"I don't think the nostalgic mall of yesteryear is coming back," John Mulherin, senior vice president of government relations for Hull Property Group, told the Charleston Gazette-Mail after the company announced that Charleston Town Center will close its interior.
That makes 2026 the mall's last holiday season. According to WSAZ, Hull said on Oct. 5 that the closing should come in late spring or early summer of 2027, during the first or second quarter, because there aren't enough tenants. Current leases will run out and won't be renewed. Santa still has one more run inside, and it starts on Black Friday, Nov. 27. The city's own Christmas celebration opens that same day on Summers Street. The blocks the mall once drew shoppers away from are where most of the 2026 season will happen.
Capitol Street Before the Mall
The mall opened in 1983. The Cafaro Company and the now-defunct Forest City Enterprises built it together, and at its peak it held 130 storefronts on two levels with four anchors: JCPenney, Sears, Kaufmann's, which later became Macy's, and Montgomery Ward. The Gazette-Mail's history of the mall includes a 1979 file photo of the last stores on Capitol Street between Virginia and Quarrier streets before the mall was built. In the photo, people wait at the curb for a parade.
Only one of those businesses is still on that stretch. The Peanut Shoppe has been on Capitol Street since 1950.
The same Gazette-Mail story quotes Danny Jones, former Charleston mayor and a former restaurant owner, on what happened to the street once the mall opened.
"When it opened, it displaced a lot of local commerce. Everyone started going to the mall to eat and shop, and a lot of us suffered."
For about forty years, a Charleston Christmas often meant a trip indoors. The paper's archive includes a photo of Santa arriving at Center Court on Nov. 8, 2018. The building has emptied out over the years since. Montgomery Ward closed in 2001, all four anchors eventually followed, and the Gazette-Mail counted 13 stores still operating inside in the week of the announcement.
One More Santa Season Inside
Thirteen stores is about a tenth of the mall's peak, and the Santa visit is still on the calendar. Reservations are open on the mall's Santa page, which runs from 11 a.m. on Nov. 27 through 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve, a Thursday this year. The posted schedule:
- Nov. 27 to Dec. 17: Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday 1 to 6 p.m.
- Dec. 18 to Dec. 23: Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday 1 to 6 p.m.
- Dec. 24: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The mall's regular hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12:30 to 6 p.m. on Sunday. It hasn't posted a separate holiday-hours schedule. The mall's online directory says it may not reflect current occupancy, so call a store before you drive downtown for a specific gift.
Families who have done the Town Center Santa photo every year have four weeks of visit days left, starting Black Friday. After Christmas Eve, Hull's announcement doesn't mention another holiday season.
Black Friday Starts Outside, Too
On Nov. 27 the city opens its own season downtown. Holly Jolly Brawley runs Friday, Nov. 27, and Saturday, Nov. 28, at City Center at Slack Plaza, 169 Summers St. It's the City of Charleston's free Christmas celebration, with a light display, kids' activities, holiday shopping and entertainment. The listing doesn't give hours yet.
In its 2026 holiday guide, the Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau describes Holly Jolly Brawley as filling three spots with decorated Christmas trees: City Center at Slack Plaza, Brawley Walkway and Lee Triangle. Local vendors and live entertainment join the trees on Black Friday, and the festivities continue through Small Business Saturday. The trees stay up all season, so they'll still be there on an ordinary weeknight in December.
On Nov. 27, Santa visits start indoors at 11 a.m., and the same day the tree walk opens outdoors on Summers Street. On Nov. 28, Small Business Saturday, Santa's hours stretch to 8 p.m. and the city's vendors are back on the plaza. You can do both on the same downtown trip.
The Rest of December, Mostly Outdoors
After that first weekend, the dated events are all outside the mall.
| Date | Event | Where | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 27 to 28 | Holly Jolly Brawley | City Center at Slack Plaza, Brawley Walkway, Lee Triangle | Free; hours not yet posted |
| Nov. 27 to Dec. 24 | Visit with Santa | Charleston Town Center | Reservations open |
| Dec. 9 | Merry Market Mingle | Capitol Market | Listed on the market's calendar; hours not yet posted |
| Dec. 10, 7 p.m. | Charleston Christmas Parade | Downtown Charleston | Free; route to be announced |
| December | Holiday Village | Capitol Market | 2026 dates not yet posted |
| Through New Year's Day | Light the Night | GoMart Ballpark | 2.5 million-plus lights, ice skating |
The Charleston Christmas Parade is on Thursday, Dec. 10, and steps off at 7 p.m. The city says the route, lineup and application details will come later. A parade on Capitol Street was already part of downtown Christmas in 1979, the year of the Gazette-Mail's photo of the curb crowd. That photo was taken on the block the mall replaced.
The night before the parade, the Capitol Market lists Merry Market Mingle on Dec. 9. The visitors bureau also says the market's Holiday Village returns in December with international holiday traditions, gifts and seasonal food. The market hasn't posted 2026 dates for it yet. The bureau's guide also mentions the Charleston Boat Parade on the Kanawha River and Light the Night at GoMart Ballpark, which it calls West Virginia's largest winter light festival, with more than 2.5 million lights set to music, ice skating, ice bumper cars and holiday shopping. Light the Night runs through New Year's Day.
Most of the season's dated events are downtown and outdoors: the Slack Plaza trees, the parade, the market mingle and the Holiday Village. The Peanut Shoppe is still on Capitol Street, as it has been since 1950.
What Stays Open on the Property
Two restaurants will keep going after the interior closes. Chili's and Outback have their own outside entrances, so the closure doesn't affect them. A family that ends a Santa visit with dinner at either one can do the dinner again next December.
Some of the mall's cultural tenants are already looking for new space. The West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, on the second floor near the Court Street entrance, had been discussing a move before the announcement. "We're meeting with people back-to-back today about this," board director Sherry Hobbs told the Gazette-Mail. It hasn't announced a new address yet.
The building's future is still open. WSAZ reported that Hull has no investors, offers or developers right now, and the city confirmed it's no longer discussing taking the mall as a donation. Mayor Amy Goodwin said she understands there is interest in the property and added, "This property is an important part of downtown Charleston, and what happens there matters to the future of our city." WV MetroNews reported that Hull said it has no current plans to sell or redevelop.
For this December, the plans are set: Santa reservations at the mall through Christmas Eve, trees on Summers Street from Black Friday on, Merry Market Mingle on Dec. 9, and the parade stepping off at 7 p.m. on Dec. 10.
Our family at Faith Realty & Co., LLC has been following the Town Center news closely, because we live and work in this valley too. If downtown's changes have you wondering what your own Kanawha County home is worth this season, we'd be glad to help. Get Your Free Home Valuation, and enjoy every one of these December nights downtown.
