Belk is closing its doors at The Forum Peachtree Corners after 25 years, the latest change at one of Gwinnett County's original open-air shopping and dining destinations. The department store, an anchor at the center since it opened in the early 2000s, is expected to close in mid-January 2027, according to Atlanta News First and the Gwinnett Daily Post, which both confirmed the closure on October 2.
Belk said the decision followed “a careful review of our business,” and staff will be offered the chance to transfer to other Belk locations in the region. Clearance sales are already underway at the Peachtree Parkway store, with discounts reaching up to 75 percent, according to Atlanta News First. It's the second major metro Atlanta Belk closure in recent years, following the chain's Town Center at Cobb store, which shut down in February 2025.
A Lifestyle Center Reinventing Itself
The Forum opened in the early 2000s as one of Gwinnett's first “lifestyle centers” — an open-air mix of shopping, dining, and office space built by Thomas Enterprises, with Belk, Barnes & Noble, and Gap among its original anchors. Ownership has changed hands several times since; most recently, North American Properties (NAP) took over in 2022 in partnership with Nuveen Real Estate and began a multi-year reinvestment plan. A deal that closed in late 2024 folded NAP's Atlanta team, including The Forum, into the national real estate firm Jamestown, which is continuing the existing expansion plans rather than starting over.
That plan now carries a $13 million price tag, according to reporting on the property, and calls for additional retail and restaurant space, expanded green space, a food hall, a multifamily residential community, and a boutique hotel — with the next phase of construction, including the hotel and housing, expected to begin in early 2026.
What's Already Changed — and What's Next
Some of that investment is already visible. In August 2024, The Forum unveiled its Central Plaza, a 6,650-square-foot outdoor gathering space with a performance stage and a 16-foot LED video wall built to host more than 100 events a year. It followed a smaller greenspace that opened in 2023.
The turnover extends beyond Belk. The Gwinnett Daily Post reports that Barnes & Noble is relocating within the shopping center to a smaller footprint, with the new location expected to open by October 28, 2026, freeing up more of its current space for redevelopment. Since 2022, ownership has signed 18 new retail and dining leases representing more than 240,000 square feet — a sign the center is leaning into smaller, curated tenants rather than the big-box anchors that defined it two decades ago.
For anyone weighing a move to Peachtree Corners, The Forum's churn reads less like retail decline than like a 500,000-square-foot shopping center still working out what a 2026 town center should look like — department store and all.