DRAINAGE CANALS (disguting, i know) and wander through a partially complete citadel. we lived in a trailer park on Sam Rittenberg blvd and had the time of our lives there.
not all of it good, but not all bad by any stretch. One of the best things in the world to do was to walk over to the Lionel Playworld and score some action figures or see a movie at the Ultravision Theatre( star trek 2 and raiders of the lost ark) to be exact. I would love to see some pictures of all of these places again, the way they used to be. i was in charleston in december of 2004 and with little exception, everything was different.