Haywood Mall opened 45 years ago today


The largest mall in South Carolina opened 45 years ago today, on July 30, 1980. But it seems like only yesterday...


It’s a scorcher, a real Carolina crème brûlée of a day, July 30th, 1980, down here in Greenville, South Carolina, where the air hangs thicker than a debutante’s pearls and the cicadas are zinging a high-pitched drone of anticipation. Because today, my oh my, today is not just any old day. No sir. Today, the concrete leviathan, the air-conditioned agora, the shimmering, chrome-and-Formica Taj Mahal of retail – Haywood Mall – is opening its gargantuan maw for the very first time!

And the people, ah, the people! They’re streaming in like ants to a picnic, a vast, undulating river of polyester and perm, of pre-Air-Jordan sneakers and the first blush of designer jeans. They’re coming from Spartanburg and Anderson and even way up in the misty Blue Ridge foothills, all converging on this glorious monument to… well, to stuff. To things. To the glorious, unapologetic pursuit of the new and the shiny! This is the 80s, after all!


You’ve got your Junior Leaguers in their Lilly Pulitzer knockoffs, clutching their Coach bags like they’re filled with Confederate gold. You’ve got the farmers in their starched denim overalls, eyes wide as saucers at the sheer scale of it all. You’ve got the high school kids with their feathered hair and their Walkmans, already plotting which Spencer Gifts gag they’ll blow their summer earnings on.

They’re all here, folks, every stripe and flavor of the Upstate, all united by the siren call of commerce, by the promise of air-conditioned bliss and the intoxicating scents of new carpet and Orange Julius. They’re craning their necks at the two-story Belk, a veritable Parthenon of plush towels and sensible blouses. They’re peering into the windows of Sears, dreaming of Kenmore appliances and Craftsman tools that will last a lifetime (or at least until old Fast Eddie Lampert sells the valuable brand names).

And the hubbub! It’s a reverberating cacophony of Muzak spilling from hidden speakers, the excited chatter of the masses, the squeak of freshly polished linoleum underfoot. It’s the sound of a new era dawning, the sound of South Carolina stepping boldly into the glorious, consumer-driven 1980s.


Up on the makeshift stage, some local dignitaries are giving speeches, their voices echoing through the vast atrium, words like “progress” and “opportunity” and “economic development” bouncing off the gleaming storefronts. But let’s be honest, folks, nobody’s really listening. They’re too busy ogling the fountains that shoot water twenty feet in the air, too busy plotting their strategic assault on the food court, that aromatic redoubt of pizza slices and soft pretzels.

Haywood Mall. It’s more than just a collection of stores. It’s a happening. It’s a phenomenon. It’s a testament to the American Dream, right here in the heart of South Carolina. It’s the dawning of the age of the indoor shopping experience, a brave new world where the weather outside is irrelevant and the pursuit of happiness can be found, quite literally, in aisle after merchandise-engorged aisle. So crank up your five-day-old AC/DC Back in Black cassette, grab your JCPenney credit card, and get on down there. You don’t want to miss this, podners. This, as they say, is where it’s at!
Location: 700 Haywood Rd, Greenville, SC 29607, USA

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