Eastland Mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Center court, 1983. Notice the the full view of the arched skylight, the recessed seating/viewing area in the lower front of the picture, the partial view of the ice rink name ("Ice Capades Chalet"), the tile of the area to the right of the rink, the Morrow's Nut House store across the way in red, and the "F" of Florsheim on the extreme right.(courtesy Pat Richardson)

Previously on LiveMalls
Eastland Mall, Charlotte, North Carolina

Belk (former McRae's) Dogwood Festival Market, Flowood, Mississippi. (Pat Richardson)

This Belk store opened as a McRae's Department Store (rendering at left) on April 17, 2002, with 114,000 square feet of space on two levels. It is the main anchor store of the Dogwood Festival Market, Mississippi's first lifestyle shopping center, located just outside Jackson in the bedroom community of Flowood. The store was designed by Dean and Dean/Associates Architects of Jackson and dedicated in honor of the 100th Anniversary of McRae’s.

On March 8, 2006, this McRae's store, along with the rest of the chain. was converted into Belk stores. Belk acquired the chain in July 2005 from Saks Incorporated.

Belk-Beery, Independence Mall, Wilmington, North Carolina. Exterior entrance, July 1979. (Pat Richardson)

Belk-Beery, Independence Mall, Wilmington, North Carolina. Escalator well, July 1979. (Pat Richardson)

These pictures of Belk-Beery, Independence Mall, were taken the week before the store opened in July 1979. The escalator well featured a glass-sided elevator -- framed by antique brick, marble, and wrought iron -- in the style of the antebellum houses in Wilmington.

Belk, Independence Mall, Wilmington, North Carolina. Exterior entrance, August 7, 2007. (roadgeek89)

Belk, Independence Mall, Wilmington, North Carolina. Mall entrance, August 7, 2007. (roadgeek89)

Previously on LiveMalls
Belk, Independence Mall, Wilmington, North Carolina

JCPenney, Alamance Crossing, Burlington, North Carolina, August 10, 2007. (Alamance Crossing - UPDATE, originally uploaded by JerseyFresh.)

Dillard's, Alamance Crossing, Burlington, North Carolina. Mall entrance, August 10, 2007. (Alamance Crossing - UPDATE, originally uploaded by JerseyFresh.)

Belk-Harry, Salisbury, North Carolina, circa 1980. (Pat Richardson)

Belk FabricFair, Salisbury, North Carolina, circa 1980. (Pat Richardson)

Previously on LiveMalls
Belk-Harry, Salisbury, North Carolina

Find more Belk memories like these in The Belk Archive

former Charlottetown Mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Interior view, summer 1961. (Pat Richardson)

former Charlottetown Mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Vintage postcard, circa 1960. (Pat Richardson)

former Charlottetown Mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Vintage aerial view, circa 1960. Charlottetown Mall Cinema is at top of photo. (Pat Richardson)

former Charlottetown Mall Cinema, Charlotte, North Carolina. Exterior view just before demolition, 2006. (Pat Richardson)

former Charlottetown Mall Cinema, Charlotte, North Carolina. View of former freestanding sign just before demolition, 2006. (Pat Richardson)

Azalea Mall, Richmond, Virginia. Exterior view, from the 1960s. (Unknown Image Source)

Check out Labelscar: The Retail History Blog's entry on Azalea Mall

Dillard's (former Ivey's), SouthPark mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Aerial view, 1976. Belk and the main mall entrance are in the background. (Pat Richardson)

Previously on LiveMalls
Dillard's (former Ivey's), SouthPark
The Ivey's Archive
SouthPark 1975

Belk (former Leggett), Valley View Mall, Roanoke, Virginia. Upper level exterior entrance. Photographed with camera phone 6/22/07.

Previously on LiveMalls
Belk (former Leggett), Valley View Mall

Neiman Marcus, North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. Exterior view. (Neiman-Marcus at Midnight, originally uploaded by DCVoyager.)

Macy's (former Hecht's), The Streets at Southpoint, Durham, North Carolina. Sign on exterior entrance canopy. Photographed with camera phone 6/16/07.

Previously on LiveMalls
Macy's (former Hecht's), The Streets at Southpoint

More Belk Memories

Matthews Belk, Eastridge Mall, Gastonia, North Carolina. The California Raisins celebrating Belk's 100th Anniversary, October 1988. (Photo courtesy Pat Richardson)

Belk, Charlotte, North Carolina. Oprah Winfrey makes a benefit appearance for Belk on October 8, 1988 -- she even held a Belkie Bear! (Photo courtesy Pat Richardson)

Belk Corporate Headquarters, Charlotte, North Carolina. Womenswear vendor doing a presentation for buyers during the 1960s. (Photo courtesy Pat Richardson)

Find more Belk memories like this on The Belk Archive

Previously on LiveMalls
Matthews Belk, Eastridge Mall

Macy's, Herald Square, New York, New York. Exterior view from 7th Avenue and 34th Street. Photographed by Sammantha Casolari for New York magazine.

Related Story
The Profit Calculator -- New York Magazine

Previously on LiveMalls
Macy's, Herald Square

Macy's (former Hecht's), Northgate Mall, Durham, North Carolina. Exterior entrance detail. Photographed with camera phone 6/2/07.

Macy's (former Hecht's), Northgate Mall, Durham, North Carolina. Exterior facade. Photographed with camera phone 6/2/07.

Tanglewood Mall, Roanoke, Virginia. West interior court, circa 1990. (Virginia Film Office )

Previously on LiveMalls
Tanglewood Mall, Roanoke, Virginia

Sears, Friendly Center, Greensboro, North Carolina. Main store building, circa 1990. (Sears Roebuck & Co.)

Previously on LiveMalls
Sears, Friendly Center

JCPenney, Four Seasons Town Centre, Greensboro, North Carolina. Level One mall entrance, circa 1990. (J.C. Penney Co.)

JCPenney, Four Seasons Town Centre, Greensboro, North Carolina. Escalator well. Photographed with camera phone 8/26/05.

Previously on LiveMalls
JCPenney, Four Seasons Town Centre

Manhattan Mall

Manhattan Mall (former Gimbel's), New York, New York. Photographed 12/9/06. (Nicholas DiMaio)

Note from Steve: Thanks to the generous contribution of Nicholas DiMaio of The Caldor Rainbow, I am able to present even more photos of the Manhattan Mall. Nick's photos were taken just before Christmas 2006, and show a lot of the details that I was not able to caputre in my pictures, including possibly the most neon-coverd McDonald's I've ever seen. LiveMalls thanks Nick extensively for his offering.

Manhattan Mall is located in Herald Square at the corner of 33rd Street and Sixth Avenue in New York. The building originally opened in 1910 as the flagship store for the iconic Gimbels department store chain, and was open until 1986 under that nameplate.

When Gimbels closed, the massive store was modernized and reconfigured as a vertical mall originally called A&S Plaza, which opened in 1989 with an 8-story Abraham & Strauss department store as its pimary anchor.

A&S's parent company, Federated Deaprtment Stores, merged with R.H. Macy Co. in 1994, and eventually combined the A&S and Macy's nameplates into a single Macy's brand. Since Macy's already had a store two blocks away, Federated transfered the former A&S to its Stern's division.

With Stern's as an anchor, the mall changed its name to Manhattan Mall and witnessed a gradual but distinct drop in popularity, hurt at least partly by the sudden proliferation of national chain stores taking up residence in nearby storefronts closer to Macy's, which culminated in near failure when the Stern's nameplate was discontinued in 2001.

The mall was drastically reconfigured, eliminating nearly half of its original shopping levels, and replacing Stern's with a relocated food court and smaller anchors like Steve & Barry's University Sportswear and Charlotte Russe. The changes increased occupancy, but compared to its original opening, Manhattan Mall is not the gem it once was.

In an effort to stem the tide of losses and increase poplarity, the Manhattan Mall will soon be reconfigured again. On April 18, 2007, JCPenney announced that it would open a 150,000 square foot store at the mall, its first in Manhattan, in 2008 or 2009. The new store will take up much of the existing mall space, but will add a popular anchor that may help the mall viable in the future.

Manhattan Mall (former Gimbel's), New York, New York. Exterior entrance at 6th Avenue and 33st Street. Photographed 4/28/07.

Manhattan Mall (former Gimbel's), New York, New York. Interior atrium. Photographed 4/28/07.

Manhattan Mall (former Gimbel's), New York, New York. Interior atrium. Photographed 12/9/06. (Nicholas DiMaio)

Manhattan Mall (former Gimbel's), New York, New York. Interior atrium. Photographed 12/9/06. (Nicholas DiMaio)

Manhattan Mall (former Gimbel's), New York, New York. Interior atrium. Photographed 12/9/06. (Nicholas DiMaio)

Manhattan Mall (former Gimbel's), New York, New York. Exterior of McDonald's. Photographed 12/9/06. (Nicholas DiMaio)

Manhattan Mall (former Gimbel's), New York, New York. Interior of McDonald's. Photographed 12/9/06. (Nicholas DiMaio)

Trump Tower, Fifth Avenue, New York, New York. Waterfall fountian in atrium. Photographed 4/28/07.

Trump Tower, Fifth Avenue, New York, New York. Closeup of waterfall fountian in atrium. Photographed 4/28/07.