Town Center at Cobb (often called Town Center Mall), is a regional shopping mall located in Kennesaw, Georgia near Atlanta. Opened in late February 1986, the mall was originally anchored by Rich's, Macy's and Sears. The Macy's store was the first in Atlanta not to have originally been part of the Atlanta-based Davison's chain, which Macy's eliminated after owning it since 1929. The largest mall in the state when it opened, a fourth anchor, Mervyn's, joined the mall later in 1986. It has been suggested that Retail park be merged into this article or section. ... Kennesaw is a city located in Cobb County, Georgia. ... This article is about the state capital of Georgia. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The references in this article would be clearer with a different and/or consistent style of citation, footnoting or external linking. ... Macys is a chain of American department stores with its flagship store in Herald Square, New York City, which has been billed as the worlds largest store since completion of the Seventh Avenue addition in 1924. ... Sears Holdings Corporation NASDAQ: SHLD is the third largest retailer in the United States, behind Wal-Mart and The Home Depot. ... This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Mervyns is a neighborhood department store based in Hayward, California. ...

Town Center is part of a major retail hub in northern Cobb County, Georgia along Barrett Parkway. It is located between parallel parts of I-75 and I-575, just north of where the interstates meet or split from each other. The mall itself has seen several significant changes over the years. Built with a pad for an additional wing, a new wing extending north from the east wing was finally added in 1993 with a Parisian department store, the first to open in the Atlanta area. This brought the store count at the mall up to 220 stores and the amount of anchor store up to five. No other mall in the state had five anchors at the time except for North Point Mall, which opened also in 1993. Cobb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. ... Ernest W. Barrett was the first chairman of the new county commission in Cobb County, Georgia, after the Georgia General Assembly enacted home rule legislation in the early 1960s. ... Interstate 75 is an interstate highway in the midwest and southeastern United States. ... Interstate 575 (Georgia State Route 417) is an interstate highway in the United States which begins at Interstate 75 near Kennesaw and connects the metro Atlanta area with the north Georgia mountains. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... // Parisian is a moderate to upscale U.S. chain of department stores, based in Birmingham, Alabama known for its superior level of personalized service and limited distribution of specialty brands such as Juicy Couture, Karen Kane, BCBG Max Azria, Garfield & Marks, Tahari, Jig Saw, 7 For All Mankind, Diesel, Paper... In retail, an anchor store, or draw tenant, is one of the larger stores in a shopping mall, usually a department store in a major retail chain, such as Macys or JCPenney. ... North Point Mall, located in Alpharetta, GA (a suburb of Atlanta) opened in 1993 as one of the largest shopping malls in the country. ...

Enormously successful and drawing away customers that originally shopped at older Cumberland and Cobb Center Malls, the mall was first renovated in 1995 but has never been expanded aside from the Parisian addition. Store consolidations and retractions, however, have shaken up the anchor line-up in recent years. First, in 1996, JCPenney took over the former location of Mervyn's, which pulled out of Georgia in late 1995. Second, Rich's and Macy's were merged into one store, prompting the closure of the three-story Macy's that had been there since opening. However, part of the store was refurbished and is now used as a Macy's Furniture Gallery (originally a Rich's-Macy's Furniture Gallery). Macy's now occupies the former Rich's. Cumberland Mall, located in the Cumberland district of Atlanta near the suburbs of Smyrna and Vinings, opened on August 8, 1973 and was the largest mall in the country when it first opened. ... Cobb Center Mall (originally Cobb County Shopping Center) is a shopping mall in Smyrna, Georgia, United States. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... J. C. Penney Company, Inc. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Macys is a chain of American department stores with its flagship store in Herald Square, New York City, which has been billed as the worlds largest store since completion of the Seventh Avenue addition in 1924. ... The references in this article would be clearer with a different and/or consistent style of citation, footnoting or external linking. ...

Occupancy rates remain very high at the mall, and most major chain specialty stores are found in the mall. However, the mall is facing competition from all the big box stores on Barrett Parkway, two "lifestyle centers" that opened up on each end of the county and more upscale malls such as Lenox Square. However, no plans currently are known to make any major changes to the mall. Changes in anchors, however, are likely to continue in 2006 as Parisian will be bought out by Belk. The term lifestyle center is used in a variety of ways. ... Aerial view of Lenox Square with JW Marriott Hotel in background. ...

Anchors

• JCPenney (82,000 sq. ft., northwest wing)
• Macy's (238,000 sq. ft., former Rich's, east wing)
• Parisian (128,819 sq. ft., becoming Belk in 2007, northeast wing)
• Sears (170,527 sq. ft., west wing)

J. C. Penney Company, Inc. ... Macys is a chain of American department stores with its flagship store in Herald Square, New York City, which has been billed as the worlds largest store since completion of the Seventh Avenue addition in 1924. ... // Parisian is a moderate to upscale U.S. chain of department stores, based in Birmingham, Alabama known for its superior level of personalized service and limited distribution of specialty brands such as Juicy Couture, Karen Kane, BCBG Max Azria, Garfield & Marks, Tahari, Jig Saw, 7 For All Mankind, Diesel, Paper... Belk, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is the United States largest privately-held department store chain. ... Sears Holdings Corporation NASDAQ: SHLD is the third largest retailer in the United States, behind Wal-Mart and The Home Depot. ...

Adjacent shopping centers

• Cobb Place was the first "satellite" strip mall to open around Town Center.
• Town Center Oaks is located just southwest, on the opposite side of Busbee Parkway. It currently has a Happy China restaurant (one of its original tenants), Bird Watcher Supply Company (a local birdwatching chain), and others. It previously had a Taco Mac and Dick Blick; a Thomasville Furniture store moved to Cobb Place.
• Further north (across Noonday Creek) on Busbee is a Garden Ridge, a PGA Superstore in half of a not-that-old Wal-Mart, a new BrandsMart USA, an indoor ice rink, a defunct go-kart course, and others on the west side of the street, up against I-75. On the east side are two small strip malls, including Petland and others. Another still-empty shopping center has been built on the southwest corner of Busbee Parkway at Chastain Road, replacing retain space lost when Kennesaw State University's continuing education department took-over a former outlet mall on the southwest corner of the original route of Busbee Drive at Chastain.
• Another large strip mall is located across Barrett Parkway, and has Michaels, Marshall's (originally Branden's), and TJ Maxx as its major stores. Two outparcels contain an Olive Garden restaurant, and a new Verizon Wirelesss store which, along with some still-ampty new stores, recently replaced a Three Dollar Cafe which moved-in to what was originally a Sizzler. Behind this is a Toys R Us and an early strip mall nationally-known tenants. Further down Roberts Road (the original route before Barrett Parkway) is [[Home Depot and a 1950s-era home that is the last holdout to land development.
• Town Center Esplanade is a two-story shopping center fronting Barrett Parkway on the upper level and facing Town Center on the lower level. Major tenants include Kinko's and others. Several restaurants are also located together just behind it.
• Town Center Prado is located on the northwest corner of Bell's Ferry and Barrett, and contains Publix, Stein-Mart, Ross Dress for Less, Famous Footwear (formerly Gateway Country Store), Hallmark, Pier 1, and Party City.
• An earlier shopping center on the northwest corner of Barrett and Chastain Meadows Parkway originally had a movie theatre, Drug Emporium, and Levitz. The Levitz wing was demolished and the center extended further north, and includes a new Super Wal-Mart, as well as Game Stop, Dollar Tree, Payless Shoes, and others.
• An old shopping center on the southwest corner of Bell's Ferry and Barrett pre-dates everything else in the area. On the southeast corner (where Barrett becomes Piedmont Road) is a new CVS/pharmacy and others to be built behind it. This is the eastern extent of the commercial district.
• A newer shopping center is located on the south side of Barrett east of I-575, and has a Moe's Southwest Grill and Washington Mutual, among others.