Mosiah L.
Yelp
Seven years ago, I wrote a Yelp review on Greenbriar Mall and I gave it a three rating. After my most recent visit (Friday, October 8, 2021), I'm struggling to figure out how this mall is staying in business. I was there mainly to purchase two items: a birthday present for my teenage nephew and some dress shoes for myself to wear to work. On my previous review, I stated that the mall was basically being kept afloat by Macy's and Burlington Coat Factory. I also said that it wasn't as ghetto as expected. I am here to eat those words and chase it down with the most bitter of beverages.
Both the Macy's and Burlington Coat Factory stores have closed and have yet to be replaced by anything, with the Macy's looking like an eyesore all boarded up from the outside. The Anna's Linens has been placed by a (gasp!) Citi Trends. So what do they have in there now? Well, the Footlocker, Buster Brown, Manhattan (hip hop clothing store), Wells Fargo bank, and Medu black bookstore are still there (though Medu is located in a different part of the mall from where it was before). The barber shop and nail salon are still there. The Piccadilly cafe remains there as well, but I've never dined there. As far as the food court goes, the Chick Fil-A and Mr. Everything restaurants are probably the only fast food restaurants you'll recognize, but there are a few others that sell burgers and hot wings.
This mall is now the portrait of urban blight and is even more of a hangout for teens and people in their early 20s than it was before. And the customer service in practically every store was awful. In fact, whenever I entered most stores I was treated as if I was too old and uncool to be shopping there. Nearly all the clothing stores catered more towards hip-hop attire that was not only expensive but wasn't functional for anyone working in an office environment.
I was hard pressed to find the dress shoes I was looking for. I used to be able to depend on Payless Shoes for that but of course that is now gone as well. I had to resort to entering the store that sells the pimp suits in my quest for shoes I could wear to the office. I told the saleswoman that I was looking for basic conservative black dress shoes with shoestrings in them and she looked at me as if I was speaking a foreign language. All the shoes they had were those pimp alligator shoes that were a variety of flashy colors. If you like wearing purple shoes or dress shoes that are white on the top and another color on the sides and the bottom, this is your spot. The only basic black shoes they had were slip-ons with no shoestrings in them. It was then that I realized I'm going to have to go elsewhere just to find some conservative basic black dress shoes for men.
The best part of my visit to the mall was that I did find a gift for my nephew. I purchased a Los Angeles Lakers jacket for him at Jimmy Jazz that cost about $98 before tax. It was a reasonable price considering the good quality of the product. In another store, I saw a really nice hoodie with deceased rapper Nipsy Hustle's face on it, but it was a way too pricey $70.
Oh, one other attraction is still at the mall that was there during my last review of this place: The big booty black sistas from the hood are still strutting around in their lycra bodysuits. Everything jiggling and nothing left to the imagination. So, most certainly the mall is still a good place for "people watching."
Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with marketing to the "urban" crowd but there needs to be more variety. Not every brother wears Nike's and jumpsuits 24 hours a day. Some of us go on job interviews and need business casual attire. I did see a store that sells tuxedos but I believe it was marketed towards the teenage prom crowd and for some reason it was closed on this late Friday afternoon. But finding a regular basic suit is impossible here. You can find your fake gold chains, fitted baseball caps, Air Jordans, and spray painted t-shirts though.
I was so disappointed with my most recent visit to Greenbriar Mall that I don't believe I will ever go back anytime soon. The whole vibe was off, with people just hanging around both inside and outside the place. And be careful walking through the parking lot because they drive as reckless as if they're still in the streets, with their minds more focused on their blasting car stereos than pedestrians. I hate to do it, but my rating for Greenbriar Mall has dropped from a three to a one.
