Signal Hill Mall | Statesville, NC | History and Storytime about a Vintage Moldy Dead Mall.

A more complete history is located here.

The Signal Hill Mall, opened for business on August 1st, 1973. Developed by C & J Associates, the mall would end up being roughly 300,000 square feet in size. The mall was anchored by local chain Spainhours, Woolworth and Belk. In 1980, an expansion would add a north wing to the mall, which relocated Spainhours and added JCPenney. Stores that joined during that time included Chick-fil-a, GNC, Endicott Johnson, Lerner, Record Bar and Pearl Vision Center. Spainhours would leave Statesville in 1992, closing their location at the Signal Hill Mall. This would be replaced by Peebles in 1993. Woolworth would close in 1993, and be replaced with Hills department stores in 1995. In 1997, Hills would close and be replaced by Sears the same year.

The mall would enter the 2000's strong but began to struggle. Peebles closed in 2004, as well as long standing favorite Pet Pros. Chick-fil-a departed in 2005, and more tenants would slowly leave the mall. During this time, talks of a renovation had begun, and that's cited as the reason why Peebles left so early. However, due to the 2008 recession, no such renovation took place. The 2000's rolled into the 2010's, and in 2013 once again talks of a redevelopment were in the works, but hinged on the economic conditions becoming better. The years rolled on, and the anchor stores started to close. Sears closed in 2012, and JCPenney closed in 2015. Longtime staples of the mall slowly began to fizzle out and close. Bookland, which had been open since 1990, closed in 2016. Radioshack and Saslow's Jewelers both closed in 2017. GNC closed in 2019, and iHOP closed in 2021, with Bath & Body Works closing shortly after. By this time, Belk had walled themselves off from the mall, and conditions inside were growing worse, fast. The mall stayed open with only two tenants for the entire time period I visited, during October 2022 - December 2023. Stars Wireless closed in late December 2023, with Wooten Jewelers acting as the last store inside the moldy, decaying mall for the last few weeks. Wooten had been in the mall since 1975, originally known as Scrogg's. Finally, after over 50 years, Signal Hill Mall would permanently close in January 2024. Now, they are gutting the entire building for reuse and redevelopment into something new. C & J Associates, the owners of the property to this day, have not officially stated intentions for the building. This was a beautiful example of a vintage dead mall and is my favorite mall I have ever gotten to visit.

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