Kmart in Middle GA

Kmart in Middle GA

Kmart on Tom Hill Sr. Blvd (1988-2018) (credit: Kmart World)

This post will be a brief history of Middle GA's many Kmart locations. In 1963, Kmart entered the Macon market with a location on Pio Nono Ave, near the Westgate Mall. A second store was built on Riverside Dr in 1968.

Kmart on Watson Blvd (1975-2014)

Kmart on Sam Nunn Blvd (1992-2002)

In 1975, Kmart opened its first and only location in Warner Robins, with Perry and Milledgeville stores following soon after in 1978. In 1988, a new Kmart store opened on Tom Hill Sr Blvd in Macon. The Riverside Dr location remained open until 1991 and was demolished. Around this time, a newer Kmart was built in Milledgeville, right next to the old location. The old store would become a Bi-Lo, then Kroger, and is currently a Hobby Lobby. In 1992, a newer Kmart was built in Perry, GA.

In 1999, a new Kmart was built in Macon, closer to the Macon Mall, leading to the closure of the Pio Nono location. This Kmart didn't last long sadly, and closed in 2003. It later became Virginia College and is currently a self-storage facility.

In the late 90s, the Tom Hill & Watson Kmart stores were expanded, and rebranded under the Big K name. 

In 2002, the Perry Kmart store closed. It later became multiple businesses such as Bealls, Ace Hardware, and Abba House. 

In 2014, the Warner Robins Kmart closed. It later reopened as an At Home.

In 2016, the Milledgeville Kmart closed. It has since been demolished and is now Ross, Bealls, and PetSmart.

Finally, in 2018, the Tom Hill Kmart closed its doors, officially leaving Middle GA with zero Kmart stores. The Tom Hill Kmart later became Planet Fitness, Urban Air, and a furniture store.

Houston County Galleria - The Most Successful Indoor Mall in Middle GA

Houston County Galleria - The Most Successful Indoor Mall in Middle GA

Houston County Galleria entrance

NOTE BEFORE WE BEGIN: The photos shown here are going to be a mix between photos from October 2024 and photos from April 2025. 

Warner Robins is a strange town. It's much smaller than Macon, but its retail is thriving, featuring the only Target in the area, and new restaurants popping up often. But we're here to talk about the Houston County Galleria. But first, some backstory on the the mall that came before it, the Houston Mall.

Houston Mall entrance

I won't talk much about the Houston Mall. It opened in 1973, featuring Sears, Belk, and Grant's, in addition to other stores. Once the Galleria opened in 1994, Houston Mall faded into obscurity. It's since closed down and is now a medical & government center. For more information on the Houston Mall, check out this article from Sky City: Retail History.

The Houston County Galleria opened in 1994, anchored by Sears, Belk, and Goody's, with JCPenney being built as an add-on in 1995, and the Galleria Cinemas being built in 1998.

JCPenney at the Houston County Galleria (1995-present)

Belk at the Houston County Galleria (1994-present)

Sears at the Houston County Galleria (1994-2018)

Galleria 15 Cinemas (1998-present)

(pretend there's a photo of the Goody's here)

Goody's (1994-2009)

In 2009, Goody's went bankrupt, closing all of their locations, including the Galleria location. It was later the Galleria Conference Center, then Halloween City, and now it sits as the Belk Men's store.

Crunch Fitness

Former Conn's HomePlus

Sears would close in 2018. It later became Crunch Fitness and Conn's HomePlus. Conn's closed due to bankruptcy in 2024. 

Without further ado, let's see what the Galleria looks like in 2024/2025!

Walking through the main entrance (between Crunch and JCPenney) are a lot of military recruitment offices, with Fix & Style on the right end and Spencer Gifts on the left end.

Houston County Galleria directory

I might work on a full map later on in the future. During my 2024 visit I thankfully got a picture of the map itself. When I went recently, I got the photo of the directory featuring the list of stores. 

Walking to the main section of the mall, we see Spencer's on the left, with Manhattan and FYE up ahead. There are also a lot of kid's rides, but I didn't get a photo of that.

Sears entrance (1994-2018)

Crunch Fitness entrance

Looking to the left, we see our first major anchor, being Crunch Fitness, formerly Sears. 

As we walk down the mall, we see more stores including Cricket Wireless, Hibbett Sports, and a local hat shop.

Victoria's Secret (left), GNC (right)

I won't even lie, I completely forgot GNC existed until I went here. As far as I know, this location and the Eisenhower Crossing store are the only locations left in Middle GA.

Hibbett Sports (left), Authentiks (right)

I won't even lie, I completely forgot GNC existed until I went here. As far as I know, this location and the Eisenhower Crossing store are the only locations left in Middle GA.

Entering the food court

Former Chick-Fil-A

The food court has a lot of local restaurants including Bonnie's Cookies. Originally there were fountains in this area, however those have been replaced with... I guess a lounging area? Not sure what to call it.

Forever Diamonds (left) and Know Style (right)

I want to assume the Forever Diamonds is a former Starbucks. In the Macon Mall, there's a place called Ivy Nail Salon, which shares the same exact entrance, but used to be a Starbucks in the 2000s.

American Eagle (left) and Shoe Dept (right)

JCPenney south entrance

I find it strange how this JCPenney has survived all these years. The Macon, Milledgeville, and Dublin stores have all been closed for many years.

Belk wing

As we continue walking through the mall, we encounter more stores such as Rainbow Shops and John Smeal & Co.

Belk Men's Store (former Goody's)

I find it strange that this store has two Belk stores. Either way, it keeps the vacancy rate lower so honestly, I don't think it's that big a deal.

Main Belk entrance

And here is the main entrance to the Belk store. Note the store on the right. I saw this and wasn't sure what it used to be. It looked very odd with the fancy entrance design.

Facing the east exit (between JCPenney and Belk)

JCPenney east entrance

Walking back towards the Sears wing

Weird north exit near the cinemas

Finish Line (left) and Bath & Body Works (right)

Looking towards the Sears/Crunch entrance

Galleria 15 Cinemas "entrance"

Galleria 15 Cinemas interior

Looking towards the Sears/Crunch entrance

Houston County Galleria fair (October 2024)

The Houston County Galleria is still the most successful indoor mall in Middle GA. It still goes strong, likely due to Warner Robins being a military town. 

For those who are wondering, yes, I will try to do Macon Mall and Milledgeville Mall posts sometime in the future.

What does the future hold for the Galleria? Time will tell.

A Look at Eisenhower Crossing

Eisenhower Crossing sign facing Log Cabin Dr

In 2001, Eisenhower Crossing was built on the corner of Eisenhower Pkwy and Log Cabin Dr. This new shopping center brought tons of new stores to the Macon area, as well as relocating existing stores.

In the 90s, Kroger, Old Navy, Ross, and Michaels all had locations near the Macon Mall. Kroger stood across the street, where Macon Flea Market sits now. Old Navy was located inside the Macon Mall. Ross was located on Mercer University Dr, where Ollies is now, and Michaels was located on Bloomfield Rd, which was later Big Lots.

Outside of those stores, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Goody's, Marshalls, Dick's Sporting Goods, Staples, Party City, LifeWay Christian Stores, Famous Footwear and Best Buy all entered the Macon market. 

Eisenhower Crossing map (2002/2003)

Eisenhower Crossing wasn't done yet, as in 2005, Home Depot would build a new store, and a year later, Eisenhower III was built, featuring hhgregg and PetSmart. Famous Footwear closed around 2005, and Shoe Carnival opened in 2006. 

Goody's at Eisenhower Crossing (2001-2009)

Goody's closed their doors in 2009 due to the company going bankrupt. In 2010, Ashley Furniture moved into the former Goody's. In 2014, Dick's Sporting Goods would close their Eisenhower Crossing location, likely due to them wanting to focus on their River Crossing store. In 2017, hhgregg closed due to bankruptcy. 

Target at Eisenhower Crossing (2001-2018)

On November 7th, 2017, Target announced that 12 locations would be closing in February 2018, one of those being the Macon location. On February 3rd, 2018, Target officially closed its doors in Macon.

Eisenhower Crossing managed to remain stable for a few more months, until September of 2018, when it was announced that a new shopping center on Bass Rd would be built. This new shopping center intended to feature many stores that already had locations at Eisenhower Crossing, including Marshalls, Old Navy, Michaels, and LifeWay. Speaking of LifeWay, the new location never opened due to its bankruptcy in 2019. 

Marshalls at Eisenhower Crossing (2001-2019)

In September of 2019, Marshalls officially moved to their new Bass Rd location. Around this time, it was announced that PetSmart would also be closing their location at Eisenhower Crossing. PetSmart closed in October 2019. Michaels soon followed in March of 2020.

Bed Bath & Beyond at Eisenhower Crossing (2001-2020)

On December 13th, 2020, Bed Bath & Beyond officially closed its Macon location, just over 2 years before the company would go bankrupt. The Old Navy location also closed around this time. In 2021, Ashley Furniture announced they were building a new store on Riverside Dr, meaning that the Eisenhower Crossing location would close as well. 

Closures slowed down. In 2022, Spirit Halloween opened in the former Marshalls building. They returned again in 2024. In 2023, the Target building was demolished. In December of 2024, Party City announced that they would close all of their stores. The Party City at Eisenhower Crossing closed in Feburary. 

Let's take a visit to Eisenhower Crossing and see what it looks like today.

Presidential Pkwy

Presidential Pkwy is nearly empty at this point. It's really sad to see what this place has become.

Former Target

Yes, that's all that's left of Target... some tiles on the ground. Considering all of this free land they have, it makes me wonder if they intend to build something here.

Former Bed Bath & Beyond

I never went to Bed Bath & Beyond much, to be honest I didn't even realize they had closed until a few months into 2021. The building seems like it's in good shape so they should put something new here. The former Bed Bath & Beyond in Warner Robins is now a Burlington Coat Factory.

Former Goody's/Ashley HomeStore

Ashley HomeStore has had a really weird history in the Macon area. They were originally on Eisenhower Pkwy next to Service Merchandise (now Academy Sports), then they moved to Bloomfield Village, then to Eisenhower Crossing, and now to Riverside Dr. This store has moved 3 times in the past 22 years.

Former Famous Footwear/Shoe Carnival

This building looks ROUGH, and it's only been closed for about a year. Famous Footwear was originally here in the early 2000s. Shoe Carnival relocated here from Westgate in 2006. Famous Footwear actually tried to make a comeback in Macon back in 2019, but it closed pretty recently.

Former Old Navy

Old Navy was the only one of the North Macon Plaza stores to keep their Eisenhower Crossing location open... but not for long. This store closed pretty quickly after the newer store opened. I couldn't even find any information on its closure. It was probably pretty quick, considering the fact that all of the fixtures are still inside.

Former Marshalls/Spirit Halloween

It appears that Spirit Halloween is coming back to this location in September. I don't know why, but in 2023 they opened their West Macon location in the former Linens-N-Things/OfficeDepot near the mall. They're adding a new grocery delivery company into that building, so they definitely aren't going back there.

Dick's Warehouse Sale

Dick's Sporting Goods was one of the first stores to close at Eisenhower Crossing, back in 2014. However, 10 years later, they reopened it as this "warehouse sale" store which appears to be where they have discounted, unsold items. They also have another brand like this called "Going... Going... Gone!".

Staples

Ross Dress For Less / Best Buy

These are the 3 of the 5 major retailers still surviving at Eisenhower Crossing. I fear they won't last long though, as apparently they're building a new shopping center across from The Shoppes at River Crossing.

Former Michaels

Michaels was one of the last to open in North Macon Plaza. They completely renovated the store around 2018, and now here it sits abandoned. 

Eisenhower III outparcels

Not much to talk about here, but the Kreme Cheesecake shop is brand new. That space used to be a Starbucks. I'm glad stores are still opening here at Eisenhower Crossing.

Home Depot

Not much to talk about here either. It opened in 2005, and it's still here.

More outparcels

The T-Mobile used to be a CarpetOne store, then Bedzzz Express, and now it sits as a T-Mobile. The middle business used to be a popcorn shop, until it closed and now it's The Art Bar.

More outparcels

Former PetSmart (left) and hhgregg (right)

Personally, I have a lot of memories at this PetSmart location. It featured a BanField vet place, which doesn't exist at the Riverside Dr location. I never went to hhgregg, but to my understanding it was like Best Buy.

Former Sears Hometown Store

To end off this blogpost, we will take a look at the former Sears Hometown Store. For those who don't know, these are small form-factor Sears stores that sell lawn supplies and appliances. The only notable thing here is the PetSmart cart that's in there for some reason.

Eisenhower Crossing was once the #1 place to shop in Macon, but bankruptcies, closures, new shopping centers have turned it into a shell of what it once was. I hope new stores move into these old spaces. Westgate has already been turned into an industrial park, and Macon Mall is 50% government spaces now. I hope Eisenhower Crossing gets redeveloped as a shopping center, with newer stores.