When Clyde Stacy bought the Bristol Mall in 2018, both the mall and the surrounding coal country of Southwest Virginia were in trouble.
The mall, once the marquee shopping destination in the region, had become vacant, weeds punching up through its parking lot.
And the city of Bristol, the self-described birthplace of country music, was buckling under the weight of more than $100 million in debt, forcing budget cuts to its schools. Nearby, mining counties across Virginia’s slice of Appalachia were reeling after decades of job loss.
Mr. Stacy and his friend Jim McGlothlin, both former coal magnates, seized on what they called a “moonshot” solution: turning the mall into a casino, in a state where gambling was not yet legal.
Today, the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol has become an unlikely beacon of hope. It employs 1,400 workers and has sent tax revenue rippling through the surrounding coal country where the men made their first millions.