McFARLAND MALL
Skyland Boulevard East / US 11 and McFarland Boulevard East / US 82
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Plans for an "ultra-modern shopper mall" for Tuscaloosa were announced in June 1967. The proposed retail complex, to be added to a Woolco store already under construction, was to occupy a 40-acre parcel. This was situated 3.6 miles southeast of center city Tuscaloosa.
McFARLAND MALL was designed by Brandon Crawford & Associates and developed by Tuscaloosa's Ward Wharton McFarland and James L. Hinton. The first operational store, the aforementioned 1-level (110,000 square foot) Woolco, opened its doors on November 15, 1967. This was followed by a freestanding (18,000 square foot) Winn-Dixie supermarket in April 1968.
Thirty-one stores and services opened their doors on February 19, 1969. These included Eleanor Shops ladies' wear, Pizitz of Tuscaloosa, Orange Julius, Postle Appliance Center, Lorch's Diamonds, a V.J. Elmore 5 & 10 and 1-level (80,000 square foot), Mobile-based Gayfer's.
Additional stores, such as Jacobs Drug & Cafeteria, The Swiss Colony, Color Center Camera & Photo and Leroy Jenkins Flaming Pit Restaurant held grand openings soon after. The National General Corporation Fox Twin 1 & 2 Theatres showed first features on December 25, 1969. McFARLAND MALL now enveloped 379,000 leasable square feet.
The first expansion of McFARLAND MALL involved completing a second level for Gayfer's, in 1975. The expanded store housed 160,000 square feet. The mall now spanned approximately 459,000.
MEADOWBROOK MALL {.9 miles northwest, in Tuscaloosa} was a partially-enclosed complex dedicated in October 1977. It was no match for the larger McFARLAND property. There was no true retail rival for McFARLAND MALL until the completion of UNIVERSITY MALL {1.5 miles north, also in Tuscaloosa}, in August 1980.
As a keeping-up measure, McFARLAND MALL received a face lift renovation, which included new landscaping, an interior makeover and newly-commissioned logo. The Pizitz Tuscaloosa location was shuttered in October 1980.
Following Woolco's January 1983 departure, Framingham, Massachusetts-based Zayre was recruited to fill 70,000 square feet of empty store space. The chain's 279th location opened, at McFARLAND MALL, on November 13, 1983. The remaining retail area was reconfigured as a Birmingham-based Jefferson Home Furniture, which opened in 1986. Zayre was in operation until April 1989. Its vacant space was divided. Massachusetts-based T.J. Maxx opened October 29, 1989. This was joined by Drug Mart and Craft's Etcetera stores in 1990.
McFARLAND MALL underwent a massive reconstruction between February 1992 and August 1994. The middle section was gutted, with a galleria-type Main Entrance built. This opened onto a 7-bay Food Court. The east side of the complex was also expanded; this addition comprising half of a Knoxville, Tennessee-based Goody's Family Clothing. This (37,000 square foot) store held its grand opening on August 4, 1994.
Spacious shopping concourses had been created as part of the early '90s renovation. Even with additional square footage, the mall still enveloped 459,000 leasable square feet. Its tenant list, which had numbered forty-five before the remodeling, now listed sixty stores and services.
Unfortunately, the 12 million dollar upgrade was not entirely successful. Stores came and went over the following decade, with vacancies piling up. Gayfers was rebranded by Dillard's in the fall of 1998. This store closed for good on June 25, 2008. Goody's shut down in February 2009.
Meanwhile, the existing cinema had been reconfigured as the Cobb Fox 4 Theatres in 1982 and was expanded into the Cobb Fox 6 Theatres in 1983. Store space across the mallway was rebuilt into four additional auditoriums in 1990.
All auditoriums were named collectively as the Cobb Fox 10 Theatres. The venue was expanded by two in 1994, with the entire complex known, henceforth, as the Cobb Fox 12 Theatres. In 1997, the multiplex was rebranded as a Regal venue, with Cobb Theatres assuming operation in 2002. The 12-plex cinema closed in 2004.
Tuscaloosa's Stan Pate acquired the struggling shopping center in May 2009. Plans for a third renovation of the property were announced in June 2011. A 75 million dollar open-air complex, known as ENCORE TUSCALOOSA, was proposed.
In anticipation of its construction, the abandoned Dillard's was demolished in March 2014. The East Wing fell to a wrecking ball soon after. Tentative tenants, such as Kohl's, PetSmart, Dick's Sporting Goods and Bed, Bath & Beyond, were hinted at, but never officially confirmed. Only a freestanding Cheddar's Casual Cafe was built. This bistro welcomed its first diners in April 2013.
Longtime tenants T.J. Maxx and Shoe Station shuttered their units in February 2016. This left Dollar Tree as the only operational mall store. By the year 2020, plans for ENCORE TUSCALOOSA had been abandoned, with a prospectus for a sportsplex facility being drawn up.
A shuttered Chili's Grill & Bar was knocked down in December 2020, signifying that progress was being made in regards to the long-delayed redevelopment of the site. The old Woolco structure was bulldozed in February 2021, leaving only a section of the mall housing Dollar Tree standing.
The sportsplex plan was eventually abandoned. In May 2024, the Tuscaloosa City Council awarded Stan Pate 65 million dollars in tax incentives; these to assist in the development of a new, open-air ENCORE power center.
Sources:
The Tuscaloosa News
http://www.mcfarlandmall.com
http://www.labelscar.com
https://movie-theatre.org / Mike Rivest
http://www.doverpost.com
http://www.petinaro.com
https://www.wvtm13.com
"McFarland Mall" article on Wikipedia
