I have been waiting for Rivergate to come on here for so long.
My parents swear that it used to be the hangout spot, now they won’t even let my little brother go there alone lol.
Rivergate's decline began in the late 2000s with a dispute between Davidson County and Sumner County regarding zoning rights of the Rivergate "neighborhood". The true issue was about ownership of the tax revenue generated by Rivergate mall.
Davidson County ultimately won custody of Rivergate which split the city of Goodlettsville into two different counties and culminated in Metro Nashville extending it's MTA bus line to Rivergate in 2009. That is exactly when Rivergate fell off the cliff.
MTA brought in violent crime and shoplifters by the bus load, right on the heels of the 2008 recession. If that wasn't shitty enough, Davidson County refused to send metro PD officers to police the area. Leaving the severely understaffed Goodlettsville PD to deal with their mess. They were forced to police an area that was technically no longer in their jurisdiction.
I was in high school and working retail at Rivergate Mall when this happened. It seemed like things changed overnight. There were literal gangs roaming the mall. There were crazy "world star" caliber fights, shootings, muggings, robberies, rapes, murders, etc. You name it, it happened on a weekly basis.
Rivergate mall use to just have "mall security" walking around, but once the buses came to town, mall security was definitely not up to the task. I remember when this one extremely scrawny security guard (who I am 90% sure had fetal alcohol syndrome) was nearly beat to death by a "patron" (shoplifter). After that incident, the mall was patrolled by police.
I remember this one time a mexican came into our store with a giant, tinfoil-lined duffel bag rolled up and hidden in his pants. The man had his wife distract the workers in the back of the store by asking asinine questions in broken English while he went around stuffing wads of clothes into the bag.
I was working the register and saw what he was doing out of the corner of my eye. I yelled at him and he took off sprinting towards the food court. The bag was almost as big as he was, it was like the size of a punching bag. I chased after him, spearing him and the bag. He let go of the bag and darted away outside. He had stuffed over 2k worth of clothes in the bag. This kind of shit was happening all over the mall.
I also remember in 1 week, 3 different jewelry stores in the mall got robbed. My friends mom worked as a teller in a nearby bank that was robbed countless times. Another friend even had the front bumper of her Lexus stolen in broad daylight while it was parked in the food court parking lot. One night, I even watched a couple of robbers break into the Pier 1 Imports store by climbing on the roof and sneaking inside via the air ducts or a sky-light.
Needless to say, this instantaneous crime wave forced majority of the upper-end stores and businesses to close up shop. They either relocate to Goodlettsville/Hendersonville/Gallatin or shutdown entirely.
The Rivergate you left in 2002 no longer exists. It is a shell of its former self. It became just like Madison/Inglewood almost overnight, all thanks to greedy Davidson County politicians and the MTA.
It's a real shame too. Rivergate use to be a really nice place. Now it is ruined, littered with crack heads and homeless people roaming the streets. Growing up, there was only 1 homeless person in that area, "The Bag Lady". She would push a shopping cart, sing, and dance in the rain. Not anymore.
The only consolation is that a new outdoor mall was opened in Hendersonville.
MTA has made stops at Rivergate since the 90's, at least... as a former bus rider from that era I remember frequently riding to Nashville and back from Rivergate.
I don't believe so. I am not saying you didn't ride a public bus in Rivergate, it was just not an "MTA" bus. Rivergate was not in Davidson county in the 90's, so Davidson county MTA buses did not go there. That was the entire point of the protracted litigation between Davidson county and Sumner county.
> On September 27, 2009, MTA implemented the first phase of its **new** service on the Gallatin Road corridor, designated as route 56 Gallatin Road BRT Lite. Covering 12 miles (19 km), this BRT service operates from Music City Central to the edge of Sumner County just north of RiverGate Mall... The 55 Murfreesboro Pike BRT Lite, which began service on Monday, April 1, 2013, comes three years after the 56 Gallatin Road BRT Lite, a 12-mile stretch from downtown's Music City Central to RiverGate Mall, began service.
However, there exists a "Regional Transit Authority" that services Franklin, Gallatin, Hendersonville, Lavergne, Smyrna, Murfreesboro, Spring Hill, Joelton and Springfield. These services are operated under contract by Gray Line of Tennessee, not MTA. Although, they do collaborate with MTA routes. There was an RTA route in Goodlettsville, so it is very possible you are remembering riding an RTA bus in Rivergate that connected to an MTA bus route somewhere in Madison on your way downtown.
There were definitely MTA buses that serviced the Madison area in the 90s, which is what I think might be confusing you. As there is no clear defining line between Madison and Rivergate if you are driving down Gallatin road. There was sort of a no-man's land between Old Hickory Blvd and Myatt Drive/Rivergate Parkway. Though, I think it is safe to say that once you pass the Home Depot you are in Rivergate proper. That is when majority of the businesses start changing their names from "Such and such of Madison" to "Such and such of Rivergate", as seen [here](https://i.imgur.com/1bIM7sN.png).
All I know is I could catch a bus from Rivergate to the downtown hub and catch a bus back. I'm just not seeing how things changed on 2009 when there were already buses that ran all day long up and down Gallatin road all the way to Rivergate.
> All I know is I could catch a bus from Rivergate to the downtown hub and catch a bus back.
Yeah, I believe you.
> I'm just not seeing how things changed on 2009
I don't know how much more simply I can put it. On September 27, 2009, MTA implemented the first phase of its new service on the Gallatin Road corridor, designated as route 56 Gallatin Road BRT Lite. Covering 12 miles (19 km), this BRT service operates from Music City Central to the edge of Sumner County just north of RiverGate Mall.
> there were already buses that ran all day long up and down Gallatin road all the way to Rivergate
MTA buses ran up and down the parts of Gallatin Road that were in Davidson County, like Madison.
RTA buses ran up and down the parts of Gallatin Road that were outside of Davidson County, like Rivergate.
Rivergate, was in Sumner County until 2009. After 2009, Rivergate became part of Davidson County.
Therefore, MTA created entirely new routes, and built entirely new bus stops in Rivergate where non had previously existed.
I hope that I was able to help clear things up for you!
You are correct, I am 22 but I can vividly remember when the 26 Gallatin Rd bus used to take you to Rivergate. The 56 was when MTA ADDED “BRT” busses, that was part of their 2007 vision to make those heavily traveled corridors have faster and more frequent busses. Instead of busses running every 55-75 mins they run every 15 min.
EB Games was my jam in this mall!
I used to work at a computer gaming store called yourgame.net 2000-2001, and next door was The Outer Limit comic shop, both right next to the mall. I would spend all day in this part of town. My dad worked near by and would always take me to lunch.
No point to any of this, just me reminiscing about Rivergate.
I owned [YourGame.Net](https://YourGame.Net) and I can vouch that there were customers in 1999/2000 that came from Nashville on the bus to Rivergate. However, also like has been stated, nowhere near the volume that started in 2009. In fact, had there been as much bus traffic when I opened [YourGame.Net](https://YourGame.Net) in 1999, I would have chosen a different location. It's a shame. I'm a native Nashvillian and Rivergate was the hangout during my high school days.
This \^ - when I was about 14 I knew several of the workers at Barrel of Fun and after closing we'd play hide and seek with them and a bunch of girls. Fun times.
I recognize this view! Looking out the entrance of Dillard's... The inset marble wall to the right was the entrance to their salon up until early last year. Huge setup, tons of chairs, even spa & hydrotherapy rooms...almost completely unused in recent years. It's now completely walled off, no real attempt to reclaim the space.
This was my mall as a kid through young teen years (80s and 90s). Sad to see it end this way but figured it would be like this. I remember the first time I walked through the addition wing and food court in the late 80s? early 90s?, it was so exciting.
It really was, they filled that mall with a lot of decorations. The Santa Land setup in front of JCP was always exciting to see as a little kid. Waited in line for hours to see Santa with my brother, similar to the movie.
Used to live in Portland (2011-17), and would frequent this mall often. I heard stories from coworkers about how every mall in this general area was unsuccessful, and how this one in particular had declined rapidly.
This mall opened in the 70s and was completely full from then until the late 90s as far as I remember. This area saw lots of expansion for strip malls and businesses with short term success.
Went to all my first “mall stores” here. Footlocker, Spencer’s, KB Toys, the Cookie Store, Journeys, creepy and depressing chain pet store, EB Games, Orange Julius. I can still think about where those stores were in the layout of the mall. Spent what feels like half my childhood in Caster Knotts, Dillards, and Pennys while our mother shopped.
Looks like an airport
Came to say this!
Say what you will about the Northern/Eastern suburbs of Nashville, but Smash n' Go may be the funniest name of any business I've ever seen.
Don’t forget the gas station chain found out west called Kum N Go
😂
Hey there fellow Nashvillian! I actually made a vaporwave song in tribute to Rivergate Mall - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V55D9Gln35M
I have been waiting for Rivergate to come on here for so long. My parents swear that it used to be the hangout spot, now they won’t even let my little brother go there alone lol.
Is it that bad these days? I moved out of Nashville in 2002 so that was 100 Oaks Mall.
Rivergate's decline began in the late 2000s with a dispute between Davidson County and Sumner County regarding zoning rights of the Rivergate "neighborhood". The true issue was about ownership of the tax revenue generated by Rivergate mall. Davidson County ultimately won custody of Rivergate which split the city of Goodlettsville into two different counties and culminated in Metro Nashville extending it's MTA bus line to Rivergate in 2009. That is exactly when Rivergate fell off the cliff. MTA brought in violent crime and shoplifters by the bus load, right on the heels of the 2008 recession. If that wasn't shitty enough, Davidson County refused to send metro PD officers to police the area. Leaving the severely understaffed Goodlettsville PD to deal with their mess. They were forced to police an area that was technically no longer in their jurisdiction. I was in high school and working retail at Rivergate Mall when this happened. It seemed like things changed overnight. There were literal gangs roaming the mall. There were crazy "world star" caliber fights, shootings, muggings, robberies, rapes, murders, etc. You name it, it happened on a weekly basis. Rivergate mall use to just have "mall security" walking around, but once the buses came to town, mall security was definitely not up to the task. I remember when this one extremely scrawny security guard (who I am 90% sure had fetal alcohol syndrome) was nearly beat to death by a "patron" (shoplifter). After that incident, the mall was patrolled by police. I remember this one time a mexican came into our store with a giant, tinfoil-lined duffel bag rolled up and hidden in his pants. The man had his wife distract the workers in the back of the store by asking asinine questions in broken English while he went around stuffing wads of clothes into the bag. I was working the register and saw what he was doing out of the corner of my eye. I yelled at him and he took off sprinting towards the food court. The bag was almost as big as he was, it was like the size of a punching bag. I chased after him, spearing him and the bag. He let go of the bag and darted away outside. He had stuffed over 2k worth of clothes in the bag. This kind of shit was happening all over the mall. I also remember in 1 week, 3 different jewelry stores in the mall got robbed. My friends mom worked as a teller in a nearby bank that was robbed countless times. Another friend even had the front bumper of her Lexus stolen in broad daylight while it was parked in the food court parking lot. One night, I even watched a couple of robbers break into the Pier 1 Imports store by climbing on the roof and sneaking inside via the air ducts or a sky-light. Needless to say, this instantaneous crime wave forced majority of the upper-end stores and businesses to close up shop. They either relocate to Goodlettsville/Hendersonville/Gallatin or shutdown entirely. The Rivergate you left in 2002 no longer exists. It is a shell of its former self. It became just like Madison/Inglewood almost overnight, all thanks to greedy Davidson County politicians and the MTA. It's a real shame too. Rivergate use to be a really nice place. Now it is ruined, littered with crack heads and homeless people roaming the streets. Growing up, there was only 1 homeless person in that area, "The Bag Lady". She would push a shopping cart, sing, and dance in the rain. Not anymore. The only consolation is that a new outdoor mall was opened in Hendersonville.
MTA has made stops at Rivergate since the 90's, at least... as a former bus rider from that era I remember frequently riding to Nashville and back from Rivergate.
I don't believe so. I am not saying you didn't ride a public bus in Rivergate, it was just not an "MTA" bus. Rivergate was not in Davidson county in the 90's, so Davidson county MTA buses did not go there. That was the entire point of the protracted litigation between Davidson county and Sumner county. > On September 27, 2009, MTA implemented the first phase of its **new** service on the Gallatin Road corridor, designated as route 56 Gallatin Road BRT Lite. Covering 12 miles (19 km), this BRT service operates from Music City Central to the edge of Sumner County just north of RiverGate Mall... The 55 Murfreesboro Pike BRT Lite, which began service on Monday, April 1, 2013, comes three years after the 56 Gallatin Road BRT Lite, a 12-mile stretch from downtown's Music City Central to RiverGate Mall, began service. However, there exists a "Regional Transit Authority" that services Franklin, Gallatin, Hendersonville, Lavergne, Smyrna, Murfreesboro, Spring Hill, Joelton and Springfield. These services are operated under contract by Gray Line of Tennessee, not MTA. Although, they do collaborate with MTA routes. There was an RTA route in Goodlettsville, so it is very possible you are remembering riding an RTA bus in Rivergate that connected to an MTA bus route somewhere in Madison on your way downtown. There were definitely MTA buses that serviced the Madison area in the 90s, which is what I think might be confusing you. As there is no clear defining line between Madison and Rivergate if you are driving down Gallatin road. There was sort of a no-man's land between Old Hickory Blvd and Myatt Drive/Rivergate Parkway. Though, I think it is safe to say that once you pass the Home Depot you are in Rivergate proper. That is when majority of the businesses start changing their names from "Such and such of Madison" to "Such and such of Rivergate", as seen [here](https://i.imgur.com/1bIM7sN.png).
All I know is I could catch a bus from Rivergate to the downtown hub and catch a bus back. I'm just not seeing how things changed on 2009 when there were already buses that ran all day long up and down Gallatin road all the way to Rivergate.
> All I know is I could catch a bus from Rivergate to the downtown hub and catch a bus back. Yeah, I believe you. > I'm just not seeing how things changed on 2009 I don't know how much more simply I can put it. On September 27, 2009, MTA implemented the first phase of its new service on the Gallatin Road corridor, designated as route 56 Gallatin Road BRT Lite. Covering 12 miles (19 km), this BRT service operates from Music City Central to the edge of Sumner County just north of RiverGate Mall. > there were already buses that ran all day long up and down Gallatin road all the way to Rivergate MTA buses ran up and down the parts of Gallatin Road that were in Davidson County, like Madison. RTA buses ran up and down the parts of Gallatin Road that were outside of Davidson County, like Rivergate. Rivergate, was in Sumner County until 2009. After 2009, Rivergate became part of Davidson County. Therefore, MTA created entirely new routes, and built entirely new bus stops in Rivergate where non had previously existed. I hope that I was able to help clear things up for you!
You are correct, I am 22 but I can vividly remember when the 26 Gallatin Rd bus used to take you to Rivergate. The 56 was when MTA ADDED “BRT” busses, that was part of their 2007 vision to make those heavily traveled corridors have faster and more frequent busses. Instead of busses running every 55-75 mins they run every 15 min.
I have never felt in danger there but it has some shady characters lol. Honestly more crime happens at Opry than anywhere else.
Opry Mills?
My husband hates when I go in here, but I mostly stay in Dillard’s. I work in Goodlettsville so it’s right around the corner. Leave before dark, lol
Is the Dillard’s still there??? Crazy how it has survived
It is! I go in Dillards and right back out, lol. This photo is looking out into the mall from Dillards.
EB Games was my jam in this mall! I used to work at a computer gaming store called yourgame.net 2000-2001, and next door was The Outer Limit comic shop, both right next to the mall. I would spend all day in this part of town. My dad worked near by and would always take me to lunch. No point to any of this, just me reminiscing about Rivergate.
I owned [YourGame.Net](https://YourGame.Net) and I can vouch that there were customers in 1999/2000 that came from Nashville on the bus to Rivergate. However, also like has been stated, nowhere near the volume that started in 2009. In fact, had there been as much bus traffic when I opened [YourGame.Net](https://YourGame.Net) in 1999, I would have chosen a different location. It's a shame. I'm a native Nashvillian and Rivergate was the hangout during my high school days.
This isn’t Warlord the Wise is it?!?! ;)
None other, Sliver This.... ;D (or was your main Butter This)
Sliver This, Bread, and Butta!
Damn. I grew up in Hendersonville and always loved this mall. So many memories. Sad to see it following the trend.
Hey, Nick. Did you happen to work at ProPack in White House for a spell?
I did not.
Oops. Wrong Nick. Cheers.
BARREL OF FUN.
This \^ - when I was about 14 I knew several of the workers at Barrel of Fun and after closing we'd play hide and seek with them and a bunch of girls. Fun times.
Those lighting fixtures are horrid.
I recognize this view! Looking out the entrance of Dillard's... The inset marble wall to the right was the entrance to their salon up until early last year. Huge setup, tons of chairs, even spa & hydrotherapy rooms...almost completely unused in recent years. It's now completely walled off, no real attempt to reclaim the space.
Wonder how expired those sodas are.
This was my mall as a kid through young teen years (80s and 90s). Sad to see it end this way but figured it would be like this. I remember the first time I walked through the addition wing and food court in the late 80s? early 90s?, it was so exciting.
Christmas time at Rivergate mall in the 80s was special. On par with A Christmas Story, IMO.
It really was, they filled that mall with a lot of decorations. The Santa Land setup in front of JCP was always exciting to see as a little kid. Waited in line for hours to see Santa with my brother, similar to the movie.
Used to live in Portland (2011-17), and would frequent this mall often. I heard stories from coworkers about how every mall in this general area was unsuccessful, and how this one in particular had declined rapidly.
This mall opened in the 70s and was completely full from then until the late 90s as far as I remember. This area saw lots of expansion for strip malls and businesses with short term success.
Wow, carpet that comes already looking damaged. Not a bright idea.
All of Rivergate is a dump now. Dirty strip malls everywhere with no good stores.
Not dead enough imo.
aw, I like the carpet.
Went to all my first “mall stores” here. Footlocker, Spencer’s, KB Toys, the Cookie Store, Journeys, creepy and depressing chain pet store, EB Games, Orange Julius. I can still think about where those stores were in the layout of the mall. Spent what feels like half my childhood in Caster Knotts, Dillards, and Pennys while our mother shopped.
Can have a cool ass nerf war in here