Did the county kill Three Star Mall? Was the mall going to continue to go downhill with or without new ownership? I have thought about this recently due to the news of another store leaving the mall. 

Should the county have purchased the mall? I obviously don’t have that answer. A lot of people think no and some are happy with the potential opportunities for the county. I personally don’t think it was the best idea in the world. 

Things just seem to continue to go wrong at Three Star Mall. The roof leaked a few months ago and completely shut down Shoe Sensation. Now Shoe Sensation is closed and not coming back. Another leak flooded Cato and now they are reportedly closed and not coming back as well. The mall was no stranger to leaks before the county purchased it. I know that. You could hardly go to the mall without seeing a bucket somewhere catching leaks. Many tenants told horror stories of water damaging their equipment before too, so I don’t entirely blame the leaks on the county. I just wonder if all this would have happened regardless if the county bought it or not. Either way, since the county owns the mall, it is currently on it. 

I believe the real downfall of Three Star Mall happened when JCPenney left. That one hurt. It hurt me personally because I enjoyed shopping there. I also enjoyed having somewhere to buy clothes locally. I appreciate the fact there are many small business boutiques in town, but I just do not love paying $40 for a simple top. I enjoy a good $5 top much more. Clearly JCPenney leaving was not the fault of the county. I think that was just a product of malls dying. 

Strip malls seem to be the new big thing. Walk-in malls appear to be a thing of the past (Opry Mills excluded). Tullahoma is a good example of a mall changing with the times. When I lived in Tullahoma, the mall kind of sucked. It reminded me a lot of Three Star Mall. There was a JCPenney, a Rue 21 and a Cali Nails inside from what I remember. Walking inside the mall was extremely depressing. There were so many vacant rooms and there were no shoppers. Now, it has transformed and is more of a strip mall with an Old Navy, Five Below and other good stores. It also has many, many shoppers.  

I wished Warren County would follow that same path, but then the county purchased the mall and I knew that dream was done for. I don’t think Cato and Shoe Sensation leaving is the county’s fault. I think the flood probably would have happened with or without the county, but I do think the county has killed Three Star Mall. What’s a mall without stores? Is it even considered a mall anymore if it is just a health department, Senior Center and other government offices? 

At this point we just have Bath and Body Works and Hibbett Sports. My advice to you is to stock up on your lotions and candles and grab all your Nike apparel while you can because I don’t think those stores will be too far behind the others. 

Standard News Editor Bethany Porter can be contacted at bporter@southernstandard.com