Avondale Mall

Description

Avondale Mall, originally known as Columbia Mall, opened in 1964 as an enclosed mall in the state of Georgia, United States. The mall's original name came from its location at the intersection of Columbia & Memorial Drives near Avondale Estates. It was demolished in 2007.AnchorsThe mall's original anchors were Davison's and Sears. After Sears closed and before renovations began, some indoor and outdoor shopping mall scenes for the Chuck Norris movie "Invasion USA" were filmed here. The "entry" crash of the Chevy pickup into the mall was shot at the mall's main entrance. The scenes inside the mall with the Nissan pickup were inside the mall nearest the Davison's end. The escalator scene was inside the old Sears building, and the "exit" crash through the window was on the western side of Sears on the first level (the movie then cut to an exterior scene of a mall in South Florida).After the filming, Columbia Mall was renovated and renamed "Avondale Mall" in an effort to reverse years of decline. The mall was expanded into both floors of the former Sears store, which were subdivided into smaller tenant spaces. At one time, the lower level of the old Sears building housed a new, smaller Sears Outlet Store, which became a Goody's for some time. The mall also featured a McCrory's.Later yearsThe decline at the mall began in the 1970s and 1980s. When the two anchor stores left in 1984 and 1995, the mall was unable to attract replacements. Management tried in 1995 to increase foot traffic. After Davison's/Macy's left the mall, that anchor building's upper floor was converted to a 16 screen movie theater, while the lower floor remained vacant except for a newly built stairwell leading from the lower level mall to the upper level theaters. This addition to the mall may have helped keep them up and running for another 6 years, but the mall was closed at the end of 2001.