Greenbriar Mall looking to rebrand after Macy's closing

Greenbriar Mall is arguably the most historic shopping mall in Atlanta. Not only is it the site of the first ever Chick-fil-a, but it's also the first mall to introduce the modern food court.

However, unfortunately, the mall has taken a couple of big hits recently. One of its anchor stores, Burlington Coat Factory moved to Camp Creek Marketplace two years ago, and its other anchor store, Macy's, announced its closing due to the pandemic last month.

Without its two largest department stores, the future of the mall is up in the air.

On Tuesday, Councilwoman Marci Collier Overstreet held a virtual public meeting to discuss the mall's future. Overstreet stressed that the mall is still profitable, but says the owners are looking to rebrand and repurpose the 90-acre property.

During the meeting, multiple ideas were thrown out there for the redesign, including, a MARTA transit hub, a new medical space, and an art center.

Invest Atlanta, who have been working with the mall's owner, says that they're currently recruiting new businesses to open in Greenbriar, and they're planning to build more than 1,000 new housing units in the surrounding area, to help garner traffic.

Greenbriar's owner, Charlie Hendon says that he's not concerned. The mall's Foot Locker brings in around $20 million a year, according to him.