Richland Mall (South Carolina)

Richland Mall is located just off Forest Drive at Beltline Blvd in Columbia, South Carolina.

Richland Mall

Exterior view of Richland Mall, December 2017
Location	Columbia, South Carolina, United States
Coordinates	34.0168°N 80.9903°W / 34.0168; -80.9903
Address	3400 Forest Drive
Opening date	1961
Management	Richland Joint Venture
No. of stores and services	6
No. of anchor tenants	3 (1 open, 2 vacant)
Total retail floor area	713,992 square feet (66,332.0 m2) [1] (GLA)
No. of floors	2
Website	www.richlandmallsc.com

Interior view of largely vacant mall, December 2017

It opened in 1961 as an open-air mall anchored by J.B. White and Winn Dixie.[2] L. J. Hooker bought the complex and in 1988 converted it to an enclosed mall called Richland Fashion Mall. Original anchors of the Richland Fashion Mall were Bonwit Teller, Parisian and J.B. White, one of the few stores to carry over from the old mall.

Today the mall is anchored solely by Belk and Barnes & Noble. Bonwit Teller closed in 1993 and was replaced by Dillard's which closed in 2003.[3] J.B. White was purchased by Dillard's in 1998 and converted to Belk as a part of a Dillard's/Belk store swap. Parisian closed in 2006 after being acquired by Belk.

For a period of time, the mall was renamed Midtown at Forest Acres.

Other major retailers include a 7-screen Regal Cinemas. Verizon Wireless used to operate a call center in former mall and food court space, but it has moved out of Richland Mall to Elgin.[4] Eckerd Drug also had a pharmacy at Midtown until 2005.

In April 2009, the Columbia Children's Theatre relocated to Richland. They moved into the retail space that had previously been an Express clothing store. In summer 2017, they moved downstairs in the space where Eckerd drug used to be.

In April 2010, the mall was sold to Century Capitol Group who brought on Kahn Development Company in an attempt to breathe new life into the mall. The first thing they did was change the name from Midtown at Forest Acres back to Richland Mall.

On January 30, 2011, S&S Cafeteria departed Richland Mall and was replaced by locally owned Sadie's American Cafeteria. Sadie's closed and in 2013 the space was occupied by Jackson Family Cafeteria, a buffet which closed in 2016.

In March 2013, TGI Fridays departed Richland Mall and was replaced with The Seafood Academy which closed in 2016.

In 2018, Gymboree permanently closed its Richland Mall location, after 20 years of business.

Current stores include: Belk, Columbia Children's Theatre, Regal Cinemas, IASVBO - PwC (Private Business Office), Barnes and Noble,and LensCrafters.

CivvieSupply, a premium patriotic and military-inspired clothing brand, opened a fulfillment center in the mall in 2019.[5]