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SERIES INVESTIGATING THE RISE AND FALL OF SHOPPING MALLS IN CENTRAL ALABAMA. MANY OF YOU MAY REMEMBER THE GLORY DAYS OF THE MALL, YOUNG AND OLD ALIKE FLOCKING TO THE SHOPPING MECCAS FOR MORE THAN JUST FINDING BARGAINS. IN THE 80S, MALL WALKING WAS THE WAY TO GET EXERCISE, BUT THOSE DAYS ARE GONE, AND TONIGHT WE’RE FOCUSING ON MALLS AND SHOPPING CENTERS THAT ARE NOW DEAD OR HAVE SEEN BETTER DAYS. �������� 13 SCOTT CARPENTER TELLS US WHAT’S NEXT FOR BROOKWOOD VILLAGE. BUT FIRST HE EXPLAINS HOW BIRMINGHAM USED TO BE ONE OF THE PREMIER SHOPPING DESTINATIONS IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. THAT’S JUST WHERE EVERYBODY WENT BACK IN THE DAY. CRESTWOOD BOULEVARD IN EASTWOOD IS FLANKED BY A WALMART, SOME STORES AND AN AMAZON WAREHOUSE. YEARS AGO, IT WAS A SHOPPER’S PARADISE. THIS AMAZON WAREHOUSE WAS CENTURY PLAZA, AN INDOOR SHOPPING MALL WITH FOUR ANCHOR STORES AND MORE THAN 100 SHOPS INSIDE THE WALMART AND SURROUNDING STORES. HERE ARE WHERE EASTWOOD MALL ONCE STOOD. THE EASTWOOD MALL OPENED UP. IT WAS THE THIRD LARGEST MALL IN THE UNITED STATES, A FIRST OF ITS KIND IN ALABAMA. DOCTOR BOB ROBICHAUX, A RETIRED MARKETING PROFESSOR AND BUSINESS CONSULTANT, SAYS IT WAS THRIVING FOR DECADES. THE EASTWOOD MALL WAS BUILT IN 1960, WHEN THE ECONOMY WAS JUST BURNING HOT. TRACY MAYFIELD REMEMBERS IT IN ITS HEYDAY, THE MALL WAS A GOOD PLACE TO GO ON A SATURDAY MORNING OR A SATURDAY AND, YOU KNOW, EAT IN THE FOOD COURT. I REMEMBER THE CHICK FIL A FOOD COURT THAT WAS THE ONLY PLACE YOU COULD GET CHICK FIL A BACK IN THE DAY, RIGHT? BUT THAT ALL CAME CRUMBLING DOWN. BUSINESS SLOWED FOR YEARS BEFORE CLOSING ITS DOORS FOR GOOD IN 2004. EASTWOOD MALL WAS CRITICIZED FOR JUST HAVING GOTTEN OUT OF TOUCH WITH WITH THE INDUSTRY, THAT THEY WEREN’T WILLING TO INNOVATE AND CHANGE THE WAY THEY DO THINGS. FIVE YEARS LATER, CENTURY PLAZA CLOSED. NOTHING SHOWS THE PASSING OF TIME QUITE LIKE ITS REPLACEMENT, A GIANT AMAZON WAREHOUSE AND NOW MORE MALLS AND SHOPPING CENTERS ARE FACING EXTINCTION. AND HERE IN BROOKWOOD VILLAGE IN HOMEWOOD, THE SHOPS OVER MY SHOULDERS ARE NOW EMPTY. WHAT WAS ONCE A BUZZING SHOPPING CENTER IS NOW MOSTLY VACANT. THIS IS THE MOST DESIRABLE REAL ESTATE, I WOULD ARGUE, IN THE STATE. BROOKWOOD VILLAGE SITS RIGHT BETWEEN TWO MAJOR HIGHWAYS, 280 AND 31 OFF RAMPS ARE YARDS AWAY FROM IT, AND SHADES CREEK RUNS THROUGH THE PROPERTY. THE PATIO SPACE OVERLOOKING THE CREEK, NOW EMPTY AND WORN DOWN. I THINK IT’S A FANTASTIC SPOT IN TOWN AND THE FACT THAT IT’S EMPTY DOES JUST SEEM LIKE A WASTE OF SPACE. WHAT LED TO THE DECLINE OF BROOKWOOD, TO WHERE IT SITS NOW? I THINK THAT PEOPLE’S HABITS CHANGED, AND I THINK THAT PEOPLE DIDN’T HAVE THE TIME TO MAYBE PULL UP INTO A PARKING SPACE, GET OUT OF THEIR CAR, GO INTO A MALL. AND I THINK SOME OF THE OTHER ALTERNATIVES WHERE THEY COULD JUST PULL RIGHT UP TO A DOOR THAT THEY’RE GOING TO AND GO INSIDE, BECAME MORE ATTRACTIVE. BROOKWOOD VILLAGE OPENED IN THE 70S, KNOWN BACK THEN AS BROOKWOOD MALL, THE DECLINE STARTED BEFORE THE PANDEMIC, WITH ANCHOR STORES BELK CLOSING IN 2018. THEN MACY’S LEFT IN 2022, LEAVING BOTH A BROOKWOOD ANCHOR STORE SPOTS EMPTY. BOOKS-A-MILLION, JASON’S DELI, BRIO AND MANY OTHERS ALSO CLOSED. TAKE A LOOK AT THIS MAP. THE FRESH MARKET, FIVE GUYS, OH HENRY’S COFFEE, A BUSINESS OFFICE AND A COUPLE OF STORES ARE ALL THAT REMAINS ON THE PROPERTY. THE POPULAR TARGET STORE IS NOT A PART OF BROOKWOOD IN THIS STREET. ONCE LINED WITH A MALL, SHOPS AND RESTAURANTS NOW TOTALLY EMPTY. I HAVE NOT SPOKEN WITH ANYBODY IN AT LEAST A COUPLE OF YEARS. AS FAR AS WHAT, UM, WHAT? USE THE OWNERS WHO NOW HAVE IT WANT TO PUT ON THIS PROPERTY FAIRWAY INVESTMENTS OWNS BROOKWOOD VILLAGE. I REACHED OUT TO THEM NUMEROUS TIMES BUT DID NOT HEAR BACK. JENNIFER ANDREWS CHAIRS THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE FOR HOMEWOOD CITY COUNCIL. SHE SAYS EVERYBODY WANTS TO KNOW WHAT’S NEXT FOR BROOKWOOD. THEY REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO BECOME PART OF OUR COMMUNITY. THEY WANT SOMETHING HERE, SOMETHING POSITIVE. THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS CONDUCTED A SURVEY SHOWING SHOPPERS WANT AN IKEA OR A MIXED USE DEVELOPMENT WITH RESTAURANTS, SHOPS AND HOUSING. ANDREWS SAYS RETAILERS AND RESTAURANTS COULD GO INTO THESE OPEN SPOTS RIGHT NOW, BUT IF THERE ARE ANY BIG CHANGES LIKE AN IKEA OR APARTMENTS, IT WILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH A RIGOROUS PROCESS WITH CITY COUNCIL. ANY USE CHANGE THAT COMES TO THIS PROPERTY WILL GO THROUGH A VERY LENGTHY PUBLIC PROCESS, WHERE THERE WILL BE MULTIPLE OPPORTUNITIES FOR PUBLIC INPUT, BUT FOR NOW, IT SITS VACANT WITH LITTLE CONVERSATION ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. AND BROOKWOOD VILLAGE IS WITHIN HOMEWOOD AND MOUNTAIN BROOK CITY LIMITS.