Plaza Fiesta Explained

Plaza Fiesta is a 350000ft2 shopping mall in DeKalb County, Georgia on the eastern border of the city of Brookhaven, on Buford Highway and Clairmont Road. The mall contains a large supermarket ("farmers market"), several large discount stores, and a large space filled with over 140[1] small vendors, modeled on a Mexican mercado or flea market. According to newspaper Creative Loafing, "to Atlanta's immigrant population, Plaza Fiesta has become as vital a shopping destination as Lenox Square or the Mall of Georgia."[2] The mall opened in 1968 as the Buford-Clairmont Mall and included a movie theater. Tenants included Woolco which later became a Burlington Coat Factory. Later the mall became "Outlet Square" and included a Winn-Dixie supermarket. In 1996, new owners turned the mall into "Asian Square", modeled after a crowded Hong Kong street. In 2000 new owners spend $11 million to transform Asian Square into Plaza Fiesta. Marshall's closed in the early 2010s as it opened a store in nearby Town Brookhaven.[3]

2013 saw a number of openings at the plaza, including the Shoppers World discount store, Planet Fitness gym, and Ross Dress for Less.[4] That same year, the mall reported over 4 million visitors.[5] The mall attracts shoppers from as far as North Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee.[6] In February 2020, an Ollie's Bargain Outlet location opened next to the Planet Fitness location.[7]

Incidents

A robbery and shoplifting took place inside of a store in the mall in April 2021. That same year, a fight was taken place after the mall was closed for the night.

After a string of fights and robberies, the mall issued a new supervision rule requires all visitors under 18 will have to be with an adult 21 years and over after 3 PM while on mall property and placed security measures throughout the mall area.

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://plazafiesta.net Plaza Fiesta official website
  2. https://creativeloafing.com/content-185190-cover-story-plaza-fiesta "Plaza Fiesta!: How a doomed strip mall became ground zero for a cultural revolution", Alyssa Abkowitz, June 21, 2006, Creative Loafing
  3. http://www.tonetoatl.com/2010/09/shopportunity-comes-to-north-dekalb.html "Shopportunity comes to North DeKalb, ToneToATL, September 14, 2010
  4. http://www.tonetoatl.com/2013/01/national-names-joining-party-at-plaza.html "National Names Joining the Party at Plaza Fiesta", ToneToATL, January 14, 2013
  5. Web site: Food - A newbie's guide to eating at Plaza Fiesta. Atlanta Creative Loafing. en. 2018-10-19.
  6. News: The Mall of the Futureā€¦on Buford Highway? 90.1 FM WABE. 2015-01-15. 90.1 FM WABE. 2018-10-19. en-US.
  7. https://www.ollies.us/events/359-Chamblee/