# Gwinnett Place Mall

Gwinnett Place Mall situated in the Pleasant Hill Road corridor of Duluth, Georgia, stands as a reminder of its former glory as a premier shopping destination. Once a vibrant hub in one of the nation's fastest growing counties, its prominence faded following the emergence of newer shopping complexes like the Mall of Georgia in Buford and Sugarloaf Mills in Lawrenceville.
Interestingly, the mall experienced a pop culture revival when it was transformed into the Starcourt Mall for the third season of Netflix's Stranger Things.

## History

Construction of Gwinnett Place Mall began on January 21, 1982, and it officially opened its doors on February 1, 1984, with anchor tenants Rich's, Davison's and Sears. Mervyn's joined the lineup in 1986, and Davison's transitioned to Macy's (after briefly operating as Davison’s-Macy’s in 1985). In 1993, Parisian became a new anchor, leading to the addition of a northwest wing. After Mervyn's closed all seven of its Atlanta locations, J. C. Penney took over its space in 1997. By 2003, Macy's and Rich's merged to create Rich's-Macy's, a name that remained until 2005 when it was rebranded as Macy's. This left the mall with two Macy's locations, prompting the closure of the former Davidson's store, which reopened in 2010 as the first Mega Mart (a Korean Supermarket) in the US.
In 2007, Parisian rebranded as Belk, which eventually closed in 2013, marking yet another shift in the mall's history as it faced challenges in maintaining its status as a shopping destination.
The mall was challenged by the openings of the Mall of Georgia in 1999 and Sugarloaf Mills in 2001, and lost a large part of its customer base. The mall also failed to attract any new anchor stores for several years. The Gwinnett Place Cinemas just outside the mall closed in late September 2000 as General Cinema began winding down operations in Georgia ahead of its October bankruptcy. In 2008, Gwinnett Technical College opened an International Education Center in the mall, where students take foreign language classes. The downturn of the mall in throughout the early 2010s led to the mall’s owner, Simon Property Group, losing the mall to foreclosure in 2013, where it was acquired by Moonbeam Capital Investments LLC. JCPenney closed on April 4, 2015, and Beauty Master purchased the former JCPenney building in March 2016. Beauty Master opened on August 4, 2016.
In December 2017, the body of a 19-year-old woman was found in a back room of the food court, which was identified to be an abandoned Subway, where it had gone unnoticed for weeks. In January 2018, two mall employees were robbed and assaulted in the Macy's parking lot, and in March 2018, a 32-year-old female was arrested for indecent exposure, solicitation of prostitution, and possession of heroin and cocaine in the Sears parking lot. On May 31, 2018, it was announced Sears would shutter as part of an ongoing decision to eliminate its brick-and-mortar format.
In late February 2019, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Gwinnett Daily Post reported that sports developer CricRealty intends to redevelop the Gwinnett Place Mall site to build a mixed-use development anchored by a 20,000-seat cricket stadium.
On December 15, 2020, officials from Gwinnett County's Urban Redevelopment Agency agreed to purchase the 39-acre Gwinnett Place Mall site from Moonbeam Capital Investments LLC for $23 million. At this point, several tenants, including Macy's, Mega Mart and Beauty Master, owned their own property. The sale closed in April 2021 but plans for the site were not disclosed.
On February 28, 2023, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners announced a revitalization strategy focusing on housing, mobility and greenspace in response to feedback from the public. The Gwinnett Place Mall Site Revitalization Strategy will take place over the next 20 years.
On September 17, 2024, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners purchased Macy’s and the outparcel Macy’s Furniture Store for $16.5 million. This sale closed on December 2. The county plans to lease back the space to Macy’s through March 2025. After that, the store will close. The location was included on Macy’s list of 66 closing stores, which was released on January 9, 2025.

## In popular culture

The third season of Stranger Things was filmed in the mall. Authentic signage and storefronts were returned through a cosmetic restoration of a portion of the Gwinnett Place Mall, to represent many businesses that have since ceased to exist. The transformation took place during May 2018, with production of the series taking place in the mall during the subsequent summer months. After filming concluded, the Starcourt Mall set was dismantled in the summer of 2019 to prevent fans from vandalizing the set to steal souvenirs.
The 2024 movie Brothers starring Josh Brolin has principle photography in and around the Atlanta metro area and as such some filing includes exterior and interior shots of Gwinnett Place Mall.