The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 1972–1997
Opryland drew 2M visitors a year — its owner levelled it for a mall
Gaylord closed Nashville's Opryland USA on 31 December 1997 after 26 years to build a shopping mall — a decision its own executives later called a mistake.
Opryland USA · Gaylord Entertainment · 1997-12
What happened
Opryland USA opened in Nashville in 1972 and for 26 years was the city's top tourist attraction, averaging about two million visitors a year and employing thousands of seasonal workers around its music-themed rides.
The park was still profitable when Gaylord Entertainment decided to end it. Executives denied closure rumours as late as August 1997; on Halloween the news broke — Gaylord and the Mills Corporation would level the park for a year-round retail complex, judging a mall more lucrative than a seasonal theme park. The park needed $10–20 million of new attractions every few years, and ownership would not pay; executives later admitted there was no strategic analysis behind the decision.
The final day was 31 December 1997; the Opry Mills mall opened on the site in May 2000. Former Gaylord CEO Bud Wendell called the closure 'the dumbest thing I've ever seen,' and Nashville's tourism chief estimated the city lost about 40 percent of its summer business.
Why it happened
- A year-round mall beat a seasonal park in the owners' eyes — without a business plan to prove it.
- The park needed $10–20M of new attractions every few years; ownership refused to invest.
- No land to expand: hemmed in, the park could not grow its way out of the comparison.
The lesson
Gaylord levelled a profitable, 2-million-visitor theme park for a mall with no business plan behind it — a decision later called 'the dumbest thing I've ever seen' by its own former CEO.
Aftermath
Opry Mills opened in May 2000; the Grand Ole Opry and the resort complex carried on, but the park's rides were gone.
Sources
- Nashville Scene — Looking Back at the Rushed 1997 Closure of Opryland USA (closure announced Halloween 1997 after denials as late as August; last day 31 December 1997; opened 1972; averaged 2M visitors annually and was Nashville's top tourist attraction; ~2,500 seasonal employees; Gaylord partnered with Mills Corp for a retail complex; no strategic analysis or business plan behind the decision; park needed $10–20M of new attractions every 3–5 years; Opry Mills opened 11 May 2000; former CEO Bud Wendell: 'dumbest thing I've ever seen'; tourism chief Butch Spyridon: lost about 40% of summer business)
- WPLN, January 2018 — Curious Nashville: Why Did Opryland USA Go Away? (park profitable at closure per former CEO Bud Wendell: 'We weren't losing money'; new leadership pursued 'shoppertainment', believing a mall would return more on the acreage than a seasonal theme park; CEO Terry E. London argued the park could not match competitors' high-tech investments; replaced by Opry Mills mall; about 4,000 seasonal youth jobs eliminated per Wendell)
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