Mall Theatre

dallasmovietheaters on July 17, 2025 at 7:48 am

This venue opened - and closed - as Mall Theatre, a single-screen 585-seat venue by Malco Theatres circuit. The Old Hickory Mall (OHM) was announced in 1964 by William P. Engel’s Engel Companies of Birmingham with a groundbreaking in November of 1964. As the project grew conceptually, Hewitt Pegues Tomlin, Jr., Frances Tigrett and John Burton Tigrett joined as co-developers.

Like a number of malls of that era, OHM was designed as a strip shopping center that allowed for the potential of a covered mall to be developed over time. On October 27, 1965 a free-standing Sears held its massively successful grand opening as the first and only business at the venue. Thousands showed up as a signal to central retail and theater stalwarts that the times were changing. For theaters, this was the era of suburban luxury theaters which took advantage of large parking areas and comfy seating to dethrone aging downtown venues.

The first tenants were all signed on by the Mall’s July 26, 1966 main phase of construction to last one year. The OHM was constructed connecting the Sears anchor tenants to other eager original anchors of JCPenney’s, Kisber’s, and A&P. Malco signed on as the theater provider in 1966 on what appears to be a 25-year leasing agreement. A month prior to OHM’s grand opening, Malco Theatres opened here on June 29, 1967 with “The War Wagon” playing on its 35-foot screen.

A month later, OHM held its grand opening on July 27, 1967 and Malco offered free matinees films to children. The theater was a success but landlocked by a Baskin Robbins which prevented the theater from expansion. To diversify as much as possible during the onset of the multiplex and home video eras, Malco added a video store to the lobby beginning March 22, 1985 that lasted a few years.

As the Mall was approaching its 20-year anniversary, it wanted to expand foot traffic to encourage leasing renewals. They went big finally moving forward with a mall enclosure plan that would more than double vendors from 26 to 54 and eventually create a space for a new anchor (which would be Goldsmith’s); but Malco decided not to re-up in a potentially larger spot in OHM.

By 1991, 25 years after Malco had signed on to be in the Mall, it had already dropped its downtown Malco and Paramount, a twin and supplanted them with a quad turned 8-screen, free-standing venue about four miles away. Malco closed up here April 29, 1991 after a long run with “New Jack City.” Blockbuster Video decided to carry on the cinematic tradition moving into the space after a retrofit.

Name - Mall Theatre (never Old Hickory Mall Cinemas… though I like it better)

rivest266 on August 4, 2022 at 9:30 am

This was opened as the Mall theatre on June 29th, 1967 by Malco theatres. Grand opening ad posted. Closed 1991.

BamaFnNTn on September 23, 2008 at 8:27 am

Old Hickory Mall Cinema has been closed for about 15 years. It was changed to a video store in the mid 90’s.

Also there were theaters in Downtown Jackson, TN. Ritz and Paramount. These closed in the mid-1980’s. I went on my second date with my wife at the Paramount in 1984. We had driven down from college in McKenzie.