Tucker business owner puts his stamp of approval on mall renovation, and still making coin

Entering a parking lot of the once bustling Northlake Mall, stirred reflection of a changed Atlanta.

53 years ago this week, October 6th, 1971 Governor Jimmy Carter invited to cut the opening ribbon. The peanut farmer turned politician decreed by official state proclamation, “Northlake Mall Week in Georgia.”

The Atlanta Constitution and the Atlanta Journal brimming with stories, full page advertisements, trumpeting the exciting new mall in Tucker, at I-285, where LaVista Road, Henderson Mill Road and Briarcliff Road meet. 

80 acres, 1,000,000 square feet, with over 100 merchants, the largest mall in the Atlanta metropolitan area.

Nestled nearby, office space on 225 acres, including a 17 acre lake.

Davison’s, Sears, JC Penney’s, Muse’s, Farrel’s Ice Cream, Record Bar, Merry Go Round, Hot Pants of Atlanta and Stamp & Coin.

Decades later, the mall, like many others across America, irrelevant, out of business. 

Northlake Mall has been repurposed by a Dallas company with Emory Healthcare taking over a portion of the property, and lofty future plans for mixed use (residential, restaurants) with the remaining space. 

Suffice to say, the original 1971 Northlake Mall anchor tenants have gone the way of the Hot Pants store, all except for one.

Stamp & Coin still flourishing, still in their original location, still rocking, despite shuttered sections all round.

“I don’t like where you are going with all this, we aren’t like the rest, our business and hobby is relevant,“ said Gil (he only wants his first name used), the proprietor of Stamp & Coin, “soon we will move to a new location at the front of the mall, next to LensCrafters.”

There is an irony, a vision toward the future, for Stamp & Coin next to the eyeglasses outlet.

When Governor Carter was weighing his invitation to dedicate the fancy, new Northlake Mall in 1971, who among us would have figured, only Stamp & Coin would survive into 2024?

Gil knew.

“Coin collecting is still extremely active. People are interested in history, accumulating a collection.”

I interrupted, “this hobby is of another time, another generation, do you agree or disagree? When I was a boy many of us collected coins but now?

“Disagree, there are so many people involved, technology has given us a lift to service our customers. We have every age involved,” said Gil with passion, “before you arrived, a grandfather came in here buying books for his three grandchildren on Indian head pennies. It’s a connection between generations.”

And stamps are sticking around too. 

Linn’s Stamp News estimates there are 5 million stamp collectors in the United States and 30 national shows annually, including Warren Buffet who is an ardent fan. Serious stamp collectors stop at the year 1940.

The secret to the generational success of Stamp & Coin is simple says Gil, “collecting is fun, coins are absolutely vibrant, and we have many collectors who enjoy what they are doing.”

Numismatic News writes, “ …the passion and pursuit of collecting, which is universal, enduring, and crosses borders, cultures, ages and generations. 

1971 is a long time ago, Nixon, Carter, Massell, Vietnam, Campus Protests, Flip Wilson, 40 cent gasoline, Van Brocklin—-and Gil opens Stamp & Coin inside the Northlake Mall. 

Collecting rocks on.