Metro opens police office in Hickory Hollow Mall

By SUZANNE NORMAND BLACKWOOD • Staff Writer (Tennessean) • August 15, 2008 Commander Mike Alexander As a way of increasing police presence in the Hickory Hollow area, the Metro Police Department has set up an office inside Hickory Hollow Mall. Officers assigned to the Hickory Hollow area and flexteam members will use the office to do paperwork. Officers also will have a kiosk set up at the mall for recruiting purposes. Commander Mike Alexander of the Metro Police South Precinct said, to his knowledge, this is the only time in recent years that Metro police have set up a permanent office in a place such as a shopping mall. He said it's convenient for the officers who need a place to take care of administrative duties. Also, he added, "we want to do what we can to increase officer visibility in the hope that we will prevent crime, deter crime or lessen the likelihood that someone will become the victim of a crime in the Hickory Hollow area." Alexander said the decision resulted from several meetings with mall management. He said the mall decided to take a proactive approach to public safety, and communication was the key to getting started. Metro police will be working closely with mall security to ensure the mall environment is safe, he said. The goal, Alexander added, "is to improve the safety and quality of life of people in the area." "This won't be a catch-all," said Metro Councilman Sam Coleman, who has discussed with members of the Hickory Hollow Business Alliance the possibility of also hiring a private security firm to enhance security in the area. But it is the beginning of a public safety presence, he said. Police will try to recruit Alexander said the kiosk would have information about law enforcement careers as well as civilian positions. Recruitment would be targeted to people of all eligible ages, he said, but the opportunity for youth outreach is particularly a plus. "It gives us a chance to be a positive role model to any youth who may be in the mall," he said. Alexander said he hopes the community embraces the new partnership Metro police have begun with the mall and sees it as a positive addition. He noted on the recent success of the Fed Up march and rally, which took place in conjunction with Nashville Night Out Against Crime. Fed Up is a movement led by youth for the purpose of stopping youth violence.

Metro Police to set up office at Hickory Hollow Mall

As a way of increasing police presence in the Hickory Hollow area, the Metro Police Department is setting up an office inside Hickory Hollow Mall. Officers assigned to the Hickory Hollow area and flex team members will use the office to do paperwork. Officers also will have a kiosk set up at the mall for recruiting purposes.

Groups Mark National Night Out Against Crime

Here are some of the pictures from the walk that started at Media Play and ended at the Hickory Hollow Mall.

Photos by Mindy Schwartz

Church holds car-bike show to counter perceptions of Antioch

Hello District "29" Neighbors:

The effort by the Living World Church to promote a positive image of Antioch with their "Car and Bike" show is awesome. check out Mindy's photos.

Come on Down the event will be going on til 5 PM today....

Gratefully,

Vivian




















Event at Hickory Hollow Mall will be free to spectators on Saturday
By MARISSA DeCUIR mdecuir@tennessean.com 259-8203 • June 27, 2008

Living Word Community Church wants to rejuvenate Antioch's reputation.
That's why the church is hosting a car and bike show tomorrow, free to spectators, in Hickory Hollow Mall's parking lot.

Lewis BeCoats, elder at Living Word, said he was tired of hearing that Antioch was like "L.A." and was the "'hood."

"We had all this negative connotation about Antioch," BeCoats said. "So we said, let's do a car show to bring everybody together."

Living Word has only been in its new Antioch location, 5380 Hickory Hollow Parkway, for about three months. And those at the church wanted to host the event at a more established place.

BeCoats said he spoke with Nathan Thomas, the mall's marketing director, about working together on the show.

"He said, 'That vision is in line with our vision.' We talked for a second and realized we were in line with each other," BeCoats said.

Thomas said he was eager to help Living Word put on the event. Instead of renting the space to the church, the mall is donating it for free. Thomas said the added mall traffic Hickory Hollow expects to get is quite the bonus.

"Hopefully, we'll use this as a starting point to do more events like this in the future," Thomas said.

The event is meant to promote community and offer a safe environment for
families to enjoy themselves.

"We've had some perception problems in the past. We've done a lot to up security," Thomas said. "This will help even more."

Metro police instituted a curfew in 2006 to require those 18 years and younger to be accompanied by a parent at the mall after 6 p.m. each Friday and Saturday.

Car dealerships, bike shops and other local businesses are sponsoring the
community show. Various vendors will be on site selling food.

Proceeds from sponsorships, vendors and entry fees will go to Tennessee Baptist Children's Homes.

The entry fee for cars, trucks, bikes and SUVs is $20 before the show or $25 the day of. Cash prizes and trophies will be awarded.

Area Dillard's To Close; 76 Will Lose Job

5 Other Midstate Stores Remain- Channel 4 Nashville, TN POSTED: 1:20 pm CDT June 26, 2008 UPDATED: 1:42 pm CDT June 26, 2008 NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- More than 70 workers will lose their jobs when Dillard's at Hickory Hollow closes this summer. Channel 4 News reported that the store will close on Aug. 2. A company representative said it expects to lay off 76 workers. A few months ago, Dillard's announced it would close stores that weren't making enough money.

Competition, crime drive stores from Antioch mall

Dillard's is latest retailer to flee Hickory Hollow By WENDY LEE • Staff Writer (Tennessean)) • June 3, 2008 Dillard's Inc. confirmed Monday that it will close its Hickory Hollow Mall store in August, becoming the latest tenant to leave a once vibrant Nashville shopping center that has found itself caught in the grip of neighborhood crime and increased retail competition from nearby suburbs. Leased mall space at the 428,000-square-foot Antioch shopping center has declined about 10 percent since 2005, losing anchor tenants such as J.C. Penney and Hallmark along the way. Now, Dillard's, and later this year, Linens 'n Things, will be added to that list. In the past, Metro police have identified Hickory Hollow Mall as a location with significant gang activity, but recent efforts to curtail crime in the area — including a 2006 curfew to require everyone 18 years and under to be accompanied by a parent in the mall after 6 p.m. each Friday and Saturday — seem to have shown some improvement. While robberies are still up at the mall this year, petty thefts like shoplifting are down, according to numbers provided by Michael Alexander, commander of the South precinct. "We're trying to be very proactive to address the issues at Hickory Hollow Mall," he said. Mall nearing its end? Still, for retailers trying to attract a reliable base of customers, the increased police attention may not be enough. "The life cycle may be over for that mall, or getting close," said Steve Rudd, a partner with Nashville-based Restaurant Retail Properties, a commercial real estate company. "Their market has just really slimmed down." In addition, the mall faces tough new competition from places like Providence MarketPlace in Mt. Juliet, which offers a J.C. Penney, and The Avenue, a new shopping center in Murfreesboro that includes a Belk department store. As far as Dillard's closing, company spokeswoman Julie J. Bull said simply, "The company is closing underperforming stores, and this is an underperforming store." The Antioch store is one of eight underperforming locations nationwide that will be closed by the Little Rock, Ark.-based department store. The store's 90 employees will be transferred to four other Dillard's in the Nashville area, Bull said. Crime worries linger Katie Reinsmidt, spokeswoman for CBL & Associates Properties Inc., which owns Hickory Hollow Mall, said the company is determined to "continue to try to make Hickory Hollow the best destination it can possibly be." Reinsmidt said Dillard's leaving will open new possibilities for the mall, adding that other CBL properties have replaced vacant spaces with new department stores or alternative stores such as a Burlington Coat Factory. CBL & Associates also owns RiverGate Mall and CoolSprings Galleria. Some retailers and shoppers said they were saddened by the department store's departure, as concerns about crime at the mall continue to linger. This year, Hickory Hollow Mall has had 54 reported thefts, 30 burglaries and 13 robberies, according to police statistics. "People don't want to come to Hickory Hollow anymore because of" the crime, said Melody Taft, a manager at women's apparel store 5-7-9. Taft said she has witnessed her share of fights around the mall's food court. "It was awful," Taft said of the mall's tense atmosphere, adding that it made her not want to work there. And mall customers like Becky Oliver said now that Dillard's is leaving, the mall will become a less attractive place to shop. "It's really going downhill," Oliver said. "It's really sad." Oliver's comments were cut short when a mall security officer ordered a Tennessean reporter and photographer off the mall property. Competition hurts, too Increased competition from retailers opening in the suburbs where Hickory Hollow Mall once drew shoppers, has also contributed to its declining performance. Quincy Johnson, a 48-year-old Antioch resident, said without a Dillard's he probably won't visit Hickory Hollow Mall twice a week as he does now, going instead to CoolSprings Galleria. Mall sales per square foot at Hickory Hollow continue to decline, coming in at $226 per-square-foot last year. Its occupancy rates have also suffered compared to its peers. Last year, Hickory Hollow had an 84 percent occupancy rate, compared to CoolSprings Galleria at 99 percent and RiverGate Mall at 97 percent, according to CBL & Associates' filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Mojeeb Ansari, a partner at Universal Imports, which sells items such as knives and figurines, said that sales were up when his store opened at Hickory Hollow 11 years ago. Now his sales are down 30 percent, Ansari said. "It's slow," Ansari said. "CoolSprings and Opry Mills kill this mall." From a real estate point of view, Rudd said even the physical topography of the place — the hills — don't break in the mall's favor. Poor visibility from the road makes it difficult to recruit retail tenants there. "I bet (CBL) would love to (sell the mall), but I don't think they will," Rudd said. "Who would buy it?" Not everyone has given up on Hickory Hollow Mall. City Councilman Sam Coleman, who represents the area, said a plan of action between businesses, city and state officials will help revitalize the area. "We're just transitioning and we're just hitting a tough little skid here," Coleman said. "We're going to get it right. We're not going to let Hickory Hollow fail." Lisa Green and Chas Sisk contributed to this report. Wendy Lee can be reached at 259-8092.

Hickory Hollow Mall's Dillard's to close in August

By WENDY LEE • Staff Writer (Tennessean) • June 2, 2008 Dillard's Inc. confirmed on Monday it will be closing its Hickory Hollow Mall location in early August, as part of the company's plans to close eight underperforming stores nationwide. The 90 employees at the Antioch location will be transferred to Dillard's other four stores in the Nashville area, said Julie J. Bull, Dillard's Inc. spokeswoman. Dillard's opened its store in Hickory Hollow Mall in 1991, Bull said.