Opry Mills
Opry Mills is a super-regional shopping mall owned by Simon Property Group, formerly by its initial owners Mills Corporation and Gaylord Entertainment. It opened in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2000 on the former site of the Opryland USA theme park. The mall is adjacent to the Grand Ole Opry House and the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.
 Entrance in 2017 after the flood | |
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| Location | Nashville, Tennessee, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 36°12′11″N 86°41′34″W |
| Opening date | May 12, 2000 (original opening) March 29, 2012 (current opening) |
| Closing date | May 2010 (original closing) |
| Developer | Mills Corporation |
| Owner | Simon Property Group |
| No. of stores and services | 200 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 17 |
| Total retail floor area | 1,200,000 square feet (110,000 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 |
| Website | oprymills |
Description
Prior to its temporary 2010–2012 closure, Opry Mills was a single level mall that contained over 200 stores including Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, Blacklion (now Polo Ralph Lauren Factory Store), Bed Bath & Beyond, Forever 21, Gap Factory Store, Gibson Showcase (now H&M), IMAX, Off 5th Saks Fifth Avenue, Barnes & Noble Booksellers (now Madame Tussauds), Nike Factory Store, Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse, Old Navy Outlet Store, Regal Cinemas, Sun and Ski Sports and VF Outlet. There is also a large food court that contains Which Wich, Chili's, T.G.I. Friday's, Burger King, and Villa Pizza. Johnny Rockets, Tony Roma's, Rainforest Cafe, Dave & Buster's, Aquarium Restaurant, Claim Jumper, Moe's Southwest Grill and Romano's Macaroni Grill restaurants are located inside and outside the food court. Opry Mills has since reopened on March 29, 2012 after repairs.
The General Jackson showboat, which operates on the Cumberland River, is docked just outside Opry Mills.
Closure due to flooding
Flood waters from the 2010 Tennessee floods in early May reportedly reached as high as 10 feet inside the mall, and forced the closure of the facility temporarily. The entire property was remediated. In September 2010, restoration work was halted while litigation over insurance claims played out in court, and many of the mall's retailers sought locations elsewhere in the area, either permanently or until the mall is restored and reopened. The initial reopening date was set for August 2011, but that self-imposed deadline was not met due to the litigation.[1] There was speculation that Simon Malls may not reopen the mall at all, due to Simon Malls' choice to stop renovations to the mall during litigation. Simon Malls denied that it had plans to close the mall permanently.[2]
On April 12, 2011, mall officials announced that a financing deal had been reached to resume reconstruction of Opry Mills, and the mall reopened on March 29, 2012, after two years of repairs,[3] with some of the anchor retailers opening sooner.[4] The property was given a facelift during the remediation, and featured a new logo upon its reopening.
The mall owners had been awarded $200 million in insurance coverage from the flood but in 2018 the Tennessee Supreme Court let stand a lower court's ruling that stripped $150 million of coverage as the mall had been built in a known flood zone.[5]
References
- Snyder, Eric. "Opry Mills mall won't reopen for at least a year, owner says", "Nashville Business Journal", September 16, 2010
- Snyder, Naomi. "Dark days drag on at Opry Mills mall", "The Tennessean", October 3, 2010
- "Opry Mills reopens to grand ceremony".
- http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110412/BUSINESS01/110412007/Opry-Mills-plans-reopen-spring-2012?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE
- "Court upholds cutting $150 million in Opry Mills flood coverage". The Associated Press. May 22, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2020.