Richland Mall is an enclosed shopping mall near the intersection of Forest Drive and Beltline Blvd in Columbia, South Carolina. The mall has one anchor store, Belk, and one junior anchor Barnes & Noble. There are two additional vacant anchor stores that have both been majority vacant for nearly 15 years. The mall is nearly 100% vacant, with none of the few remaining inline tenants being retail-oriented. The mall has never received a major renovation and has an ornate late 1980s-early 1990s interior aesthetic. Original Mall (1961-1987) Richland Mall opened in 1961 as the first mall in Columbia. It was an open-air mall, typical of first-generation malls from the mid-twentieth century, and anchored by J.B. White, a major department store based in Augusta, Georgia. that was prevalent in South Carolina. A movie theater was also on a southeastern outlot of the mall. Among the original twenty-seven stores were Winn-Dixie, Eckerd, and Woolworth. By the 1980s, Richland Mall's open-air mall concept was considered outdated and by that time there was significant competition in the market from newer indoor malls such as Dutch Square and especially Columbia Mall. In the late 80s, L. J. Hooker bought the complex with plans of converting it into not only a much larger indoor mall, but also making it a high-end shopping destination unparalleled in the region. The stores remaining in the original Richland Mall had their leases terminated in 1987 with the exception of the J.B. White, which the new mall would be built around. Two outparcels would also be unaffected. Winn-Dixie would be one of the last stores to close on December 23, 1987, before the massive redevelopment project got underway. Richland Fashion Mall (1988-1996) The mall was renamed Richland Fashion Mall and was built in two major phases. The first phase included a two-level wing extending from the current J.B. White to a new anchor store, Bonwit Teller, which opened in October 1988. The second phase of the mall opened in November 1989, included another two-level wing extending from the other side of J.B. White to end at another new anchor: Parisian. Both Bonwit Teller and Parisian were new to not only Columbia, but all of South Carolina. A large four-level parking garage was built that covered most of the front of the mall, as well as the entire length of the roof being made accessible to parking as well to combat the