MACON, Ga. — Macon-Bibb Commissioners are set to take a look at the progress over at the Macon Mall Tuesday morning.
The county plans to develop an amphitheater next door, build one of the world's largest indoor pickleball courts at the mall, and put courtrooms and government offices there, too.
Meanwhile, it's the holiday season when the Macon Mall should be seeing holiday shoppers.
Just two weeks out from Christmas, classic carols echo through the mall. Christmas trees stand dressed in ornaments. Lights hang from the ceiling. All of this is to get shoppers into the holiday spending spirit.
But only a dozen or so shoppers -- if that -- walk the stores at any given time. Shoppers like Patrick Tharpe say today was one of the busiest days he's seen.
"It's picking up pretty good," Tharpe said.
The mall is now cut down to just five restaurants and 15 stores, including just one department store, Burlington.
The businesses around the struggling shopping mall are seeing significantly less traffic or are even closed-- like Rooms-to-Go, Office Depot, O'Charley's Chuck E. Cheese and more.
"It's not what the Macon Mall used to be," said Sherika Carr when she was leaving the mall.
Once, the mall was filled with a dozens of stores including at least five large department chains that attracted thousands during Christmas time.
"I'd love for it to be what it was 20 years ago," said Yvonne Bryant.
13WMAZ archive video shows Black Friday shopping in the mall's heyday-- 1984. Dolls and other toys flew off the shelves at Playland as parents crowded the registers.
Bryant says she remembers a time when the mall was this busy. Now she's the assistant manager at Shoe Department and says the traffic is nowhere near what it was.
"It was bustlingly. It was exciting. Now it's kind of sad because we don't have many customers," Bryant said.
Gigi Fuentes remembers it, too.
"I remember during Thanksgiving when we have to wake up early to come to this mall and be able to shop. There's a lot of people, a lot of things going on. It's just so sad we can't do that no more," Fuentes said.
But now, she and her husband Gil take a walk down memory lane nearly every day--not by shopping--but getting their steps in.
"I hope people will come back again. It's truly a good place to walk, have a good time," Fuentes said.
It seemed like there were more folks there today just exercising than shopping.
Mayor Lester Miller says the county hopes their changes will attract more shoppers and businesses. Their pitch is to essentially save the mall from turning into the "Macon history," illustrated all over its walls. The museum-like pictures and sketches cover up where the many storefronts once were.
Macon Mall's History
It opened in 1975 as Georgia's biggest indoor mall and a shopping mecca for Central Georgians. But over the last two decades, changes in shopping habits shut down anchor stores like Sears and Macy's.
Their troubles grew in 2008 when the Shoppes at River Crossing opened in north Macon.
In 2011, the owners responded by demolishing their east wing--essentially cutting the mall in half.
A few high-profile crimes have also hurt the mall's image.
As of last year, the mall is valued at just over a quarter of a million dollars.
In September 2021, Mayor Miller announced the plans to revitalize the shopping center with a music amphitheater.