Today's post highlights DeSoto County, MS, retail.
It's hard to believe that it has been 10 years (!!) since the Hernando Kroger Marketplace project wrapped up! For those of you who may be new to my content, I grew up in Hernando, and right as I graduated high school and left for college, the town's Kroger store, originally opened in 2001, was replaced by a new Marketplace, tripling in size. The Marketplace building was constructed on adjacent land purchased by Kroger, with the original store subsequently torn down for additional parking once the new location opened. The official grand opening date of the Kroger Marketplace was Wednesday, September 14, 2016.
In keeping with a perfectly reasonable retail timeline, the Marketplace store began undergoing its first-ever remodel in the summer of 2025. (The preceding 2001 store, meanwhile, was never remodeled from its original millennium decor package.) Now, in advance of a 10-year anniversary photoset I'll be posting soon to flickr, I wanted to get a quick blog post ready to share some remodel-in-progress pictures. The vast majority of these were taken by l_dawg2000, who also was heavily involved in documenting the construction and demolition process a decade ago. In fact, here are the links to check out our many albums over on flickr:
I'll note here that the changes documented in l_dawg's 2022 album turned out to be a minor refresh with some added signage and local flair inside the store and the addition of Kroger's new logo on the outside; not an actual full-on remodel or even a decor swap. You can also tell that l_dawg did a lot better job of documenting the store over the years post-opening! Sadly, for as much effort as I put into capturing the old store and the construction/demolition project, I really only have photos of the Marketplace from very early on, with little to no follow-up. That said, I do have a full tour of post-remodel pics I'll be posting in that flickr anniversary set soon.
Anyway, getting into the remodel photos. The first signs of a potentially pending remodel were seen on Thursday, June 26, 2025, when l_dawg noticed the above scene. I had happened to email him regarding another (also Kroger-related!) matter, and in his response alongside this attached picture he wrote, "Timing is everything though (so they say, haha!) -- just this week it looks like something might be going on at the Hernando Kroger. The seafood counter upper wall has had its decor partially removed, the wall to the left of that has been disturbed some as well. Planning on going back in there in just a little while to see if anything else has changed and will let you know as soon as I can. No signs up yet stating a store-wide remodel is coming, but could be I'm catching it at the very early stages (as usual!) - we'll see."
As promised, he returned the very next day and saw that the adjoining deli department signage had been removed. In his email to me, l_dawg confirmed that the damage was spreading quickly, and "At this point I'm inclined to say I remodel is imminent, probably just a decor swap. To be honest, I'm kinda excited to see this, but sad that the store is about to lose its original decor." On a return visit on July 1, 2025, the former delicatessen sign had been patched up to prime over, ironically creating a more visible labelscar than when it was first removed.
July 1st also saw confirmation of the decor package the store would be receiving: Artisan. "Artisan it is," he wrote, adding, "This is the first lettering to go up, and the most boring part of the decor package (dairy), is just about done. Not like they had to do much there right :P " Indeed: as can be seen in the below image, all they really had to do was paint the wall, slap up the border, and done!
"Left side remains untouched at this point," l_dawg noted after his July 1st visit. "Never seen a remodel go this fast, and can't believe no signs up stating the remodel is taking place." Hold that thought, however...
l_dawg's next batch of pics were taken on Sunday, July 13, 2025, showing the new decor background textures going up quickly along the grand aisle in the deli, bakery, and meat and seafood service departments. "Still nothing new on the left side of the store or on the front wall or vestibules," he reported, "and no signs up stating that remodeling is happening. A few things have been shuffled around also, but nothing major really, at least not yet!"
Alongside these four pics taken on July 17th, l_dawg messaged, "This past week the lettering was put up over the service departments, and the dairy product markers were put up along the upper back wall. Those markers actually look better than what I remember seeing in Germantown, hoping they don't cram too much stuff in between them though - just a local flair item or two would be nice (100% agreeing with all those people on Flickr that think too much was crammed into the wall decor of the Getwell Kroger :P).
"I particularly like the light tones of the bakery decor, and that emblem off to the right side is cool as well (looks like I failed to get a pic of that though :P). It would be nice if they would do the blue tile behind the meat and seafood counter also. That remains to be seen at this point, but I'm kind of thinking they're doing an 'Artisan Lite' version of the decor just to save on money (which would of course be nice if they leave the front wall and vestibules more or less as is)."
While he didn't have pictures of it, l_dawg also shared that it "looks like they may be planning to devote floor space to a sushi counter out in front of the main cafe area. They got rid of some of the cases that were over there and cleared out floor space which is now walled up with half walls." And on July 28th, he took the above and below additional photos. Regarding the produce signage, he wrote, "Don't recall seeing the style of signage that was just installed in produce (also styled the same in a lot of the newer, smaller overhead signs). Reclaimed possibly? Kind of digging those either way, and wondering if that will also be carried over in the aisle markers."
Also, in our first glimpse of the remodel progressing over to the left side of the salesfloor, he added, "Could be wrong, but I feel like this 'Style for Everyone' was added onto this [existing] overhead piece as part of the remodel. You can see a similarly-styled, purple dressing rooms sign in the background. Hoping those monster banners hanging from the ceiling get to stay, but certainly wouldn't count on it :P " I can confirm that the meat and seafood wall tile he mentioned and this restyled overhead piece did remain, but sadly, all the original banners did not :(
I buried the lede here: of the utmost concern from this batch was l_dawg's report that "The vestibule containing the 'Growing with Hernando' murals has been repainted. Also, the Pickup staging wall has been stripped clean, though nothing on that end of the store had received any new paint (as of Monday, July 28). Fingers crossed that all that will return, even if it wasn't the exact original stuff that was in the Millennium store." Another sad confirmation here: all of that is gone for good :(
As time dragged on into September, the remodel still was not yet complete. (Hence what I said about holding that thought earlier!) In the last batch of photos he shared with me, taken September 6, 2025, l_dawg echoed my thoughts that "the remodel kind of slowed down. Pretty sure there's just a very small crew working on this at night." He also confirmed the new sushi counter was operational, the front overhead wall that had the "Kroger Loves Hernando" signage was unfortunately but expectedly repainted, and "Really liking the new tri-sider aisle signs, and hoping those original overhead department signs remain. Highly doubtful, and might be gone already." (Spoiler: yep, they were later removed, though it took a while.)
Transitioning into my own photos now. This first one was taken on August 17th, in a fleeting attempt to capture the original seasonal department wall stenciling while it was still intact but also not impeded by any other seasonal hanging banners. And these next ones were all taken on a visit on October 12, 2025, showing the remodel had at long last progressed all the way over to the left-side wall of the store. New paint had gone up as well as some of the new signage and the aisle markers had been reskinned, but the remodel was still very much a work in progress at this point in time.
In some correspondence over Christmas, l_dawg wrote to me, "I kinda dropped the ball on providing updates on the Hernando Kroger decor refresh, but the remodel itself dropped the ball also! As of mid December, there were STILL some things not finished, notably the wall where Pickup carts are staged [pictured above in my photo] - maybe just a slim chance those local flair pieces will get reinstalled. As of just a few days ago, what's passing for local flair at that store is frankly kind of pitiful, but maybe they still have some tricks up their sleeve...
"One thing that did get put back on the wall at HDO Kroger was the mural in the seldom used (except by Kroger's own associates!) cafe seating area - guess we should be thankful for that (though I choose to grumble instead XD). Would much rather have 'Growing with Hernando' back in one of the vestibules (heck, even crammed into the restroom hallway at this point)!"
Alas, that would turn out to be the final design of the Pickup wall after all, and the vestibule would similarly remain very empty of local flair. I hope it all was at least rescued by someone rather than unceremoniously thrown in a dumpster :( I say all this not to dampen the mood in advance of the full post-remodel album, as it is simply a fact that the removal (and lack of replacement) of the local flair would have been majorly disappointing no matter the remodel result. But I'll just have to let all of you be the judge of the decor itself -- Artisan notably is not one of my favorites -- once I begin posting those photos to my flickr page, which you can keep an eye out for soon. In one last photo above, we see the ghosted echo of the "welcome" sign in the vestibule, now bidding the Marketplace decor a quiet farewell...
So as I said -- stay tuned for my full post-remodel coverage beginning on flickr shortly, and I hope you enjoyed this quick remodel-in-progress blog post as a bit of a prologue in the interim. And a very big thanks also to l_dawg2000 for contributing all these pictures! Until next time and as always, thanks for reading, and have fun exploring the retail world wherever you are :)
The concept of the "outlet mall" has changed a lot since its introduction. In 1994, a PR director for an outlet mall developer said, "When the outlet business started, the objective was to get rid of irregular and out-of-season merchandise at terrific discounts to customers. What has happened is the manufacturers have found out that outlets are profit centers and they have become better retailers," which translated into -- as the Fort Myers News-Press wrote -- "selling current, first-quality merchandise often at a smaller discount, irritating and confusing some customers who come to look for better deals but pleasing others who are finding a larger selection of a particular brand label." This trend has only continued in the ensuing decades, with many present-day outlet malls offering prestige brands in luxury environments, a far cry from the no-frills outlets of yore. Locally in the Mid-South, the prime example of this would be Tanger Outlets in Southaven, MS, which opened in 2015 (after many, many changes of plans over the years).
Of course, outlet malls existed in the state long before Tanger. We've visited a couple of Mississippi outlet mall sites here on the blog before. The Casino Factory Shoppes in Tunica Outlets (formerly Robinsonville) is a still-operating facility, but without very much to show. The Factory Stores at Batesville has completed its conversion into a satellite campus of Northwest Mississippi Community College: It's Fashion Metro, the mall's lone remaining store which refused to move upon the sale of the property to Panola County in 2019, finally relocated elsewhere in town in 2022, with construction on The Concourse wrapping up in 2025; the project was even featured in a profile ("Fall of a Mall, Rise of an Incubator") by the American Association of Community Colleges in January 2023.
Gulfport Premium Outlets is on the opposite end of the state but, in terms of status, probably closely rivals Tanger in Southaven; the Outlets of Mississippi, located in Pearl, also offers some similar options to central MS. The Outlets at Vicksburg, sold in 2020 and less thriving than the others, could potentially become the subject of a future blog post... while today, we focus our sights on Tupelo, and the former Factory Stores of America.
Despite my best efforts, there isn't a whole lot about Factory Stores of America to be found online. Tupelo was far from the only location; many other small towns around the country boasted their own Factory Stores of America, and in fact these malls were very formulaic, often featuring nearly identical designs and tenant rosters, and branded under the same unifying moniker. The company, a self-administered REIT headquartered in Smithfield, NC, seems to have been very active in the early to mid-1990s, purchasing -- for instance -- an outlet mall already anchored by VF Outlet in Dothan, AL, in 1993, followed in 1995 by no fewer than 11 centers owned by an investment portfolio of the Public Employees Retirement Systems of Ohio, after which transaction Factory Stores of America, Inc. was said to own 51 outlet centers in 28 states (maybe this was its peak?). The company even sponsored its own NASCAR team for a number of years.
1994 NASCAR promo card for Todd Bodine #75 Factory Stores of America Ford. Courtesy Racing Champions Blog
Outside of this information, however, much of the internet is radio silent on Factory Stores of America. In tracking the lineage of the Tupelo location specifically, we can get a bit more insight into what ultimately became of the company's portfolio, if not necessarily the company itself. The Tupelo complex, a 134,762-square-foot warehouse building, was built in 1973, but did not become a mall until October 1987. Before that time, it operated as a ladies' Wrangler manufacturing/distribution plant owned by the VF Corporation -- which, incidentally, would also become the main tenant of the outlet mall. In fact, it is entirely possible that VF themselves opened the mall -- perhaps similar to the Dothan location I mentioned earlier -- only to later sell it to Factory Stores of America. (VF, after all, is a pioneer of the outlet store, as we will discuss later in the post.)
Screengrab of different 1990s outlet mall/outlet store signs in Boaz, AL, from a very strange ad. Courtesy YouTube
In any case, regardless of whenever it came under Factory Stores ownership, by 2001 the Tupelo outlet mall -- along with what surely has to be a majority of its Factory Stores brethren -- was owned by Konover Property Trust, Inc. On September 25 of that same year, Konover sold these 31 properties to CPG Partners, L.P., which -- through the sprawled tentacles of corporate structure -- was in some way related to Simon Property Group. The last traces of CPG that I can find fizzle out sometime in the mid-2000s, and it is around this same time that Simon disposes of the Tupelo property, in a transaction dated December 2005. Also disposed in this same transaction are the Factory Stores of America in Draper (UT), Arcadia (LA), Hanson (KY), and Tri-Cities (TN); unrelated, but of similar interest to Mid-South readers, may be the fact that Simon similarly disposed of the Lakeland Factory Outlet Mall just a few months earlier, in March 2005.
Factory Stores of America road sign. Courtesy Alamy Stock Photo
Crossville Outlet Center (former Factory Stores of America). This location has the same exterior architecture as Tupelo. Image source unknown
I'm not sure who the Tupelo property was sold to in 2005, but in 2008 it ended up in the hands of DPI Group of Fresno, CA, according to the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, a consistently useful source for Tupelo retail news. DPI Group held the property until after its final days as an outlet mall in 2020... which, of course, we will cover in the second half of this post (and I won't yet spoil what the property's current use is). Below is a listing of all the Factory Stores of America properties sold to CPG Partners in 2001, which, while not a complete listing, is nonetheless probably one of the most comprehensive available.
The Factory Stores of America outlet malls never really seemed to boast a significantly large number of tenants. Located, as early outlet malls were, in smaller towns, these properties were meant to draw people from surrounding distances to the mall... but over time, as other outlet malls began to appear in more populated areas and the stores inside these malls faded out, these towns were left with rapidly emptying complexes no longer serving as regional destinations. While what we're about to discuss was not the case in Tupelo, I still find it to be an interesting aside, and certainly one noteworthy enough to mention in a post covering the history of Factory Stores of America (to the best of my ability given the little information available, anyway). Per KTBS 3 in Louisiana in September 2017:
Maintaining streets. Providing police and fire protection. Collecting trash. All normal services provided by most cities.
In Bienville Parish, the town of Arcadia does all that stuff and now it's in the mall business, taking a big chunk out of the town's savings.
“It's very unusual, but it was a matter of life and death,” Mayor Eugene Smith said.
Not literally, but Smith says the town of Arcadia saved the VF Outlet Mall that sits by Interstate 20. It remains open under new management.
“The town owns it,” Smith said.
Arcadia, LA, Factory Stores of America. Courtesy KTBS 3
Mall interior. Keep this in mind for the second half of this post! Courtesy KTBS 3
Arcadia Outlet Mall (after the city took ownership). Courtesy KTBS 3
Once a Factory Stores of America property, the Arcadia outlet mall was down to just two tenants in 2017, VF Outlet and Bon Worth (another common tenant at Factory Stores properties). And VF had announced it would be closing.
“It's the first time in the history of VF Outlets that a store has been scheduled to close and then turned around and was saved by a town. So pretty much, we think we're a miracle store,” store manager Jennifer Hogg said.
And it has some miracle lease terms, according to information provided to KTBS by the Arcadia town clerk:
VF pays no rent until January 2018.
VF rent based on a still to be determined percentage of sales
The other tenant – Bonworth -- has paid $2,256.20 in rent so far
The mayor says Arcadia pulled money from an investment account to buy the mall.
“The town of Arcadia is not in debt and that's one good thing,” he said.
That said, it was estimated that town officials should expect around $100,000 per year in ongoing costs, and (as you can tell from the information above) not a lot of income to offset that. Still, for a town where the mall matters so much, this transaction, while unusual, seems to have been considered necessary and beneficial. A similar transaction took place two years earlier, in 2015, in West Frankfort, Illinois. Following up two years later, the mayor said "it’s been slow but steady progress; 'I’m not disappointed in the development that we have.'"
West Frankfort, IL, Outlet Mall (after the city took ownership). Former Factory Stores of America. Courtesy The Southern Illinoisan
West Frankfort still appears to own its former Factory Stores of America, but Arcadia didn't last as long. In 2021, the town got out of the mall business, selling the property to a local business owner who planned to relocate business and shipping operations to the larger facility while also allowing all current tenants to stay. New Mayor of Arcadia O'Landis Millican "said the mall has been a sore spot for the town since he took office, adding that maintenance of the mall was costing the town too much money." While Arcadia's mall ownership may not have worked out in the long run for the local government, at least for the town itself the property is still operational... so many other former Factory Stores of America properties now sit virtually or fully vacant and abandoned, such as the location in Iowa, LA, seen here in somewhat better (but still declining) times on The Louisiana and Texas Retail Blogspot.
In 2020, after first temporarily closing its stores in the spring due to the pandemic, VF Outlet later in the year seemed to have more permanent closures in mind. News began to trickle in throughout the month of November of various locations closing: Crossville, TN... Dartmouth, MA... Lebanon, MO... Sulphur Springs, TX. News of Tupelo's closure similarly hit the Daily Journal on November 10, 2020. While VF Outlet had, of course, grown beyond just the myriad Factory Stores of America complexes to 64 locations nationwide -- other stores in MS included the two popular outlet malls in Southaven and Gulfport, for example -- the chain's store closures most severely affected the towns and properties where their business was the only one supporting an otherwise dead outlet mall. Like in Tupelo. As author Dennis Seid wrote, "Two smaller apparel stores – Bon Worth and Cook’s Fashions – as well as a couple of even smaller vendors are the remaining shops. ... The Tupelo Outlet Mall was put on the auction block in 2016, but there were no takers. In a 2017 interview, DPI said it was 'committed' to reinvigorate the mall and finding new tenants. DPI also said at the time some minor renovations to the center were in order, including new paint. But those plans haven't come to fruition and 'For Sale' and 'For Lease' signs have dotted the property since." VF's closure meant that the entire property would close and those remaining stores and vendors would either have to relocate or close with it. Similar stories played out at former Factory Stores of America complexes in Hanson, KY, and Graceville, FL.
Sulphur Springs VF Outlet store closing. Courtesy Front Porch News Texas
As more local news reports continued to trickle out, it became obvious that a majority of the VF Outlet stores seemed to be closing, implying that perhaps the entire chain was going under -- albeit trying to keep it quiet on a national level. The most damning evidence confirming this theory arrived on December 1, 2020, with the news that VF Outlet was closing its very first store in West Reading, PA. As the Times-Herald wrote:
At one time, the VF Outlet name was practically synonymous with the city of Reading and Berks County, its success largely responsible for establishing the region’s bygone reputation as the “Outlet Capital of the World.”
Now, after a half-century, the VF Outlet store in West Reading is closing its doors. The announcement came in the form of an advertisement for a store closing sale via social media Dec. 1.
“It’s been part of the fabric of our community for over 50 years, as far as the outlet goes,” said West Reading Main Street Manager Mark Ratcliffe. “And the mills have been there well over 100 years.
“It’s sad to see them go, but that seems to be the nature of retail.”
The article further expounds on the history and importance of VF Outlet to the area:
Previously located at the former site of the Berkshire Knitting Mills, straddling the border between West Reading and Wyomissing, the VF Outlet began as a one-day clearance sale. Founder M.O. Lee came up with the idea as a means of selling off excess inventory after purchasing the textile mill the previous year.
The event was a success, causing Lee to hold a second, larger sale before finally launching a factory surplus store for Berkshire International and Vanity Fair products.
VF Outlet would grow to become the first modern outlet center in the U.S. At its pinnacle, the outlets hosted dozens of retailers and served as a tourist destination, with shoppers coming by the busloads to take advantage of deep discounts.
Over time, the Outlet Center’s popularity waned. In 2016, the largely vacated 34-acre property was purchased by Delaware County-based Equus Capital Partners, which has since implemented its vast Knitting Mills redevelopment plan.
VF Outlet remained in the mix for The Knitting Mills complex, opening its new store to much fanfare.
Four months later, in August 2018, VF Outlet’s parent company, VF Corporation, split into two separate entities, with the stores and signature jeans falling under the umbrella of its offshoot, Kontoor Brands.
Issues for VF Outlet’s brick-and-mortar operations seem to have continued under Kontoor, locally and elsewhere, as store closing announcements have been trickling in across the nation over the last month.
VF Outlet had figured in prominently to the original plans for The Knitting Mills, both as a recognizable brand name to draw consumers and a callback to the area’s history.
George Haines, senior vice president of acquisitions and development for Equus, had referred to the store as a “linchpin” for the complex when it opened in 2018.
Early VF Outlet logo
Later VF Outlet logo
"America's Original Outlet." Sign at West Reading store. Courtesy Times-Herald
VF Outlet, West Reading, PA. Courtesy Go Reading Berks
As you can tell, the store's closure represented a significant loss to the West Reading area, and I remember discussing with PlazaACME at the time how disappointing the news was. As I mentioned earlier, this closure all but confirmed that the entire chain was going out of business, and indeed, a separate article on the West Reading closure noted that nearly all VF Outlet stores were closing nationwide, with "about twenty stores [to] be left open and transitioned into Lee/Wrangler Outlet and Clearance Centers." As of January 2024*, according to its store locator, Lee/Wrangler operated 18 outlets and 23 clearance centers. The clearance centers occupy the larger footprint of the two concepts, and are more akin to their predecessor, VF Outlet, in terms of merchandise and clearance deals available. The Southaven store at Tanger Outlets originally converted to this concept, but has since downsized and relocated within the mall to an outlet format, dropping the large clearance selection. And again -- there's definite irony here in how the usage of the term "outlet" has changed so much from its inception, as discussed at the beginning of the post.
So in some sense, the chain does still survive, but more exclusively at properties deemed more popular and prestige... without the VF name associated with it for so long, and without regard to the types of properties and towns it used to operate in, pioneering the early days of the outlet store and the outlet mall, just like Factory Stores of America. Below, you'll find video of the sign removal at the historic West Reading store, followed finally by my tour of the Tupelo Factory Stores of America complex and VF Outlet closing sale.
I visited the Tupelo Factory Stores of America, located at 2824 S Eason Blvd, on December 3, 2020, with not much time left to go before its final day. The sky was awfully gray and gloomy, as was the overly large, mostly empty parking lot, leaving only the fading patriotic paint colors on the building to break up the monotony.
The complex had two main entrances, each one with a gable design denoting its anchor tenant. On the left, VF Outlet; on the right, a defunct store known as U.S. Factory Outlets (which appears to be separate from the "Factory Stores of America" mall branding).
Perhaps unlike some of the other Factory Stores of America buildings out there, as I mentioned earlier the Tupelo location literally was a converted factory -- originally built in 1973. That explains some things about its building design as well as the sprawling parking lot.
Courtesy LoopNet
Given U.S. Factory Outlets closed long ago (circa mid-2000s), the right side of the building was all but dead. The only way in was through the left side, where the VF entrance was. Signage in the center of the building advertised not only VF's various house brands but also other tenants of the outlet mall; by the end, BonWorth was the only one left, but an earlier image shows at least a few other tenants of the property.
Here are a handful of images of the entrance area before we head inside. Over the years, as VF's brand portfolio dwindled, the exterior signage was moved around; originally, as shown below, Vanity Fair, Lee, and Wrangler were all located to the right of the gable structure. Signs for Healthtex and Lily of France were removed and replaced with VF and Lee over the years, leaving JanSport the only other brand showing on the left, and Wrangler all alone on the right.
Courtesy LoopNet
Courtesy LoopNet
Something else those early pictures show us is how the structure itself degraded over the years. While the red, white, and blue paint colors seem to have held up more or less decently, the "MALL ENTRANCE" signage looks to be all but crumbling off.
I found it interesting how the gray skies of the previous pictures showed up much bluer in this one, taken looking out through the gable; I also just happen to like this type of architectural feature in general.
Heading inside, we find... well, not a lot of difference from the dark mood outside! To emphasize the "factory outlet" aesthetic, these Factory Stores of America were designed with black warehouse ceilings and low lighting, just like we saw at the Arcadia, LA, mall earlier in the post. And even though the walls and floor tiles were brighter in color, I can't help but feel they looked dingy, too. The teal-colored wall stripe present throughout the interior dates the property even more.
Immediately inside the entrance is a former Black & Decker outlet store, with its labelscar still plainly visible on the black paint color area.
Up next, occupying space along the right-hand side as you walk in, was BonWorth. Already one of few remaining locations of the chain at the time, its common pairing with VF stores seemed to spell collateral doom for BonWorth upon VF Outlet's demise. BonWorth declared bankruptcy (for a second time) a couple years later in 2022, and its intellectual property was purchased by Vermont Country Store in 2025.
As we approach the back left corner, where the corridor takes a right turn toward the former U.S. Factory Outlets anchor, we find -- alongside a vintage Coke vending machine -- a storefront for locally-owned Cook's Fashions, which thankfully survived the mall's closure, relocating to the Dirt Cheap plaza (even if Dirt Cheap, too, ended up not meeting the best of fates...). There's also one of many "for lease" signs from property owner DPI Group, mentioned previously.
Some more looks back toward the main entrance. Aside from BonWorth and Cook's Fashions, there were a couple of small vendors here in the corridor, which of course were also closing up shop -- in the foreground of the second image was a table with some handmade pottery, from which I bought the neat Mississippi-shaped catch-all you can see below. They're not really visible unless you zoom in, but throughout these pictures have been small handwritten notices indicating the upcoming closure: an "out of order" on the gumball machine, "checks and cash only" at BonWorth, "closing sale" at Cook's Fashions. All sad sights.
At the back left corner, occupying the sole remaining anchor spot, was, of course, the VF Outlet store, littered with store closing signs. A couple other things to notice here: first, all the pandemic precautions at the door and just inside, including signs about masking up and one-way doors as well as all the hand sanitizers and disinfectants; and second, outside the entrance, some dining tables, chairs, and a trash can -- a remnant of when the mall once had (at least one) food tenant.
Heading inside the VF Outlet now -- instead of trying to figure out what exact order they need to go in layout-wise, I'm just uploading my pictures in the order I took them. I don't think it'll make that much of a difference anyway. In the first shot above, you can see the restrooms had already become a casualty of the closure. The remaining clothing racks all had that "storewide sale" signage on them, identical to what was in the store window -- the vague language used before they finally admitted it was a liquidation and the store would be going out of business entirely.
The fitting rooms, located at the back of the store, were still open -- always a good thing when all sales are final, but never guaranteed, and especially not in 2020. You'd be hard-pressed to know that, though, given all merchandise had been wiped out of this part of the salesfloor, with only barren fixtures remaining.
Here's a look up toward the front of the store, which was the only area not to be carpeted, as floor tile was placed around the registers. The store's selection of shopping carts was also present up there, the fleet no doubt dating back to opening day -- most were updated with newer logo stickers, but I managed to find one that still featured the classic design!
While the rest of the store was indeed carpeted, it does at least appear that the carpet was placed in different colorations so as to mark off pathways and other differently merchandised areas. All of this would once have been filled with plenty of stock, so it's kind of sad to see it so empty in these views.
Looks like whoever was using that cart was stocking up on some good deals, haha! This shot is as good of one as any to mention the decor throughout the store; while not new, it's also not quite so dated as to be original to the store, at least I don't think so. The fitting rooms actually looked identical to what was at the Southaven Tanger Outlets store, but I'd assume they were updated more recently than the rest of the store.
If I'm not mistaken, I bought a few pairs of work pants on this visit -- good prices, and thankfully, they still fit! My mom bought some items as well. I remember traveling here with her a few times growing up, albeit few and far between. But I definitely wanted to come back one last time to document this dying piece of retail history.
Several more views of the salesfloor, showing the merchandise consolidating upward toward the front, and all the emptiness left behind. Over on flickr, l_dawg2000 has a brief album on this mall featuring photos from way back in 2013; unfortunately for any of you hoping to see the place in a livelier state, it was just about as dead back then too, with the exception of a singular additional store being open!
I suppose it goes without saying that the dark, open ceiling "warehouse" aesthetic from the rest of the mall continued into the VF Outlet store here, as can be seen in all of these images. At least they didn't bombard us by hanging boatloads of "store closing" signs from there! It seems like the store was pretty well taken care of, too, which is always nice to see -- neatly placed fixtures and merchandise, etc. As always, I'm sad for everyone who lost their jobs because of this.
Here's a decent look at the front end, with a giant "VF Outlet: The Great American Value Store" banner. If you zoom in really closely, you can also make out the labelscar of some old "Customer Service" signage above the register desk.
*You may have noticed an asterisk earlier in the post when I referenced Lee/Wrangler's store locator as of January 2024... that's because, in an attempt to emulate the successful methods of my blogging friends Albertsons Florida Blog (also of My Florida Retail) and Sing Oil Blog (also of Grocery South), I decided to give the piecemeal method of posting a shot. You see, historically I've always just knocked out all my blog posts in a whole day, but that luxury, of course, became less sustainable, at least in terms of frequency, after graduating college and entering the workforce. Those guys create blog posts in chunks, so I thought I'd give it a try... well, I wrote the first half of this post (the history piece, all the way up to our tour of the Tupelo facility here) all the way back in January 2024. And never touched the post again after that. Until now, in May 2026.
...safe to say I'll just stick to my full-day method in the future, even if it means fewer posts during the year!
Speaking of Lee/Wrangler stores, though, I suppose my delay in revisiting this post for publication allowed just the right amount of time for some news to break. Earlier, I wrote how Vanity Fair spun off its stores, and its Lee and Wrangler brands, into a new company called Kontoor (hence why the remaining rebranded stores were then referred to as Lee/Wrangler, and not VF). Well, just this week it was announced that Kontoor has sold the Lee brand to Authentic Brands Group, leaving only Wrangler in its portfolio. Accordingly, the website link I included above now reflects Wrangler as the sole name of the stores, although the total store count appears to remain comparable at 42 (with both Southaven and Gulfport still counting among them, which is good to see).
Finally exiting VF Outlet, there's one last component of this mall to see -- the entirely dead corridor leading up to the former U.S. Factory Outlets anchor. Its sign is still up, everything looks exactly as it did even back in 2013, and the corridor is unblocked, but it just felt a tad creepy and like I shouldn't be allowed to walk over this way. Clearly the mall was low-volume enough that they didn't even care about the security gates on the empty stores being left open!
The light in the corridor that l_dawg mentioned in that linked photo description from the previous photograph most likely belonged not to a separate BonWorth entrance as he posited, but rather either the employees-only door from the last image, or the mall storage closet seen here. Given VF Outlet's closure spelled de facto doom for the rest of the facility, it would seem some folks (not sure if I can call them employees, because who knows if the mall even had any!) were cleaning out the various odds and ends to be discarded, which -- lo and behold -- also included a vintage PharMor shopping cart. I don't have any ties to or knowledge of PharMor, but I thought this was still a pretty cool find (and y'all already know orange is my favorite color, lol!).
Here's one last look at the VF Outlet storefront, as viewed from the opposite side of the L-shaped mall corridor, as well as a close-up of the vacant Black & Decker spot back by the front entrance, before we head back outside. Crazy to see Black & Decker's lights were still on, looking much the same as I imagine it did the day they closed up shop...
So with all that said and done, here we find ourselves back out in the parking lot of the onetime Tupelo Factory Stores of America, known simply by the end as the "VF Outlet Mall because the VF Outlet store was the largest and longest-lasting tenant of the building." Sad, desolate, and worse for wear, but also a story of otherwise forgotten retail history, which of course I always love exploring.
As we already discussed, outside of the VF entrance, the rest of the facility was all but abandoned, including the wide empty parking lot, missing roadside sign, and permanently closed-off second entrance to the U.S. Factory Outlets side of the structure. That said...
...on the side of the building facing S Eason Blvd itself, duplicates of the gabled entrance designs announcing the two anchor stores could be found, flanking a very old, faded surviving Factory Stores of America sign! I only managed to capture it while driving past, so my zoomed-in photo isn't of the highest quality, but still, it was neat to see.
Some more views of the building while driving past, both above and below, including numerous additional leasing signs placed by property owners DPI Group.
Notice the numerous parking lot signs for Cook's Fashions -- about the only way for them to advertise at this property. Hopefully they have an actual legitimate exterior-facing storefront with real signage at their new location!
As is customary for my posts, here's a shot of our receipt -- appropriately marked "all sales final" -- as well as an (I suppose now-rare) VF Outlet shopping bag. The Tupelo store's, and by extension the entire outlet mall's, final day was set for December 24, 2020.
But wait, there's more! Above and below are a series of images of the property showcased in its auction listing -- its fate post-closure. An auction was held in late February 2021, and by November of that year, it was announced that the building would be converted into a climate-controlled storage facility -- probably the most sensible and useful outcome possible. In the aerial images you can see just how big the property really is, and remember of course that it did originate as a true factory.
Courtesy LoopNet
Courtesy LoopNet
Courtesy LoopNet
Courtesy LoopNet
The interior images do a better job of showing the vendors in the corridor, although I do notice that the photographers conveniently left out the dead corridor leading to the former second anchor spot... hmm, I wonder why!
Courtesy LoopNet
Courtesy LoopNet
Last up, some pictures of the building in its current state, as shown below. It definitely seems to have cleaned up nicely, and I'm glad to see at least one of the old gable entrances got to survive and be refinished!
Like I've said -- while there unfortunately just isn't that much to be found online concerning Factory Stores of America, I hope you still enjoyed this post looking into their history as well as the Tupelo outlet mall specifically. It definitely seems like the mall branding, VF Outlet, and BonWorth were all heavily tied together, and ultimately it seems like VF Outlet's death is the one that precipitated the true end for the other two, even if Factory Stores had realistically already died many years before. If any of you have any memories or information to share on any of these topics, please feel free to drop them in the comments below. Otherwise, until next time and as always -- thanks for reading, and have fun exploring the retail world wherever you are!
