Richlands Mall
- Feb 20
- 7 min read
Updated: Feb 27
The Richlands Mall, located in Richlands, Virginia, is a mall that has been forgotten by all but those that lived in the area decades ago. It sits closed, waiting for its new life to unfold, as it has since roughly 2000. I found out about this mall after scouring Google Maps one evening, and seeing that it had been closed for a long time. It was then I discovered that another mall researcher, J.T. of Sky City, had been here in 2012, over a decade before I came to know the place. He took one photograph of the interior concourse, and that was all the internet had seen of this mall until 2025. I briefly visited the property in March of 2024 since I had driven to go film the Claypool Hill Mall nearby, and was able to get a photo through the perforated board they put in front of the old sliding window of Roses.
I went home and was disappointed that a mall would go undocumented, since I don't break and enter or even try to find unlocked doors. Instead, in a hail mary attempt, I found who manages the property, and reached out not expecting anything back. However, they got back to me and said I could come onto the premises and document the building before its eventual transformation.
Richlands Mall gets its start back in the 1960's. Originally, the building was a textile factory for Eastern Isles Manufacturing Company, which manufactured ladies clothing. The building got expanded in 1966, and would run as a textile mill until February 1979 when 'The Roanoke Times' announced its closure. The building would not sit vacant for long, because in the same year the textile mill closed, conversations were happening involving turning the building into an enclosed mall.
During the 1980's, the coal industry was still dominant and active in the area, and Atlanta based developer Taz Anderson Jr, who ran GG Industries, would plan what became the Richlands Mall. Leasing for the property started by mid 1979 and construction was stated to be well underway by February 1980. The former 120,000 square foot textile mill was increased to 163,000 square feet, and the new mall would be owned by Taz Anderson Jr, D. Kim Kind, and Fletcher Bright.
The mall would be anchored by two stores: Roses and Kroger. The mall opened in phases, with Roses having their grand opening on August 13th, 1980. The Kroger was operational by late November or early December as shown by ads in the 'Clinch Valley News & Richlands Press', and the interior mall would be open by December 1980. Chuck Robb, the Lt. Governor of Virginia, cut the ribbon at the dedication ceremony of the new mall.
According to the 'Clinch Valley News & Richlands Press,' in February of 1981, sixteen of the twenty-four spaces were occupied. These stores consisted of: Eckerd Drug, Baskin Robbins, Old Towne Jewelers, Colony Hallmark, Roses, Shoe World, Kroger, Athletic Attic, Black Gold, Richlands Twin Cinemas, Ralph’s Shoes, The Clover Patch, Adam and Eve, Claretta’s Uniform & Maternity Shop, Hands On Jean Shop and Western Steer Buffet. Worth mentioning is there would also be a 18,000 square foot space attached to the Roses for use as a warehouse or other light industrial purposes.
From what I can tell, Richlands Mall served its local community well, providing locals with their basic needs. Clinch Valley is interesting, because the area would end up having four enclosed shopping malls: Tazewell Mall, Mercer Mall, Richlands Mall, and Claypool Hill Mall. Tazewell Mall and Richlands Mall served more as a mall suited for locals and their needs, attracting very few if any national stores. Meanwhile, Claypool Hill Mall, and Mercer Mall in Bluefield, West Virginia, would consist of a more modern layout and feature national chains.
While the Richlands Mall did serve the local area quite well for a time, it is worth mentioning that at some point, Claypool Hill Mall became the dominant shopping power of the area. The two malls were located not even six miles away from each other, and Claypool Hill had Leggett and Kmart, meanwhile Richlands had Kroger and Roses.
In 1986 the mall was still holding its own, with the following roster of tenants on the property: At Eze, Big Dipper, Claretta's Uniform & Maternity Shop, Donna's Bridal Shop, Eckerd Drug, Elite Hairdesign, Family Fashions, Frilly Filly, Gold Mine Video Amusements, Joy's Fashions, Kroger, McDonalds, Pet Cove, Plump & Petty, Richlands Mall Twin Cinema, Richlands Mall Instant Care Clinic, Roses, Shoe World, Sound Factory, and Under the Rainbow Jewelry & Gifts. Despite being listed as part of the mall directory, McDonalds and most likely Richlands Mall Instant Care Clinic were outparcels.
Going into the 1990's, the Richlands Mall would start to heavily decline by late in the decade. In 1991, a restaurant called 'The Fig Tree' opened in the buffet space the mall featured, serving mainly steak, shrimp and Mexican cuisine. However, this restaurant was short lived, and was replaced by Western Sizzlin' in 1992.
All tenants that occupied the mall property in 1993 include: McDonalds, Kroger, Western Sizzlin, SupeRX Drug, Roses, Shoe World, Richlands Mall Jewelers, Richlands Twin Cinema. Joy's Fashions, Days "N" Nights, Vision Unlimited, Coal Mine Arcade, and Richlands Card Shop.
Roses would undergo closures in 1993, closing 40 of their 215 store locations. The location at Richlands Mall would not be considered for closure, and they still remain there today in 2026. The mall did gain a prominent new tenant, Subway, having their grand opening on December 3rd, 1993 with exterior and possibly interior access. However, sometime in the past, if there was interior access, it was closed off.
The mall had various drug stores over the years, starting first with Eckerd Drug. In 1987, Eckerd Drug became SupeRX Drug, before becoming Revco in July of 1994 alongside the rest of the SupeRX chain. Finally, in 1998 Revco became CVS Pharmacy which remains on the property today in 2026. The drug store used to have an entrance into the mall, which at some point in the past was walled off.
By the late 1990's, time was running out for the mall. Some of the final tenants that I saw associated with this mall while researching included Joy's Fashions, Old Country Buffet, and Record Exchange. These old storefronts can still be seen during my video tour.
At some point, time caught up to the Richlands Mall. The decline of the industries in Appalachia and competition from Claypool Hill Mall did the place in. The 'Clinch Valley News & Richlands Press' stops being archived after 1999, so I don't have an official closing date for the interior mall. However, the Richlands Twin Cinema closed permanently on November 12th, 1999, if that is any indication. The owners of the cinema stated that it was not economically viable to continue operation.
Going into the new millennium, Kroger closed on March 25th, 2000, which was eventually replaced by Grants IGA, another grocery store. Sometime around this period is when the interior mall is speculated to have closed. Eventually, the interior movie theater would get demolished as the roof had started to fail.
Its not often that a mall gets to sit around for decades, especially untouched and preserved. The mall's location deep within Appalachia and its unknown status and small size meant nobody came to take advantage of the place. The new owners of the property want to turn it into a strip mall, and that's for the best. There's no viable use in a building continuing to sit vacant for another decade. The place needs to continue serving Richlands and the locals of the surrounding area, and hopefully one day it can do that again.
Check out my YouTube video on the mall where I walk through it in its entirety and tell its story.
Here is my Flickr album for every picture I took during my visit.
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