Rivergate Mall (Goodlettsville, TN) : Dead Mall Walking or Halloween Treat?

[@TheRacy]

I used to troll around this mall as a kid in the late 90s and 200s. My favorite memories as a kid was walking from the Gamestop which was next to the Victoria Secrets to Abercrombrie to an anime comic bookstore. You didn't go to the other part, but there used to be an arcade there too. The food court used to have a lot more tables/chairs and that Teriyaki Grill, Steak Grill, Pyramids, Mexican Restuarant and the random clothing store has always been there. That soccer Plus store was a little kids clothing shop, but I cannot remember the name.

[@light_and_sound]

Gymboree or Stride Rite shoes.

[@TheRacy]

@@light_and_sound Gymboree sounds right

[@barthunt8640]

I’m 53yo and me, my brother and our buddies would hang out at Rivergate mall back in the 80’s. We had the loop around the mall jam pack with our cars just cruising completely around the mall to the point mall management gave us our own parking section to stop and hangout.

[@beckigreen]

I’m 50 and I remember that clearly, the cars, not you and your brother. 😂

[@barthunt8640]

@@beckigreen, right! These kids today have no idea what they missed. Such good times!

[@DeadMallWalking]

Damn, that’s awesome! Bet those days were a ton of fun 🙂

[@neilbohanan4035]

I remember walking around as a teenager in the mall back in the late 80.

[@disistheway2010]

That place used to be so popular in the 90s and 00s. Wonderful memories of going to the arcade and Software Etc with dad while mom shopped. I went there while on a business trip back in 2021 and I was so depressed about how far it had fallen.

[@DeadMallWalking]

Yeah, I never saw it in its prime, but it definitely seems to be struggling…

[@michaelssmith01]

I'm 43, my parents worked at the sears, so I spent alot of time there as a kid, I remember going to the arcade that used to be there before they changed the one entrance. Miss those days.

[@CoolCatProductions-365]

Nice video dead mall walking! That old wood storefront was a Gymboree which was a brand that competed with the childrens place. They went defunct in 2019 and was bought out the very company they were competing with.

[@DeadMallWalking]

Thank you, appreciate it. And yes, Gymboree!! That’s it, haha.

[@kylesmith4202]

@@DeadMallWalking I thought that's what it was by looking at the old maps but wasn't positive.

[@kylesmith4202]

That Dillard's actually got hit by a tornado I think it was 98' It's sad to see that mall in that condition because I remember when every storefront was full. They did do a renovation on it so that might be why it doesn't look like it was built in the 70s

[@DeadMallWalking]

No way! That's interesting...Any idea if that's connected to it currently having two different entrances into the mall?

[@kylesmith4202]

@@DeadMallWalking Are you talking about how JCPenney has two entrances into the mall? Because JCPenney has been like that as long as I can remember. The part of the mall was redesigned where the furniture store was on the end where Gloria Jean's was. They redesigned that when Dave and Busters was there. Before that you had that short main hall that split into two hallways. That was the oldest part of the mall. Also, I couldn't figure out exactly where that sports store was from your video. Although I did find some old maps of the mall via the website on the internet archives website.

[@imfittin2]

It was the hot-spot for shopping in the 70's- we got all our school clothes there, shopped from opening time until closing, full of shoppers. My favorite memories were riding the escalators in Cain-Sloan (Dillard's) - (still do this, but nobody is in the store but me it seems like- creepy but sad), Sears, 5-7-9, and Camelot Records where we got our favorite albums and sheet music.

[@Charleshobson70]

I lived in Antioch from 1996-2001. I loved that mall. Sports Seasons was the best.

[@TheColeCo]

Im 27 when i was a kid - I use to go here when the carrousel was still there and the mall use to be filled and all the stores were still open lol I miss it

[@robliefeld2646]

This mall started going downhill during the Obama administration when Metro Nashville claimed part of the mall was in Davidson County then started shipping in minorities by the busloads. Then all of the retail and shopping moved further into Sumner County to Hendersonville. I loved this mall. So many great memories. It's a shame to see its glory days are behind it.

[@billknight9552]

Grew up in this mall. Mid-2000's you would find me here every Saturday night when I got my drivers license. It was packed with people and every space was full.

[@wanderingweh405]

a store called the Ranch was my moms first job in the early 70s she told me about a streaker that ran nude thru the mall into a glass window.

[@matthewy8964]

The Dillards in Webster Tx has the same brass exterior door handles.

[@DeadMallWalking]

Honestly, I love them. Need some for my house!

[@Jennstravels]

I think that the Soccers Plus store frontage used to be Stride Right. The 80s & 90s kids shoe store. It’s amazing how different this mall used to be when I was growing up, it was the place to go. Lol.

[@denverleatherboy]

I Was thinking Imaginatium or a book store

[@light_and_sound]

It does look like Stride Rite more so than Gymboree.

[@rodneyhayes2929]

The Soccer Plus was previously Gymboree.

[@luke9511]

i remember going there in the 90's and how busy it used to be, me and my wife who was my gf at the time went here once and never went back, we had this feeling we were being watched it was very unsettling

[@light_and_sound]

I was a 90's pre-teen mall rat/mall goth at this mall. It was like a home away from home and was packed every weekend.

[@garbagebanditdayz819]

I always enjoyed Dillard’s 1990s anchor structures with those arched entrances. My local (and favorite) mall, Triangle Town Center has a Dillard’s anchor with those wonderful arched entrances. The brass door handles still have the old Dillard’s logo with the three half circles. Another local staple, Cary Towne Center (another favorite) which was torn down by Epic Games (yes the people who run Fortnite) to build their headquarters formerly had a beautiful Dillard’s with arches and black exterior signage. Epic hasn’t done anything with the vacant (apart from the former Belk structure which still stands) property. As of typing this comment, the city of Cary pulled the rezoning permit issued on behalf of Epic since it’s been 6 months since the company has done anything with the property. Sad they went along with that demo, only to do nothing but sit on that land.

[@Jfizzle813]

Used to be the spot in the 90s and 2000s on the weekend ! 😢 sad to say itll be gone before too long . 😪

[@johnstrobel8051]

I’ve been on the roof of that Mall as a HVAC TECH and it was hell to access and get to the rooftop units one roof hatch for the whole mall

[@dedicatedbydaylight4470]

yea plus those stairs, so steep, at least the hatch doesn’t slam on its own

[@caiman8207]

Happy to see this keep up the good work

[@caiman8207]

And thanks for the shout out!

[@DeadMallWalking]

Very welcome dude, thanks for the tip!

[@andrewT23]

I think the Soccer Plus used to be Electronics Boutique or Babbages

[@PXAbstraction]

I think someone loaded the wrong ROM onto the World's Largest Pac-Man. :)

[@DeadMallWalking]

Sure looks like it! Although maybe there's an even larger Space Invaders somewhere out there...

[@jdgill-u2s]

There were six or seven malls in Nashville. Way too many. Two have already been torn down.

[@JimthebeastAlister]

Who else spent Friday nights at the barrel o fun?

[@bobbysosay]

Wow

[@JimthebeastAlister]

Spent a lot of time in this Mall

[@hondacar1510]

The mall is on it's way out. Too much Crime, Not like it was.

[@DeadMallWalking]

Most malls aren’t like they once were, sadly 🥲

[@lobwcs]

It all started going downhill when they started running busses from downtown to the mall. thanks black people.

[@wolfy1987]

The mixed use developments they build at these places are always the ugliest architecture. Boxy cheap looking brightly colored junk which doesnt fit the region at all.