South Cobb Drive SE and Pat Mell Road
Cobb County, Georgia
Greater Atlanta's third shopping mall was developed by a joint venture of Atlanta's M. Rich & Company and New York City's Food Fair Properties, Incorporated. The open-air complex was designed by Robert W. Kahn Associates. COBB COUNTY CENTER was built on a 42-acre plot, located 13.5 miles northwest of Atlanta's Five Points, in a section of unincorporated Cobb County.
Fifteen stores commenced operation on August 15, 1963. These included Hirsch's men's, Friedman's Jewelers, a 2-level (120,000 square foot), Atlanta-based Rich's, (20,800 square foot) Colonial Stores supermarket, (45,200 square foot) Saul's Department Store and (24,800 square foot) F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10.
An official grand opening was held on October 10, 1963. New stores included Dunaway Drugs, Thom McAn Shoes, Southern Discount Company, a Davis House Cafeteria and combination Lerner Shops-National Shirt Shops unit. COBB COUNTY CENTER now covered approximately 363,500 leasable square feet and housed twenty-seven stores and services.
The original COBB COUNTY complex included a Japanese Contemplation Garden (in Center Court) and 250-seat Community Auditorium. The Georgia Theatre Company Cobb Center Theatre opened, as a northern outparcel, on July 24, 1964.
Saul's department store was short-lived. It was replaced by W.T. Grant on November 12, 1964. Four years later, Rich's was enlarged with a 1-level (45,000 square foot) addition, which housed a new Budget Shop and cafeteria. The store, re-dedicated on September 16, 1968, now comprised 165,000 square feet.
By this time, the official name of the mall was morphing to COBB CENTER (sans "COUNTY"). COBB CENTER enjoyed its status, as the county's only shopping mall, until August 1973, when CUMBERLAND MALL {4 miles southeast, in Cobb County} was completed. This new competitor was a fully-enclosed, superregional center.
As a competitive measure, the open-air concourses at COBB CENTER were enclosed. The "new & improved" COBB CENTER MALL was formally dedicated on November 14, 1973. It now incorporated approximately 409,600 leasable square feet.
In October 1976, an Atlanta-based Kessler's opened in a vacant Grants space. By this time, competition from CUMBERLAND MALL was taking its toll on the older shopping facility. Another fatal blow came with the opening of TOWN CENTER AT COBB {7.5 miles north, in Kennesaw}, in February 1986. In order to compete with -yet- another superregional shopping mall in its trade area, a face lift renovation and name change to FOUR SEASONS AT COBB CENTER was done in 1987. Unfortunately, the newer malls in the county won out.
By the mid-1990s, Rich's at FOUR SEASONS AT COBB had been demoted to a Clearance Center. The supermarket, which had been rebranded as a Big Star in 1984, had been shuttered. The closings of Kessler's and Woolworth's followed. The mall went dark in late 1997. The structure was demolished in early 1998, leaving Rich's, its Auto Center and the cinema standing.
These were joined by a newly-built Publix supermarket on the south, and small strip center on the north. Chuck Camp Park, a complex of softball fields, was built in the rear parking area. The new retail complex, known as COBB CENTER, was dedicated in 1999.
Rich's was rebranded as a Rich's-Macy's Clearance Center in 2003 and closed for good in February 2004. In 2009, the 2-level section of the store re-opened as the Imagine International Academy of Smyrna, a public charter school covering kindergarten through grade 8. The official name of the institution was later changed to International Academy Smyrna.
Sources:
The Atlanta Constitution
As a competitive measure, the open-air concourses at COBB CENTER were enclosed. The "new & improved" COBB CENTER MALL was formally dedicated on November 14, 1973. It now incorporated approximately 409,600 leasable square feet.
In October 1976, an Atlanta-based Kessler's opened in a vacant Grants space. By this time, competition from CUMBERLAND MALL was taking its toll on the older shopping facility. Another fatal blow came with the opening of TOWN CENTER AT COBB {7.5 miles north, in Kennesaw}, in February 1986. In order to compete with -yet- another superregional shopping mall in its trade area, a face lift renovation and name change to FOUR SEASONS AT COBB CENTER was done in 1987. Unfortunately, the newer malls in the county won out.
By the mid-1990s, Rich's at FOUR SEASONS AT COBB had been demoted to a Clearance Center. The supermarket, which had been rebranded as a Big Star in 1984, had been shuttered. The closings of Kessler's and Woolworth's followed. The mall went dark in late 1997. The structure was demolished in early 1998, leaving Rich's, its Auto Center and the cinema standing.
These were joined by a newly-built Publix supermarket on the south, and small strip center on the north. Chuck Camp Park, a complex of softball fields, was built in the rear parking area. The new retail complex, known as COBB CENTER, was dedicated in 1999.
Rich's was rebranded as a Rich's-Macy's Clearance Center in 2003 and closed for good in February 2004. In 2009, the 2-level section of the store re-opened as the Imagine International Academy of Smyrna, a public charter school covering kindergarten through grade 8. The official name of the institution was later changed to International Academy Smyrna.
Sources:
The Atlanta Constitution
The Atlanta Journal
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Marietta Daily Journal
Cobb County Georgia tax assessor website
www.cinematreasures.org
Cobb County Georgia tax assessor website
www.cinematreasures.org
"Cobb Center" article on Wikipedia
