Memories Of Northgate Mall
by John Shearer posted March 17, 2007 The Chattanoogan
Thirty-five years ago this March 15, Chattanooga’s first all-enclosed shopping center – Northgate Mall – opened.
Because it was the first local mall, Northgate – which was designed by architects Jerry Cooper and Rodger Dodson and built by general contractor Ed Jolley – was welcomed with much fanfare.
Here is how longtime Chattanooga News-Free Press business writer John Vass described the event: “Hundreds of persons gathered in front of the center to observe the grand opening ceremonies and to await the chance to view for the first time the colorfully decorated stores inside.”
On hand for the 9:30 a.m. grand festivities were the Hixson and Soddy-Daisy high school bands, as well as Vice Mayor Pat Rose, County Judge Chester Frost, Miss Chattanooga Debbie Zoulek, Arlen Realty and Development Corp chairman Arthur Cohen and his wife, and local Arlen Shopping Centers officials Jay Solomon, Moses Lebovitz and Charles Lebovitz.
Judge Frost told the crowd, “It will be a blessing and a convenience to so many of our people.”
Young Michael Lebovitz, the grandson of former theater entrepreneur Moses Lebovitz, helped cut the ribbon officially opening the mall.
And inside, in the unlikely event anyone needed any distractions from the stores, noted organ grinder Garland Parnell and his 25-year-old monkey, Sam, entertained.
It was a very exciting day for Chattanooga and would forever change Hixson, which was already being transformed from a rural area to a popular residential suburb.
At the time, JC Penney, which was managed by Glenn Wilson, and Miller Bros. were the only two department stores there. Miller Bros had actually already opened on the north end on March 2. Sears would not build its store on the south end for several more months.
Northgate would also result in other retail changes throughout Chattanooga. Lovemans would open a store at Highland Plaza to replace the department stories that left there for Northgate, while Eastgate, which had been built in the1960s as an outdoor shopping center, would quickly convert its facility into an enclosed retail mall as well.
Hamilton Place Mall, of course, would not come along until 1987.
According to a listing found in the 1972 Chattanooga newspaper on microfilm, here are the stories that were in the mall when it opened: Der Stein restaurant and bar, Men’s Den barber shop, Vanitas beauty shop, Paraphernalia, dentist Dr. C. Michael Phillips, General Shale Products, State Farm agent Gene Sharp, Northgate Shoe Repair, Northgate Cinema (inside the mall), Modern Bridal, Russell’s Tuxedo Rental, Cardan’s Jewelry, Size 5-7-9 Shop, Romay, Lillie Rubin, and Ira Trivers.
Others included Baker’s Shoes, Hardy Shoes, Jarman Shoes, Parklane Hosiery, Mrs. Stover’s Candies, Motherland Maternity, Baskin-Robbins, J. Riggings, Gateway Card Shop, General Nutrition Center, G.C. Murphy Co., Anderson-Little, Frederick’s of Hollywood, Fifth Avenue Cards, Wicks ‘N Sticks, Pelican Pipe, Cheese Villa, and Ace Uniforms.
Also in the mall in 1972 were American Wig Center, Piccadilly Cafeteria, The Hour Glass, Optical Fashion Center, Waldenbooks, Young Age, Helen Gallagher, Mary Lester Fabrics, Swiss Colony, Singer, Pet-A-Rama, Bottom Half, Carousel Snack Bar, Craig’s Shoes, Once Upon a Happy House, Merle Norman, and Hamilton National Bank.
Others were Arts and Craft Center, Cosmopolitan Health Spa, Zales Jewelry, Tie “N Tac Shack, Eckerd’s Drugs, Susie’s Casuals, Butler Shoes, Record Bar, Chess King, Thom McAn, Lerner Shops, Kinney Shoes, Young Men’s Shops, Casual Corner, Pier 1 Imports, Miller Bros., JC Penney, and Kroger (outside the mall).
Of those roughly 70-75 stores, the only ones still there 35 years later, based on the Northgate website, are General Nutrition Center, Zales, Waldenbooks, Piccadilly, JC Penney and Sears (which, as mentioned, opened a little later). And all are apparently at the same locations they were when they opened.
Miller Brothers went through multiple ownership changes and names, and a Belk is now located there.
The mall itself has also changed over the years in its appearance to give it more of a contemporary look, although the department stores appear to have changed minimally on the outside.
Northgate was later taken over by the Lebovitz’ CBL & Associates after they started their own firm. Today, the mall is headed by General Growth Properties of Chicago.
At the time the mall opened, Arlen chairman Mr. Cohen was already a mega-millionaire, despite being in his early 40s. Charles Lebovitz, of course, has gone on to enjoy a little success as well, and Mr. Solomon went on to head the General Services Administration under President Jimmy Carter. The Federal Building was later named after him.
A sixth-grader at Bright School in March 1972, I still vividly remember when Northgate opened. Having been reared in the Valleybrook subdivision, I also recall when Northgate was just a field and when construction was taking place.
The mall opened on a Wednesday – when I was on spring break - and I was not there then. But later that day or the next day, I was talking with neighborhood friend Rick Glenn, who had already been. He was telling me all about it with much excitement.
My mother and I went on that Friday, and I remember being awestruck and mesmerized by all the stores that were just five minutes from my house. Pet-A-Rama was about my favorite store at that time.
As a teen-ager in the 1970s, I bought many an eight-track tape of Elton John, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Neil Young and America at the Record Bar and JC Penney. I also ate regularly at the Eckerd’s soda fountain and at Burger King, which opened a few years later inside the mall near Waldenbooks.
I also remember buying some 1970s-style polyester clothes at places like Anderson-Little or J. Riggings, and some suede Wallabees to wear at Baylor at some of the shoe stores.
When my mother, Mrs. Wayne (Velma) Shearer, wanted me to buy some nice clothes, she would take me to Ira Trivers, or perhaps one of the department stores. Her favorite store to shop for herself was Lillie Rubin.
Perhaps the biggest Northgate constant for me over 35 years has been eating at the Piccadilly, from the days when it was furnished in an English medieval motif to its current farm animal look. The backdrop has changed but the creamy macaroni and cheese has always been the same for me – delicious.
As I grew older and became interested in history and historic preservation, I became much more of a fan of downtown Chattanooga shopping. Unfortunately for me, the downtown department stores started closing about the time I re-embraced them.
And strip shopping centers seem to have become much more popular to construct than malls in recent years. As a result, Northgate now has almost a nostalgic early urban sprawl quality to it.
But it seems to have survived nicely the constantly changing and moving retail scene, even though it is not next to an Interstate highway, as later became a prerequisite for a mall location.
It now has stores with names mostly different from those in 1972, but I have an idea its current stores are not much different from the earlier ones. After all, people have always wanted to look and dress nicely, be entertained and eat good food.
The stores tried to meet those needs in 1972, just as they are in 2007.
John Shearer jcshearer2@comcast.net
More Memories Of Northgate Mall
posted March 18, 2007
I enjoyed reading John Shearer's article concerning the history of Northgate Mall. I want to add my list of stores that were not mentioned.
The Leader was the place to shop during the "preppy" heydays of the mid to late 1980's. The Leader, owned by Herb and Ival Goldstein, also had locations downtown, Brainerd Village, and Belle Meade in Nashville. At Northgate, it was located toward Sears in the old G.C. Murphy location. The last location of The Leader was at Hamilton Place, downstairs close to Sears. The Leader closed all locations by 1988.
Craft Castle was located in the exterior of the mall, close to where Applebee's is today. Craft Castle was a predecessor of Michael's and Hobby Lobby. It was a small store, probably about the size of one department of the big box craft shops.
Tender Sender was ahead of its time and was located in a small space between Paraphernalia and Vanitas. This franchise offered gift wrap services, as well as preparing and shipping packages via UPS. This outlet was short lived; it closed in about three years.
Habersham Plantation was close to Sears across from Wicks N Sticks. This home decor store offered everything from candles to furniture, all with a rustic feel.
Federal Bakery was located across from Eckerds, which is now the Half Price Book store. The iced thumbprint cookies were my favorite!
Karmelkorn was located across from Federal Bakery by Eckerds. The only other Karmelkorn I have ever seen like the one at Northgate is in Gatlinburg on the Parkway.
Also, don't forget that the first Chick Fil A in Chattanooga was located in Northgate, still in the original location. The first Chattanooga area GAP store was also at Northgate.
I worked in high school at Tender Sender, and then in college, I worked at The Leader both at Northgate and Hamilton Place. I remember going Christmas shopping (beginning in fifth grade) with a friend at Northgate. Our parents would drop us off to shop. Can't imagine doing that today with my fifth grader in Memphis!
Thanks for the memories!
Dana Shappley Goodwin Memphis dana.goodwin@excite.com
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I have been enjoying the articles about the history of Northgate mall in Hixson. That was a wonderful place to hang out when one was young. They had a vast variety of stories that one could shop to their hearts content.
Murphey's, the corner where the food court is, was a huge store. At the southwest corner of the center of the mall used to be a hot dog stand that sold the best cheese hot dogs. You would buy the plain hotdogs then move over to a table at the corner of the shop to fix them the way you wanted to. They had the best onions to go on your hot dogs.
For those who do not remember what a record album is, there was a wonderful music store there. It was named Record Bar. It had the latest records and cassettes from varies artists. The store used to be where Payless Shoes is today. Baskin Robbins Ice Cream was in the mall as well. It used to be where Claire's is today. Burger King found its home where the Finish Line sports is today. Hickory Valley farms had a store that one could go in and sample some of the wonderful treats that they sold. One could go in there for lunch and come out full. They had little covered testing trays that would have different types of summer sausages, cheese, nuts and other wonderful goodies. It was free. They had a machine that dispensed sunflowers seeds. The Piccidilly Restaurant was the big place to eat back in the day. The line would be out the door and down the mall on Sundays.
In the middle of the mall was a huge fountain. It always was very pretty and people would toss their spare change in the fountain. They always kept the fountain so clean and sparkling. The reflections of the water would dance on the ceiling.
When the mall first opened, they had a putt-putt golf course just to the left of Sears. I remember playing it when I was a little child. After awhile they pulled it out and made a place to ride little go-carts in a circle. My siblings and I did that as well.
When we were school age, it was tough to wear your school jacket to the mall. The Hixson students wore their black and yellow jackets. The Red Bank students wore their Royal Blue and white jackets. The other schools were Soddy-Daisy, Baylor, McCallie, Brainerd and GPS.
There used to be an International Pancake House where Pinera Bread calls home. That was the hot place to eat on Friday nights or Saturday mornings. It has moved to Hwy 153.
The holidays were always fun at Northgate especially Christmas. Santa was always an exciting time. When they opened the mall Santa was in the middle of the mall. The "workshop" was wonderful and put one in the holiday mood. Santa would be in the Hixson Christmas parade and they would bring him right to the front of Northgate. My father was once one of their Santas back in the late 80's.
Those are my memories of Northgate mall.
Laura Crane Red Bank ToBSketching@aol.com
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Shopping malls in the late 70’s and early 80’s had, for lack of a better word, “personality.” I feel very fortunate to have been a youngster during the early years of Northgate Mall. Thank you for bringing back great memories.
Naming all of the shops that used to occupy the mall is one thing, but stories and memories they generate are much cherished moments during my childhood. I know that this may be hard to read, but here are a few of memories of Northgate in its heyday:
How many remember shopping for shoes in Sears? My reward for sitting through an unbearable shopping trip with my mother was a quarter to put in a small booth at in the shoe department that played an episode of “Tom & Jerry” on a small television screen. How many remember the Castles at both ends of the mall that told you fairy tales if you inserted a coin and picked up the phone receiver?
I can remember the sounds of the video arcade and the smells of the Pizza Hut like it were yesterday. If I couldn’t bum a quarter from my father I could always play one of the three Atari 2600 demo kiosks in the anchor stores. I remember filling up empty pita shells at the salad bar in what has to be the “coolest” Burger King that has ever existed. Did anyone else pay $0.25 extra to have them drop an egg in your Orange Julius before they mixed it up? I still remember eating at the all stainless steel, “Greasy Spoon” diner that was at the entrance of JC Penney that now contains, of all things, the ladies lingerie department. The Banana Splits served at the narrow Baskin Robbins Ice Cream shop beside the GNC always tasted great, and they had the best water fountain I have ever found. Outside the mall the Steak Chalet was serving up the best potato fries you have ever tasted. Showbiz Pizza had good pizza, but their combo pizza had corn in it.
My dad used to frequent the gun shop that occupied the area where the driver education shop currently exists in the back of the mall. JC Penney used to have a nice rifle selection also…it was upstairs near the booth that contained Boy Scout supplies. I remember my dad buying stinky cigars below the escalators at Sears and smoking them while walking around the mall looking for my mother. I can’t remember the name of the record store that occupied the slot where Hot Topic currently sits, but I do remember my father browsing a vast selection of 8-track albums. I tell a lot of people about this store and they don’t believe me. All the 8-tracks were behind glass and you browsed them by reaching through a hole in the glass that was big enough for your hand, but too small for the album to “disappear.”
Did anybody else make a bee-line to the Swiss Colony to try all those fancy cheeses? The old location was beside the Arcade and is currently a shoe shop. They were there before Pier 1 and you walked through barrels to enter the store. It just wasn’t the same when they moved between the Radio Shack and the pet store…which both also moved to another location in the mid-80s. I wonder how many of those funny chairs that hang from the ceiling Pier-1 actually sold.
I’ll be willing to bet that Xavier, the Sears Petland’s resident macaw, is still alive somewhere and still biting fingers if you don’t first give him a peanut.
I believe that I was too young to see Star Wars at the theatre, but I do remember watching Empire Strikes Back and the Return of the Jedi there. We watched ET at 4 Squares because it was $0.99…sorry Northgate.
I wonder what happened to the great big clock that I used to tell how much more time I had till we went home? I wonder how many pennies they pulled out of the great big fountain in the center of the mall. I know that many of the quarters in that fountain made their way to the arcade (I was eight…gimmie a break).
I am glad that some of those memories are still there. I vow to patronize Piccadilly at least once a week for as long as they will serve me. They recently got rid of their register that magically rolled out change for an electronic model. I wonder if they know that it is another thing that will have to exist in my memories. At least they still sell mints for $0.10 each. I still pop into Chuck E. Cheese from time to time for nothing more than to smell the pizza and hear the beeps of all sorts of gadgets begging for a token. I still close my eyes every time I sit in the center lobby of the mall and hear the splashing noise that fountain made over a quarter century ago.
Thank you for the memories.
Matthew Craigge Chattanooga matthew_craigge@yahoo.com