Auburn Mall was originally built in 1973 by Colonial Properties Trust as "Village Mall", with two anchor stores initially: Sears at the western end and Gayfers at the eastern end. Later the mall was expanded to include a third anchor and subsequently a fourth. In 1998 the mall's name changed to Colonial Mall Auburn-Opelika. In 2004, Auburn Mall underwent a major renovation and expansion. The expansion included new JCPenney and Dillard's buildings, Belk relocating to the market, and adding a streetscape to the front of the mall. The streetscape included retailers such as Ann Taylor Loft, Chico's, Coldwater Creek, Jos. A Bank, Lane Bryant and Talbots. The expansion also added 250+ jobs to the market. During the renovation Colonial made the decision to update the mall's name to Colonial University Village.[citation needed]
Since that time, Colonial University Village, along with five other Colonial properties, was purchased as part of a joint venture by Marelda Retail Development, LLC. In 2007 Jones Lang LaSalle became management and leasing contractor of Colonial University Village and the other properties.[1] In 2014, the name of the mall was changed from Village Mall to Auburn Mall.[2] Sears closed the store in December 2012. Stein Mart announced to take over the former Sears space in March 2017. On March 17, 2017, JCPenney announced that it would be closing as part of a plan to close 138 stores nationwide. The store closed its doors on July 31, 2017.[3] On April 14, 2020, it was announced that the former JCPenney would be converted into a mall entrance and smaller stores.[4] On August 12, 2020, it was announced that Stein Mart would be closing all stores, including the one at Auburn Mall which will leave Belk and Dillard's as the only anchors stores.[5]
