WALNUT MALL fared well until a larger and more trendy shopping complex opened in its trade area. SOUTHPARK MALL was dedicated in March 1989. It encompassed 800,000 leasable square feet and housed eighty-eight stores and services. 

Graphic from Faison Associates

By the early 1990s, WALNUT MALL was on life support. In the snapshot above, we see its abandoned J.C. Penney. The store had been snatched by SOUTHPARK. WALNUT MALL was shuttered in the spring of 1991. 

Photo from http://www.film.virginia.org / The Virginia Film Office 

A boarded-up and abandoned shopping hub was given a wrecking ball renovation in the summer of 2006.

Photo from www.loopnet.com