See Black Friday shoppers at West Town Mall in Knoxville, TN
See Black Friday shoppers at West Town Mall in Knoxville on Nov. 28, 2025.
During the holiday season, many of us spend time (not to mention money) in shopping malls and stores.
Before the internet age and the convenience of online shopping, however, you were likely to spend far more time in a physical store – browsing through housewares, trying on outfits, maybe even getting a bite to eat at the in-store cafeteria.
Many of the department stores that once operated in downtown Knoxville, at West Town Mall and in other parts of the city are long gone, replaced by other retailers or just other types of business.
With these stories and photos from the Knox News archives, take a trip back in time for a glimpse of local malls and department stores of the past – and a few of the more eccentric Knoxville business owners back in the day.
Not long ago, malls were the pinnacle of a suburban lifestyle, places where teenagers gathered at the food court and adults shopped for sweaters and kitchenware in tastefully-decorated department stores. West Town Mall opened on what had been agricultural property on Knoxville’s “far west side” in 1972, and – contrary to the fate of many other malls in the era of online shopping – is still going strong today. Take a look back at how this Kingston Pike shopping hub came to be.
In 1983, the planned East Towne Mall was expected to shake up sales at other retail outlets as the region’s hot new shopping destination. It opened in 1984 to a celebration attended by thousands and “reminiscent of the opening of the World’s Fair,” according to a former Knoxville mayor. Track the history of this retail hub from the early plans to build the biggest mall in the region to its closure and demolition.
Still a familiar sight in downtown Knoxville, with its wavy white awning and tiled green façade, the four story building that is now the University of Tennessee conference center was built in the 1950s as Rich’s department store. For years, the store was a top destination for Knoxville shoppers, whether they were on the hunt for a TV or a pair of slacks. In the 1960s, it was also the site of civil rights demonstrations protesting the the racist exclusion of Black people from dining there.
If you shopped in Knoxville in the 1980s, ’90s and early 2000s, you probably remember Goody’s Family Clothing. The department store, which sold clothing, accessories, cosmetics and homeware, once had over 350 locations in the U.S. before closing its stores amid bankruptcy proceedings. Read about a memorable soap-opera tie-in for the store – and what happened with its eye-catching West Knoxville headquarters.
Knoxville’s own Evel Knievel, Jack E. “Mad Jack” Fielden, didn’t just perform stunts for glory. He performed them for business publicity, to attract customers to his furniture stores.
Caswell Orton “Cas” Walker is without a doubt one of Knoxville’s most legendary characters. He was a cunning businessman, controversial politician and radio/TV notable and has gone down in the city’s history for his larger-than-life persona. As a businessman, Walker had an arsenal of wacky strategies he used to boost sales at his stores, from tossing live chickens off the roof to greased-pig contests.
Find more stories from the Knox News archives in every Sunday’s print edition and at knoxnews.com, and follow storyteller reporter Hayden Dunbar on Instagram at knoxstoryteller.
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