Riverchase Galleria

File:Center Court of the Riverchase Galleria.jpg

The Riverchase Galleria's center court.

The Riverchase Galleria, locally known as The Galleria, is a large, super–regional shopping mall Hoover. It is managed and partially owned by General Growth Properties and is Alabama's largest enclosed shopping center with 1.9 million square feet of total retail floor area. Its 218 stores and restaurants are also one of the state's most popular tourist destinations, attracting customers from neighboring states. During 2008 the mall reported 15 million shoppers, making it Alabama's busiest shopping center. The mall's general manager is Sam Warbington.

Located on U.S. Highway 31 between Interstate 459 and Alabama State Highway 150, the Riverchase Galleria complex includes the two-level Galleria Mall, the 15-story, 330-room Wynfrey Hotel, and the 17-story, 285,000 square foot Galleria Tower office building, both accessible from the mall's central atrium. The Galleria is part of the Riverchase planned development, including a residential community and a business community located in the southern part of the city of Hoover. The style of the Riverchase Galleria is modeled after the Houston Galleria and is notable for having the "world's longest skylight" at 200 feet.

History

The Galleria was developed by Jim Wilson & Associates and opened on February 19, 1986. Initially 1,200,000 square feet with four anchor stores — two Birmingham-based chains, Parisian and Pizitz — along with Rich's and J. C. Penney. In March 1987, the mall added its first Macy's store at center court, marking the company's first store in Alabama. Within the same year, the Pizitz chain was acquired by McRae's of Jackson, Mississippi, and subsequently renamed. In 1995 Parisian expanded their store by almost two-thirds, while in 1996 Sears and a new wing were added, making Riverchase Galleria a total 1.9 million square feet in size. The expansion made it the largest mixed-use project in the Southeast, and one of the top 10 largest mixed-use projects in the United States. The mall was renovated in 1998 and again in 2001.

In 2003, the mall began to feel the effects of department store consolidation when the Macy's anchor store closed, while the Rich's location was renamed Rich's-Macy's. Following the closure of the original Macy's location, the property was sold to Saks Incorporated, by then the parent of both McRae's and Parisian. Saks kept the west side anchor space vacant for more than a year before reopening the extensively renovated store in October 2004 under its Proffitt's division, giving the company three different anchors at Riverchase. On March 6, 2005, the Rich's-Macy's store was officially rechristened as Macy's. Later in 2005, Saks sold its Proffitt's division — including most of the McRae's chain — to Belk. As a result, Saks closed the 131,000 sq ft McRae's store. Belk dissolved the separate Proffitt's organization, and on March 8, 2006 (almost exactly one year following the Rich's conversion) the Proffitt's store at Riverchase became the mall's first Belk store.

In late 2003, Jim Wilson & Associates sold 50% of the Galleria to General Growth Properties, which assumed management control. General Growth also owns Century Plaza in Birmingham. Sam Warbington became the mall's general manager as of March 17, 2008, having previously managed Brookwood Village.

In 2006, Belk acquired the Parisian store chain from Saks Incorporated. Additionally, the former Pizitz/McRae's location simultaneously became available for occupancy. The store had remained vacant since the 2005 closure of McRae's as a result of a lawsuit between the Pizitz family (which had retained ownership of the store real estate after its sale in 1987) and Saks Incorporated (which inherited the lease obligations of its defunct McRae's operation). As part of its merger of the Parisian stores into its operations, Belk closed its location in the original Macy's space in favor of the former Parisian. The upper level of the former Pizitz/McRae's has since been converted to a Belk Home & Children's Store, with its grand opening held on November 14, 2007.

In 2010, the City of Hoover commissioned a study to determine if it were feasible to construct a small convention center, with 100,000 square feet of meeting rooms, a 25,000 square-foot exhibition hall, and a 2,000-seat theater which could also be used for Hoover City Schools programs.

Layout

The Galleria is generally rectangular and tilted slightly northwest of a north-south axis along its length. J. C. Penney has occupied the north end anchor space since the mall opened in 1986. At the south end the mall splits along a diagonal into two more anchor spaces, a closer one to the southeast and slightly farther one to the southwest. The southwest anchor is part of the aforementioned mall expansion added in 1996.

A full-size, authentic 19th Century Dentzel Carousel is located in the food court in the central atrium. In the past, the carousel was dismantled for part of the year, with foilage and a fountain in its place, and reassembled for the holiday season. Currently, the carousel has remained in place for several years. Occasionally, the traditional carousel animals are replaced with reindeer for the holiday season.

In the middle of the eastern side is the Wynfrey Hotel with anchor store spaces abutting the north and south sides of it. Across from the Wynfrey, the Galleria Tower rises in the middle of the western side with another anchor space extending to the west of it. A 2,798-space parking deck lies to the north of this anchor while a 2,915-space parking deck lies to the south. A U-shaped ramp surrounds the anchor, providing automobiles direct access to both the main level of the Galleria Tower (above the mall's upper level) and the top levels of the two parking decks.

Most of the mall entrances are provided through the anchor stores or via the multiple pedestrian bridges from the parking decks which connect to the mall's upper level and the anchor store between the decks. The mall can also be accessed directly from the Wynfrey and via elevator from the Galleria Tower. There is a single entrance going directly from the parking lot to the mall's interior between the Wynfrey and the southeast anchor.

The area immediately surrounding the mall is all parking lot surrounded by a road known as Galleria Circle. Along the outer perimeter of Galleria Circle are a series of outparcels occupied by restaurants and retailers. The parking lot surrounding the mall and two parking decks give the center over 10,000 total parking spaces.

Access

When it opened in 1986, access to the Galleria was limited to three entrances on U.S. Highway 31 and two on Alabama State Highway 150. The mall's opening led to frequent congestion at the nearby I-459/Highway 31 intersection on both roadways. Proposals for an additional exit going directly to the Galleria were made as early as 1994. Construction finally began in 2000 and the exit, including the Galleria Boulevard flyover, opened in late 2002. Galleria Boulevard runs north-south just to the west of the Galleria, between it and the adjacent Patton Creek Shopping Center, which was built in 2003.

Tenants

Anchors

Location	Current store	Square footage	History
North end	J.C. Penney	135,163	Opened February 1986.
East side, north	Belk	203,500	Opened February 1986 as Parisian, converted September 2007 to Belk.
West side	Vacant	255,000	Opened April 1987 as Macy's, closed April 2003 after acquisition of Rich's. Opened October 2004 as Proffitt's, purchased 2005 by Belk, converted March 2006 to Belk, moved September 2007.
East side, south	Belk Home and Children's, upper level only	131,000	Opened February 1986 as Pizitz, acquired by and renamed 1987 to Pizitz, closed 2005. Opened November 2007 as Belk Home.
Southeast end	Macy's	220,000	Opened February 1986 as Rich's, renamed February 2003 to Rich's-Macy's, renamed March 2005 to Macy's.
Southwest end	Sears	150,000	Opened 1996 as part of mall expansion.

Riverchase Galleria Anchor Store Timeline
Location	1980s								1990s																				2000s																				2010s
	6		7		8		9		0		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		0		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		0		1		2		3		4
North	JCPenney
West				Macy's																																		Proffitt's				Belk
East-North	Parisian																																											Belk
East-South	Pizitz			McRae's																																								Belk Home (upper level only)
Southeast	Rich's																																			Rich's-Macy's				Macy's
Southwest																						Sears

Others

• Avon (opened 2009)
• Bath and Body Works
• Bromberg's (1988–2010)
• Brooks Brothers (?–2010)
• BumperNets
• CCS
• FInish Line (opened 2010)
• Francesca's Collections
• Helzberg Diamonds (The state's first, opened on November 1, 2007)
• Learning Express (opened 2009.)
• LEGO store (the state's first, opened July 30, 2009)
• The Limited
• Lotus Boutique (opened 2008)
• Pink
• Sephora (The state's first, opened on May 5, 2006)
• Thomas Kinkade Gallery (?–2009)
• U. S. Post Office
• The Limited (opened September 16, 2010)
• Wet Seal (opened Fall 2010)
• Finish Line (opened Fall 2010)
• Victoria's Secret
• Wet Seal (opened 2010)

On November 30, 2007 the Galleria announced that Nordstrom planned to open their first Alabama location in the mall in 2012. That plan was canceled in 2009 as General Growth Properties reorganized under bankruptcy.

Outparcels

• Aveda Institute (2010–present), formerly the Galleria 10 (1988–2005)
• Bonefish Grill
• California Pizza Kitchen
• Costco
• Home Depot
• FedEx Kinko's
• Henig Furs & Leather (2010–present), formerly Just For Feet (The chain's first store 1988–2004)
• J. Alexander's
• J. Blackburn
• Olive Garden
• STIX restaurant (1997–present)

Trivia

• Taylor Hicks, the 2006 winner of American Idol, worked at the Riverchase Galleria, where he dressed as an Easter Bunny.
• An easily overlooked monument is on the second level in front of the escalator. A floor tile is engraved with an inscription identifying it as the final tile installed in the mall's 2001 renovation.

References

• Williams, Roy L. (March 3, 2009) "Space & Rocket Center tops list of state attractions, tourism agency says." Birmingham News
• Kent, Dawn (May 1, 2009) "Plans canceled for Nordstrom store at Galleria." Birmingham News
• Kent, Dawn (August 28, 2009) "Hoover's Riverchase Galleria foresees better business on horizon." Birmingham News
• Riverchase Galleria. (December 21, 2009) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia - accessed January 21, 2010
• Walton, Val (September 26, 2010) "Hoover studying convention center plan for old Macy's space at Riverchase Galleria." Birmingham News

External links

• Riverchase Galleria website
• Riverchase Galleria leasing info at generalgrowth.com