Western Hills Mall is a shopping mall located in Fairfield, Alabama, United States, a suburb of Birmingham.
 | |
.jpg) Exterior view of Western Hills Mall, July 2012 | |
 | |
| Location | Fairfield, Alabama |
|---|---|
| Opening date | 1969 |
| Developer | Aronov Realty |
| Owner | Peleg Group |
| No. of stores and services | 37 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 0 (space for 2) |
| Total retail floor area | 547,926 square feet (50,904.0 m2)[1] |
| No. of floors | 1 |
| Website | shopmalls.com |
.jpg)
The mall opened in 1969 as the second in Birmingham,[2] under the development of Aronov Realty.[3] Loveman's of Alabama, which became Pizitz in 1980, was one of its original anchor stores.[4] Pizitz later became McRae's, then Parisian. JCPenney was the other major store, with Yeilding's and F.W. Woolworth Company as the other major tenants.[5] The Yeilding's space was later occupied by Goody's Family Clothing.
In 2006, Western Hills Mall underwent a major transformation. The JCPenney location was demolished, with the mall building being truncated at the former Penney entrance. A new Walmart Supercenter was built on the site of the former JCPenney.[6] Parisian also closed in the late 2000s and a Burlington Coat Factory took its place.[7]
In January 2016, Walmart Supercenter closed its doors.[8] In February 2017, Burlington Coat Factory also went out of business from the mall, which left the mall with no anchors.[9]
On February 16, 2018, a shootout occurred at the mall. Anthony Alberigi, the manager of the mall, was killed in the gunfire.[10]
In January 2022, the Peleg Group of Miami, Florida, bought the mall from Aronov Realty for $2.94 million.[11] Once taking ownership, they went forward with a $4 million renovation project that included new AC, new paint, a new parking lot and fixing various roof issues.[12]
References
edit- ^ Unknown[permanent dead link]
- ^ Hollis, Tim (January 1, 2008). Vintage Birmingham Signs. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738553764.
- ^ Chain Store Age, Executives Edition Combined with Shopping Center Age. Lebhar-Friedman. July 1, 1967.
- ^ Hollis, Tim (January 1, 2008). Vintage Birmingham Signs. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738553764.
- ^ Directory of major malls. MJJTM Publications Corp. 1990. p. 9.
- ^ "Western Hills getting Wal-Mart Supercenter - Birmingham Business Journal". Birmingham Business Journal. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
- ^ "Burlington Coat Factory set to open in Western Hills Mall - Birmingham Business Journal". Birmingham Business Journal. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
- ^ "Walmart closing could be devastating for Fairfield". January 26, 2016.
- ^ "Western Hills Mall loses anchor store". February 24, 2017.
- ^ Staff, CBS 42 (February 16, 2018). "Mall manager killed after "reckless" shootout at Western Hills Mall; 1 suspect still at large". WIAT. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Parker, Illyshia (May 5, 2022). "Developer of Fairfield mall sells property to Florida investment firm". Birmingham Business Journal.
- ^ Robinson, Aajene (November 17, 2022). "Renovations almost complete at Western Hills Mall". WBRC Fox 6.