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If there’s one thing that “Big, Black Christmas” signified in the 1980s it was that the holiday shopping season was here — it had rolled in and American malls would fill with people looking for that perfect sweater or what have you. That was the time of Black Friday and Die Hard, Black Friday and Die Hard. That is what Christmas meant for many years.
But that is all just a memory — or at least that is what many people believe. However, with a lot of changes happening for both shopping in malls and the year-round economy, it may be that Black Friday and the rest of the “First Friday of Christmas” mentality is just fading away. For 2017 and beyond, many people are looking to find a better option for Christmas shopping.
What if we mentioned the names of these shopping malls? Well, store employees, themselves looking for something better to do this Christmas, have combined the two names of the biggest retailers in the U.S. to create these words: Big, Black, or Target.
The Big Black shopping mall, currently under construction in the Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs, is expected to be the largest shopping mall to ever be constructed in the U.S. when it opens in January. The mall will be completely residential and commercial, and will have shopping, as well as restaurants, bars, and theaters, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It was funded by the former owner of The Landmark mall, which was sold last year for $88 million, a Mall of America-like construction project that was expected to open in March. However, construction was halted in April when the city discovered that the construction did not conform to their zoning laws.
The trailblazing store still closed, with a delay announcement from the developer saying it was looking for a developer that could, “answer the complex questions of land use and planning involved in large-scale residential and commercial development of this nature,” according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Winnie Sage, president of shopping at the Big Black shopping mall said, “The name of the project spoke to us.” She continued, “We thought it would be a good name, and we spent a lot of time picking the words. It’s very descriptive of what the brand represents, the way the lines are cut, the energy.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that about half of the mall’s stores will be owned by nearby real estate companies that were already looking for a replacement mall after the Landmark closed, and the other half will be rented out to corporations who have stores in the mall. The original goal was to open up in the late summer or early fall of 2017, but the grand opening has been delayed until sometime in January.
In response to the new sales going into the Big Black Black Mall, Walmart is feeling the pressure and is pushing harder than ever to be the biggest shopping hub to ever land in Georgia — or really anywhere in the nation. “Walmart is expanding and building brand new stores, remodeling our existing stores, and making strategic acquisitions of stores and brands that are building a true ‘Everyday Low Prices’ shopping experience.” Don Dawson, vice president of Walmart’s Georgia stores said.
Well, the next time you look at what they have in store for Black Friday, that might not be as terrible as you think.
