Richmond Mall opened in September 1988 on the Eastern Bypass, and for twenty years it was the enclosed mall for this part of Kentucky. Then Richmond Centre opened in 2008 about two miles away on the same road — more than 800,000 square feet anchored by Belk, JCPenney and Meijer — and the national tenants left. What operates at 830 Eastern Bypass now bills itself as The Shoppes at Richmond Mall, an indoor center for Kentucky Proud artisans and local businesses. Madison Ave is one of the tenants people drive to on purpose: its Facebook page has more than 22,000 followers, roughly eight times the mall’s own.
What the shop actually carries
The store describes itself in five words on every page: prom, pageant and custom designs. The brands confirmed through designers’ own retailer locators are Ashley Lauren, Ava Presley, Dave & Johnny and Johnathan Kayne. Its own site adds more lines to that — Primavera, Colors Dress, Portia & Scarlett, Sugar Kayne, Samantha Blake, Tease Prom and Sydney’s Closet, including the Johnathan Kayne collaboration with Sydney’s Closet.
Two things about the inventory are worth knowing before you drive over. First, the size range on the shop’s stock search runs 000 through 32 plus 14W–32W, and there are separate categories for long plus-size prom and short plus-size prom rather than a rack shoved in a corner. Second, the pageant half of the name is real: the catalog includes little girl pageant, ASHLEYlauren Kids and Sugar Kayne Toddlers alongside the junior and senior prom stock. There is also a customs and one-of-a-kinds category, and overskirts and capes for gowns that get restyled between events.
Featured styles listed on the shop’s site recently ran from the high $200s to about $515, with Ava Presley short dresses at the top of that band. Facebook lists the store at $$$, and its posts advertise layaway.
Who shops here
Madison County Schools runs seven high schools. The two big feeders are Madison Central on North Second Street in Richmond, with roughly 2,100 students in grades 9–12, and Madison Southern on Glades Road in Berea, with about 1,200. Model Laboratory School sits on the Eastern Kentucky University campus a few minutes away, and Berea Community is fifteen miles south. Rockcastle County and Jackson County students come up US 25 and I-75 for a trip that is still shorter than the one to Lexington.
Lexington is the alternative: 25 miles north on I-75, where Miss Priss advertises the largest in-stock designer selection in the state. That is the trade-off. Richmond gets you a smaller floor twelve minutes from most of Madison County; Lexington gets you more racks and an hour of driving.
Getting there and when it is open
The Eastern Bypass is KY 876, a ten-mile arc that crosses I-75 at Exit 87 and ends at US 25/US 421 in town. Roy Kidd Stadium and Baptist Health Richmond are on the same road, so the route is one most families here already know.
- Tuesday through Friday, noon to 6
- Saturday, 11 to 5
- Closed Sunday and Monday
Closed Sundays means weekend shopping is Saturday only, and Saturday in March is the busiest four hours of the year in a store like this. The shop’s site has a filter for in-store stock and a search by size, which is the thing to use before a drive in from Irvine or Mount Vernon.