HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- Virginia Center Commons mall closed its doors for good this week, but not without one last sale. On Tuesday, people flocked to the Brook Road mall to buy things like fixtures, shelving, and seats.
Cheryl Cruise-Allmond brought her eight-month-old granddaughter to the mall's final day.
"We thought this would be kind of cool to walk around with her in the neighborhood," Cruise-Allmond said while showing off her purchases. "She'll have her a cool, little car."
As she walked through the mall, Cruise-Allmond said some memories came back. The 30-year-old mall was the place her daughter would hang out as a teenager.
"They could go watch a movie, do the walk around the mall, get something to eat in the food court, and that's what kids did back then," she said.
Josh Bishop grew up going to Virginia Center Commons.
"[It was] really interesting to see everything completely emptied out in there," he said.
Asuman Ali Semakula bought a load of shoe racks on the mall's final day. He said he plans to send them back to his family's thrift store in Uganda.
"There was a very big, big, big crowd here this morning," Semakula said. "You could go and whatever you grabbed, the price was very fair."
The mall will eventually be replaced by Henrico's new sports and entertainment center.
"I feel it's going to help the economy in Richmond and maybe create jobs for people," Semakula said.
Cruise-Allmond said she was excited about the growth, but worried about the traffic. In the meantime, she'll be busy with her other buys — chairs and tables from the food court -- to help remodel her now adult daughter's first kitchen.
"We'll have a little bit of the mall and my daughter's memories for her to go along as she raises her daughter," she said. "She can tell her some stories maybe that she hasn't told me."
Construction on the new center is expected to be completed in September 2023. Events will likely be scheduled starting in 2024.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
