1999–2001: Development and opening The Mills Corporation began planning Sugarloaf Mills in August 1999 as a joint venture with
KanAm on a site at
Interstate 85 and
Sugarloaf Parkway in
Gwinnett County, and an initial budget of $170 million. The original (and has been used since 2012) name,
Sugarloaf Mills, was named after the mall's planned situation near Sugarloaf Parkway. The site began getting ready for construction in early 2000. 80% of the property was cleared by March. The architect for the mall was local firm MSTSD, Inc., led by Walter Grant Moseley, Jr.
The "Discover Mills" name The mall opened on November 2, 2001, as
Discover Mills. The name change from Sugarloaf Mills to Discover Mills was because of a 10-year co-marketing partnership with
Discover Financial Services, which acquired the
naming rights in exchange for promoting the card as the preferred payment option and integrating special offers with the mall's stores and restaurants. It was one of the first malls in the United States to do so. The Mills Corporation had granted the naming rights specifically to
Discover Card, and thus originally given the name Discover Mills as well as the tagline
Where Discover Card Is The Smart Choice.
After opening Discover Mills became a "shoppertainment" mall following additions of
AMC Theatres (operating as
AMC Discover Mills 18 in December 2003), and
Medieval Times in August 2006. In February 2007, The Mills Corp.'s portfolio, including Discover Mills, would be acquired by the
Simon Property Group and
Farallon Capital Management for $1.64 billion, following the rejection of
Brookfield Asset Management's offer of $1.35 billion. Mills was acquired because it was financially struggling by May 2006. The acquisition was completed in April 2007, and The Mills Corporation was rebranded as The Mills: A Simon Company. In November 2009,
Dave & Buster's opened at Discover Mills, replacing
Jillian's Entertainment. In March 2012, Simon Property Group acquired full control of Discover Mills by buying out Farallon's stake in the Mills portfolio for $1.5 billion. In October 2012, the naming rights with Discover Card expired. Instead of renewing the naming rights or finding a new sponsor, Simon Property Group reverted the mall to its original planning name, Sugarloaf Mills. Following the renaming, Simon renovated Sugarloaf Mills to reflect the new name. This included the rebranding of AMC Discover Mills 18 to
AMC Sugarloaf Mills 18. In September 2015, Simon announced that
Rue21,
Samsonite, and Crescent Jewelers would open at Sugarloaf Mills. The mall's
Guess Factory Store was renovated.
Zumiez also opened, alongside
Fragrance Outlet,
Justice, and
Journeys. In June 2016,
H&M announced that it would open in the spring of 2017. In December 2017,
Worldwide Soccer, Xios, Unique Events Unlimited, Styletto Boutique, Sugarloaf Rugs, and ATL Linen Outlet were announced to open during the holiday season. Simon Property Group struggled to refinance over $100 million in
debt of Sugarloaf Mills in September 2018, leading to concerns regarding imminent default. CWCapital Asset Management took over a $105M and $18.4M loan held by Omega Advisors on September 13. Simon corrected the issue by reducing the principal balance by over 25% on the senior note from $135 million to about $100 million, preventing the risk of
foreclosure. In October 2025,
Primark announced that it would open a 30,000-square-foot store in 2026, replacing the former
Neiman Marcus Last Call. Gift-wrapping stations were introduced to the mall in December 2025, alongside Go! Calenders, Swiss Leather, and Kitchen & Home. In January 2026,
Saks Off 5th was announced to close permanently as part of a corporate restructuring by
Saks Global, which made the decision to close 57 Saks Off 5th stores nationwide after they filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy. ==Gallery==