Antique Super Mall
The Hoover Antique Super Mall (formerly Riverchase Antique Gallery) was a 36,000-square-foot antique mall located at 3454 Lorna Road, facing Municipal Drive in Hoover. Opened in 1989 by the father-son duo of Jack and Bill Nix, their location at the intersection of Municipal Drive and Lorna Road is highly visible from I-459.
Jack Nix and a business partner purchased the former Hoover Skate Center in April 1987 and operated it for two years. Then, in 1989, Bill Nix bought out his father's partner and the two converted the building to Riverchase Antique Gallery. In 2002, after renovation, the business was renamed Antique Super Mall. The Nixes opened eight other antique malls across the country during their years in the antique business, but only the Hoover location remained by 2004.
Nix was one of a number of residents and business owners who appeared before the Hoover City Council in 2004 over concerns about Hispanic migrant workers congregating at gas stations along Lorna Road. His antique store is located between Lorna Road and the former Hoover Multicultural Center, which provided social services to Hispanic workers.
The shop closed on October 31, 2006. The present structure will be demolished to make way for a new $8.2 million, five-floor, 160,000-square-foot self-storage facility called Hoover Self-Storage. As it was originally conceived, the antiques showroom would have occupied the ground floor while the other floors were used for self-storage. Subsequently, however, Nix indicated that the antiques store would not return to that location. The Nixes also own undeveloped property behind the antiques mall. Dirt from the former mall location will be used to level that property in preparation for a $1 million, 10,400-square-foot retail center with up to five tenants.
Bill Nix opened Nix Antiques on Montgomery Highway in 2006. Antique dealer Chris Feagin, who practically grew up at the Riverchase store, purchased showcases from Bill Nix to start up the new Hoover Antique Gallery on Old Columbiana Road.
| Preceded by: Hoover Skate Center |
3454 Lorna Road 1987 - 2006 |
Succeeded by: Self-storage |
References
- Taylor, Kelli Hewett (December 20, 2006) "Antiques dealers reunited on Old Columbiana Road." The Birmingham News.
- Milazzo, Don. (c. September 2006). "Self-storage, retail center will replace Antiques Super-Mall." The Hoover Gazette.
- Tomberlin, Michael. (September 20, 2006) "Center to replace antique mall." The Birmingham News.
- Kent, Dawn. (November 24, 2005) "Antique mall to be razed for shopping center, self-storage." The Birmingham News.