Not long ago, the Hamilton Place area consisted mostly of failing farmland. Today it is Chattanooga's fastest growing suburban neighborhood and the site of Tennessee's largest shopping experience. The transformation began when Hamilton Place Mall opened its doors to anxious shoppers looking for an alternative to Atlanta shopping malls. The largest shopping mall in the Southeast, Hamilton Place is home to department stores such as Dillard's and Parisian and specialty stores such as The Gap and Eddie Bauer. More than 100 stores, along with dozens of eateries and movie screens, provide not only entertainment and shopping to local residents, but to hundreds of thousands of visitors as well.