Texas - Labelscar: The Retail History Blog

Music City Mall; Odessa, Texas

Music City Mall opened in 1980 as Permian Mall, located on the northeast side of town along Highway 191 and kitty-corner to the University of Texas – Permian Basin. Permian Mall wasn’t Odessa’s first enclosed mall, either. The much smaller Winwood Mall, located a few hundred feet to the west, predated it by several years. Winwood opened in 1973 and was anchored by a movie theatre, Woolco, Montgomery Ward and JCPenney, the latter of which moved to Permian Mall when it opened. An undated photo of an entrance of Winwood Mall is located here. Is this photo the interior of Winwood Mall? (It’s not labeled.) Today, Winwood Mall is called Winwood Town Center, and has been transformed from enclosed mall into a row of both Big Box and smaller stores in typical strip-mall fashion. Major retailers at today’s Winwood Town Center include HEB (grocery), Ross Dress For Less, Michaels, Hastings, and Target. When did the original Winwood close? When was it demolished?

Odessa, Texas, home to nearly 100,000 residents, is located in a flat, dry area of West Texas, known for ranching and oil. Along with its neighbor directly to the east, Midland, Odessa shares a sub-region of West Texas known as the Permian Basin, a mostly flat area of plains, rich in both petroleum deposits and the boom-to-bust-to-boom economy that comes with it.

Today, around 266,000 people live in the Midland-Odessa Metropolitan Area. Isolated from other major cities in Texas, folks in the region must travel between four and five hours to reach either El Paso to the west, or the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex to the east. Other, smaller regional hubs are a bit closer: San Angelo, Lubbock, and Abilene, Texas, are all about two hours away.

Two super-regional malls exist in Midland and Odessa today: Odessa’s Music City Mall and Midland’s Midland Park Mall. Much like Midland and Odessa are twin cities, their malls also share similarities. Both malls offer Dillard’s, JCPenney, and Sears, both opened in 1980, and both malls weren’t the first in their respective city.

Music City Mall, located on the northeast side of Odessa, along Highway 191 and kitty-corner to the University of Texas – Permian Basin, opened in 1980 as Permian Mall. Just as Midland’s Midland Park Mall wasn’t the first mall in Midland, Permian Mall wasn’t Odessa’s first enclosed mall. The much smaller Winwood Mall, located a few hundred feet to the west, predated it by several years. Winwood opened in 1973 and was anchored by a movie theatre, Woolco, Montgomery Ward and JCPenney, the latter of which moved to Permian Mall when it opened. An undated photo of an entrance of Winwood Mall is located here. Is this photo the interior of Winwood Mall? (It’s not labeled.) Today, Winwood Mall is called Winwood Town Center, and has been transformed from enclosed mall into a row of both Big Box and smaller stores in typical strip-mall fashion. Major retailers at today’s Winwood Town Center include Texas-based HEB (grocery), Ross Dress For Less, Michaels, Hastings, and Target. When did the original Winwood close? When was it demolished?

At some point, Permian Mall was renamed Music City Mall to capitalize on the fact that it houses three stages for live entertainment, which takes place mostly during weekends. In terms of size and layout, Music City Mall has 750,000 square-feet of retail space on one level, and the layout of the mall is a basic zig-zag with anchors at each turn. Current anchors include JCPenney, Dillards, Burlington Coat Factory, and Sears, as well as an 11-screen movie theater. Burlington Coat Factory is somewhat new to the Music City scene, replacing a Mervyn’s that closed in the 2000s.

Music City Mall, while slightly larger than Midland’s Midland Park Mall, has not enjoyed the same level of success, nor does it have the same caliber of in-line stores. In addition to several notable vacancies, one wing of Music City Mall is flanked by a local television station. The remainer of the 750,000 square-foot mall contains a high number of local stores versus national chains, which is generally undesirable in regional malls today. In contrast, Midland Park Mall has many typical national chains such as Abercrombie and Fitch, Aeropostale, American Eagle, and Buckle. However, Music City Mall does have the corner on live performance venues as well as the only ice rink facility within a 300-mile radius. In addition, Music City Mall also has a food court; yet, much like the rest of the mall, the food court contains many local vendors instead of national chain food outlets.

Also unique to Music City Mall is this somewhat large display of the Bible’s Ten Commandments, seen here in 2009:

An audience of chairs was placed facing the Ten Commandments, inviting mall patrons to sit and relax while viewing the display, which was roped off so people can’t get too close. Is it still there? Is this a permanent fixture of the mall, or was it some sort of temporary exhibition? I’ve never seen anything like it in any other mall, and it was interesting to say the least. It sort of reminds me of the praying hands sculpture at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, in terms of religious public art. I think that’s what they were going for, at least?

I visited Music City Mall in November 2009 and took the pictures featured on this page. Please feel free to leave any comments or observations you have, and help us fill in the retail history of Midland and Odessa.

Pictures from November 2009:

Midland Park Mall; Midland, Texas

Midland Park Mall opened in 1980, on the northwest side of Midland, located at Loop 250 and Midkiff Road. Slightly smaller than Odessa’s Music City Mall, Midland Park Mall has around 650,000 square feet and a more linear layout pattern, with a slight bend in the mall in the Sears wing. Its anchors are Sears, Dillards, JCPenney, and Old Navy, which are very similar to that of Music City Mall, and what it lacks for size comparison with Music City it makes up for in popular national chain stores. Stores such as G by Guess, Abercrombie and Fitch, Aeropostale, American Eagle, and Zumiez flank the halls at Midland Park, and are strikingly absent at Music City. In addition, the food court is flanked with the typical national food court chains such as Chik-Fil-A, and it’s apparent that the quality on offer is better than that at Music City. However, there is no ice skating rink at Midland Park, nor are there several live entertainment venues to entertain shoppers. Nor is there a Ten Commandments display.

Midland, Texas, home to 111,000 residents, is located in a flat, dry region of sparsely populated West Texas known for ranching and oil. Along with its neighbor directly to the west, Odessa, Midland shares a sub-region of West Texas known as the Permian Basin, a mostly flat area of plains, rich in both petroleum deposits and the boom-to-bust-to-boom economy that comes with it.

Two super-regional malls exist in Midland and Odessa today: Odessa’s Music City Mall and Midland’s Midland Park Mall. The two malls are only twenty minutes apart, and are the only regional malls within a two hour radius. Like the twin cities of Midland and Odessa, both malls share similarities. Both malls offer Dillard’s, JCPenney, and Sears, both opened in 1980, and both malls were not the original enclosed malls in either city.

Also, much like Odessa’s Music City Mall, Midland Park Mall was not the first mall in town. The Dellwood Mall, located less than three miles south of Midland Park Mall along Midkiff Road at the corner of Illinois Avenue, was Midland’s first enclosed mall. When did it open? What were its anchors, other than Kresge’s and Dunlap’s? Today, Dellwood Mall has been renamed Kingsway Mall, and still stands despite some modifications to house a Church and Family Dollar. Can you still go in and walk around here?

I visited Midland Park Mall in November 2009 and took the pictures featured on this page. Please feel free to leave any comments or observations you have, and help us fill in the retail history of Midland and Odessa.

Pictures from November 2009:

Galleria Dallas; Dallas, Texas

Situated on the far north side of Dallas at the intersection of I-635 and the Dallas North Tollway, the upscale Galleria Dallas opened as Dallas Galleria in 1982. The large, three level mall was originally anchored by Chicago-based Marshall Field’s on the north end and Saks Fifth Avenue at the south end, with over 150 upscale stores and a 432 room Westin Hotel in tow, and was modeled after the historic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, Italy.

The idea for Dallas Galleria was born after developer Gerald D. Hines of Hines Interests, who originally developed The Galleria in Houston in 1970, saw the potential in Dallas for a similar mall. He selected a site centrally located in monied far-north Dallas, on a spot one block from an extant super-regional mall, Valley View Center, and several miles north of upscale stalwart NorthPark Center. What was he thinking?

When Dallas Galleria opened, it threw neighboring Valley View Center for a loop, forcing it to add a Bloomingdale’s store to upscale its selection and woo shoppers away from Dallas Galleria. It wasn’t long before the Galleria was expanded and a large Macy’s store opened at the back of the mall near the middle, across from the Westin Hotel, in 1985. Somewhere along the way a large ice rink was also established in the basement, giving the center court an impressive four levels.

The 1990s brought more changes and continued success for Galleria Dallas. A 1995-96 expansion brought a Nordstrom and a 75,000-foot extension of the mall’s north end. Then, in 1997, Marshall Field’s pulled out of Texas and closed their Galleria store; however, it was quickly replaced by 1999. Saks Fifth Avenue moved into the former Field’s location near the mall’s north end, where it remains today, and the south end was converted into a Gap powerhouse, featuring Banana Republic on the first level, Gap on the second level, and Old Navy on the third level. This anchor arrangement and layout remains as of 2010.

In the 2000s, Dallas Galleria was sold, renamed, and renovated. In 2002, original owner Hines Interests sold the mall to a Connecticut-based investor for $300 million. The new owner, UBS Realty LLC, immediately began an extensive renovation on the 20-year-old mall, giving it a modern upscale look, which was complete in 2003. The new owner also renamed the mall from Dallas Galleria to Galleria Dallas, which apparently sounds more upscale or something. In 2009, mall manager General Growth went bankrupt, and their management duties went to Simon, who manages the mall today.

As of 2010, Galleria Dallas continues to dominate the far-north retail landscape due to its positioning niche, location, and upscale cachet of stores. Other malls, both newer and older, exist all around north and far-north Dallas in every direction, yet the Galleria remains an A-tier establishment. Neighbor Valley View Center competed well against Galleria Dallas for well over 20 years before finally succumbing and pitching 2 anchors in 2008. Also, the Galleria is a bright, beautiful place to shop – take a look at the pictures.

I went to Galleria Dallas in January 2009 and took the pictures featured here. Feel free to add your own thoughts and experiences in the comments section.

Valley View Center; Dallas, Texas

Opened in 1973, Valley View Center was the first major mall in far north Dallas, the expansive, monied area of the DFW Metroplex located north of I-635. Valley View is situated at I-635 and Preston Road, about 13 miles north of downtown Dallas. When it opened, Valley View Center was on the edge of town – today, Valley View is only a third of the way from downtown to the edge of the Metroplex. After 36 years, multiple expansions and competition appearing literally adjacent to it, Valley View is on the precipice of a major change after having seen better days.

Valley View Center was built by Homart Development Company, the development arm of Sears Roebuck and Company, who already operated a standalone store here since 1965. When the mall opened, a Dallas-based Sanger-Harris was added, as well as an interior corridor connecting it to Sears. The Center’s grand opening took place in August 1973, and a famous promotion garnered national media attention when shoe store Thom McAn gave away a free 8-ounce steak with a $5 purchase. Mmm, nothing like red meat and shoes! Smack those lips.

With Sears and Sanger-Harris at its helm, Valley View enjoyed immediate success with little competition in the far north Dallas market. In fact, the only other mall at all in north Dallas was NorthPark Center, located several miles south of Valley View along US 75. Valley View enjoyed instant success as rapid development took place in far north Dallas and also in neighboring suburbs Richardson, Garland, Plano, and Carrollton.

In response to this growth, an expansion was planned for 1979, adding a two-level Dillard’s store as well as more in-line space to the mall. This expansion was especially prescient as the late 1970s and early 1980s would bring serious competition to Valley View. Richardson Square Mall became the second mall in far north Dallas, opening in 1977, and the large Prestonwood Town Center became the third in 1979. These malls, however, would not pose as much of a threat to Valley View in recent years (because they bit the dust!), as much as the two that opened in the early 1980s – Collin Creek Mall and Dallas Galleria.

In 1981 and 1982, more competition hit Valley View extremely hard. The first was the opening of the large Collin Creek Mall in fast-growing Plano, which debuted in 1981, a bit north of Valley View. The second blow hit harder and much closer to home as Hines Interests, a Houston developer, wanted to copy Houston’s Galleria mall and bring it to Dallas. Hines purchased a great site at the intersection of I-635 and the Dallas North Tollway, one block west of Valley View Center. Whoops. Dallas Galleria opened in 1982, anchored by upscale Saks Fifth Avenue and Marshall Field’s as well as a set of similarly upscale stores under a beautiful three-level concourse with an arched glass roof.

The two malls coexisted harmoniously for some time, especially after Valley View wisened up and did an upscale tweak of its own, adding a Bloomingdale’s store in 1983 and later a themed area they called The Conservatory. The Conservatory had a piano with player, fouffy upscale-themed artwork, fancy landscaping, and it surreptitiously invited upscale shoppers away from the neighboring Galleria. The attempt was valiant, but didn’t really work.

Two more major events took place in 1985 at Valley View, when Dillards added a third level, and Texas removed its blue laws and allowed stores to open on Sundays for the first time. And, in 1987, Sanger-Harris merged into Foley’s.

The Bloom(ingdale’s) on the rose didn’t last long, though, as the store was never a fit at Valley View Center. The upscale keeping-up-with-the-Joneses at Valley View ended in August 1990 when Bloomingdale’s gave up on the mid-market mall and closed. The next few years were a thorn in the side for Valley View’s management, as legal wranglings kept the anchor from being filled for 6 years. In 1991, Montgomery Ward wanted the site to build a 200,000 square-foot store, but the mall’s owner objected voraciously (hey, Wards isn’t Bloomingdale’s!), and ended up winning the fight to keep Wards away. Unfortuately, Wards was the only interested party at the time, so the anchor remained dark until 1996, when JCPenney finally filled it. At the time, the JCPenney here was the largest in the DFW Metroplex.

A twin-screen General Cinemas movie theater, in the mall since 1975, closed in 1991 and remained dark for more than ten years before being filled by Radio One studios in 2002. Inside the radio studios are a basketball court, mix room, small auditorium, a newsroom, and two production studios for stations KBFB (97.9 The Beat) and KSOC (94.5 K-Soul). You can check out a neat story about how the facility was constructed here. Mall management and the radio stations believe a symbiotic relationship exists between them. The radio stations benefit from in-mall advertising and visibility to shoppers, and the mall benefits from increased shopper traffic coming by to see their favorite personalities live on air. A window looks into the mall from the studios, and some well-known R&B personalities are based here, including Rickey Smiley, whose R&B morning show is syndicated on over 30 stations nationwide.

After Bloomingdales was finally replaced by JCPenney, Valley View’s owners finally realized that repositioning the mall toward a middle-income set of folks was probably smartest, and once again would allow a harmonious coexistence with the Goliath Galleria next door. This arrangement worked well into the 2000s, until two more malls delivered rapid blows of competition in 2000 and 2001, respectively. The 1.6 million square-foot Stonebriar Centre opened in Frisco in 2000, and the 1.4 million square-foot The Shops at Willow Bend opened in Plano in 2001.

Even as Richardson Square Mall and Prestonwood Town Center failed during the mid-2000s, the dominance of the new malls combined with the Galleria next door were too much for Valley View to handle. It no longer had a niche, even despite an extensive renovation in 2000, giving it a modern, fresher look. A large AMC Movie Theater also opened on top of the mall in 2004, giving it a third level. The upscale NorthPark Center also doubled in size in 2005-2006, and Galleria Dallas remodeled as well. At Valley View, some solid national chains began to leave as local stores moved in, and in 2006 Foleys became Macy’s when the latter purchased the former’s parent. This merger was ominous for Valley View Center, as there had already been a Macy’s at Galleria Dallas since 1985, a block away. How much Macy’s does one area need? Probably not two huge stores a block apart.

Hemmed in by malls on all sides, including new as well as dramatically renovated centers, it wasn’t long before Valley View began to have major problems. Unfortunately, in December 2007, immediately following the Christmas shopping season, Macy’s announced they were closing several underperforming stores nationwide, including the 300,000 square-foot Valley View behemoth of a store. This wasn’t a huge shock, considering there is already a large Macy’s a block away at Galleria Dallas. Then, a few months later, Dillards announced it was closing its huge three-level store in August of that same year. Ouch.

With two large anchors dark, Valley View Center is definitely in trouble and living on borrowed time. If management is proactive in retenanting or redeveloping the dark anchors, the mall could be saved. It might be too late, though, considering competition coming from all sides and the mall no longer having a niche in the market. Personally, I would remove the dead anchors, demolish them, and put up one of those fancy fad-oriented outdoor mall portions. Maybe even add some entertainment and restaurants; call it The District or something. Too bad the movie theater is on top of the mall on the inside, or that would go great out there too. Definitely add a Coldwater Creek though, and a Chico’s.

Seriously, proactive management needs to take charge and put Valley View Center on the offense to save it from becoming a piece of history. Like I said, it might be too late, but this is monied north Dallas, and this mall is well-positioned in it. What do you think? I visited Valley View Center in January 2009 and took the pictures feature here. How does the mall stack up today? Is it holding ground after surviving almost two years with half its anchors? Or is it fading fast? Let us know in the comments!

Sunland Park Mall; El Paso, Texas

Sunland Park Mall is a large, two-level, ‘L’-shaped mall, with five anchors and almost 1 million square feet of retail space. The mall itself is anchor to a larger retail district serving El Paso’s west side, located mostly along TX 20 stretching from downtown to the northwest. Sunland Park is fairly well-tenanted with popular national chains, despite its lone, inaccurate Yelp review indicating otherwise. However, Cielo Vista across town probably has a slightly better mix of stores.

Farther west than Denver, Colorado, and closer to San Diego than Houston, El Paso is an attractive sun belt city and international gateway with a growing population. The city itself has about 600,000 residents; however, El Paso is only part of a larger bi-national metropolitan area with a population of 3 million, when you add in nearby Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and Las Cruces, New Mexico. Currently, El Paso is the 68th largest metropolitan area in the United States; however, if Juarez were included, it would leap up to 18th, between San Diego and St. Louis.

El Paso is also a destinational retail city, with a far-reaching pull from southern New Mexico, much of north-central Mexico, and all of west Texas. However, according to ICSC, El Paso’s retail-per-capita is low for a metropolitan area of its size. This may be, in part, due to the relatively low purchasing power of the region. The average median household income in El Paso is $10,000 below the national average, and the incomes in Juarez are most likely significantly lower than that.

There are other reasons, too, for a lack of a retail development boom in El Paso. Because well over half of the residents of the bi-national metropolitan area live in Juarez, simply crossing the border is an issue. Often, wait times at the border crossings are over an hour; and, due to hot issues like illegal immigration, terrorism and drug transport, everyone crossing into the United States is subject to intense scrutiny. As a result, what could be a 10 minute trip to one of El Paso’s malls becomes far less convenient. In addition, although the retail offerings in El Paso offer Mexican shoppers items and brands they can’t get at home, Juarez has similar chains and modern, spacious malls of similar size. Also, Las Cruces, New Mexico has its own mall too, which probably prevents shoppers there from making the 50-mile trek into El Paso often. Nonetheless, judging by the license plates on the cars at El Paso’s retail establishments, many do make the trek from Mexico and New Mexico.

El Paso currently has 3 major malls, with a fourth – a lifestyle center – possibly on the way. The two major super-regional malls are Cielo Vista Mall, on the east side, and Sunland Park Mall, on the west side. The third mall in town is the much smaller Bassett Place, which is very close to Cielo Vista and essentially serves as its ancillary.

Between the two major players in town, Sunland Park Mall is both newer and slightly smaller than Cielo Vista. Built in 1988, Sunland Park Mall was named after the nearby Sunland Park Racetrack in nearby Sunland Park, New Mexico, a couple miles away.

I’m going to need a little help filling in some of the holes in the history of the anchor stores here. I know that one of the anchors was El Paso-based The Popular (Dry Goods Company). It closed in November 1995 and was immediately replaced by Sears. I also know that Macy’s was Foley’s from 2004-2006, but what was it before that? And Mervyn’s, which closed in 2008, was replaced by a full-size Forever 21 in 2009. Also, Dillard’s has two full-size locations here, so one of those was probably something else at some point too. Let us know!

I visited Sunland Park Mall in November 2009 and took the pictures featured here. Leave us a message or two and tell us about your own experiences with – or impressions of – the mall.

North Star Mall; San Antonio, Texas

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The North Star Mall is a 200 store, 1.2 million square foot enclosed mall anchored by Dillard’s, JC Penney, Macy’s, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Originally developed in 1960 by Community Research & Development Corporation (which would later become The Rouse Company), the mall was initially a far smaller center anchored by Wolff and Marx, H-E-B, and Walgreens, along with about 50 in-line merchants.

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Here’s something kind of authentically Texan: a shopping mall that’s home to “the world’s largest pair of cowboy boots,” a 40′ sculpture outside of Saks Fifth Avenue. Pretty wild!

San Antonio, Texas is a large and sprawling metropolitan area of just over two million people in south-central Texas, and is home to many of Texas’ oldest landmarks (including, most notably, the Alamo). In recent decades, development sprawled almost un-checked in every direction radiating from downtown to such a great degree that the city had to build beltways around beltways.

Most of the city’s major shopping malls were built around what is now the “inner” of these two beltways–I-410–and most of *those* malls are clustered along the city’s northern half. Of these, North Star Mall is the largest and most successful of the fully enclosed malls near San Antonio (there is one newer outdoor mall that arguably has since rivaled it).

The North Star Mall is a 200 store, 1.2 million square foot enclosed mall anchored by Dillard’s, JC Penney, Macy’s, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Originally developed in 1960 by Community Research & Development Corporation (which would later become The Rouse Company), the mall was initially a far smaller center anchored by Wolff and Marx, H-E-B, and Walgreens, along with about 50 in-line merchants. Shortly thereafter, the mall was expanded slightly to include a movie theatre and a new anchor in Frost Bros. By the end of the decade, the mall underwent another expansion, with Wolff and Marx moving to a new five level store and renaming themselves Joske’s.

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Also, in 1968, North Star got a buddy–the adjacent Central Park Mall, just across San Pedro Avenue. The 650,000 square foot mall was anchored by Sears and Dillard’s and was, for some time, something of a twin for North Star. You can see a 1982 aerial photo of the mall here. But the continued expansions at North Star would ultimately bring its demise.

The landmark cowboy boots showed up in 1980. Named “The Giant Justins,” and built by artist Bob “Daddy-O” Wade (What a Texan name!), the boots were originally constructed a year earlier for the Washington Project for the Arts.

The arrival of the giant kicks kicked off a 1982 revival at the North Star Mall, wherein the center began a major renovation to add a food court and a sub-terranean “music court” as well as add a Foley’s on the original H-E-B site. Three years later, Saks Fifth Avenue was added as yet another anchor. Only a year after the arrival of Sak’s, a new two-level wing was added to the mall, including Marshall Field’s and a new food court. In 1987, Joske’s was acquired by Dillard’s, while Frost Bros. went out of business in 1989 and was replaced three years later by Mervyn’s. Marshall Field’s exited the Texas market in 1997 and their store was converted to Macy’s.

In 2001, the now-dwarfed Central Park Mall packed it in. It was mostly demolished in 2003 although Sears still remains.

In 2004, the ever-evolving North Star Mall began yet *another* renovation, this time by new owner General Growth Properties (who had just acquired The Rouse Company). Renovations aside, the mall continued to see significant churn in its anchor tenants. Due to the Federated/May Merger of 2006, the Macy’s store was shut and the Foley’s store was rebranded with the Macy’s name. This created a space for JC Penney to enter the center, and they opened in the space in 2007. In 2008, beleaguered Mervyn’s exited the Texas market entirely, closing their store at North Star. (More on the North Star Mall timeline)

That’s the straight history, but what makes North Star Mall so interesting is its layout and architecture. Take a look at the directory and try and follow along:

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The original section of the mall is the upper “T,” closest to Dillard’s and Saks. This was originally a one-level mall that received a second level and then was soon thereafter twinned (with the lower “T”) in the mid-80s. Strangely, the second level on either side of the mall is discontiguous, meaning that the only way to walk through the entire center is by going downstairs to the main, first level. The passageway between the two “T” areas is somewhat narrow and winding.

The floorplan at the North Star Mall alone kept me pretty entertained, but even aside from the weird layout the place just felt immense. With all of the various additions over the years, the mall doesn’t have much stylistic consistency, creating all sorts of nooks and crannies and twists and turns that look different from each other. All in all, it was a pretty exciting place.

And, as I mentioned earlier, although North Star Mall is San Antonio’s largest and most successful enclosed mall, it’s facing some tough competition. The very large Shops at La Cantera, a massive outdoor mall/lifestyle center, opened far northwest of the city in phases beginning in 2005. In sheer size, this place seems even bigger than North Star and appears to have an even more upscale roster of tenants, without any of the vacancies that plague North Star (which still hasn’t filled the Mervyn’s space that was vacated a year and a half ago. Actually, whoops: Forever 21 plans to open a store to fill the vacant Mervyn’s).

Highland Mall; Austin, Texas

Highland-Mall-08 Austin’s Highland Mall has become one of 2009’s most famous dying (though not yet dead) malls due to some high profile craziness and catfights. What’s going on down in the Lone Star State?

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Austin’s Highland Mall has become one of 2009’s most famous dying (though not yet dead) malls due to some high profile craziness and catfights. What’s going on down in the Lone Star State?

I got to check it out for myself a couple weekends ago when I made my first visit to Texas (not counting my two brief swings through Amarillo, anyway). The Highland Mall, developed by James Rouse Company, opened in 1971 as the first enclosed shopping mall in the Austin metropolitan area, just a few miles north of downtown and the University of Texas at Airport Blvd. and I-35. The center’s pretty well located to the city center and the north and east sides of town, but Austin has been one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. in the past decade, and has sprawled dramatically from the city center, bringing more of the population closer to other malls. There’s also one huge, gleaming new outdoor mall (The Domain) that’s in the process of expanding dramatically and it has likely stolen most of Highland’s customer base.

It seems Highland did a pretty screaming business for a long time, possibly until as recently as a few years ago. The center was expanded in 1979 with a new wing and new anchor (Foley’s) adding to its original three, and given another renovation in 1987. The center today has four anchors: Macy’s, Dillards (two stores), and a vacant space that had been JCPenney from 1971 until 2006. According to Wikipedia, the Macy’s had been a Foley’s until the 2006 Federated merger. The Dillard’s at the southern end of the mall had been a Joske’s location until Dillard’s acquired the chain in 1987; the other Dillard’s space was until 1992 a Scarboroughs, a local Austin chain.

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Some crazy stuff has been going on at the Highland Mall lately, though:

In early April of this year, Dillard’s announced they were suing the Highland Mall Limited Partnership–the mall’s owners, made up jointly by GGP and Simon–for letting the mall deteriorate so sharply. This was a very unusual move that made national news–and we covered it here. The best part was a big brouhaha where Dillard’s was upset about having some co-tenant that supposedly sells toilet paper (I didn’t notice it). Mall owners countersued, basically accusing Dillard’s of making crazy stuff up to get out of their lease. Dillard’s wants to shut both of their stores and is seeking to cancel a lease for one of them.
Also in April of this year, mall management made the controversial decision to close the entire mall on April 4 during the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays event in Austin. The Texas Relays draw thousands of fans each year–mostly African-American–to Austin, and mall management closed the mall due to what they termed “security concerns” during the event. Yow. The NAACP was understandably livid, and planned a demonstration as well as calling for a boycott of the mall. This is especially damaging since Highland Mall’s location within the Austin metropolitan area places it closest to East Austin–the most heavily black area of the city. It seems a questionable business decision to alienate your customer base by insinuating that an entire race of people are criminals.

Now, let’s get realistic for a second: Highland may have a bit of a patina to it, but it didn’t seem that bad to me. There were still plenty of A-level tenants (Gap, Forever 21, etc.) and it didn’t even seem to be struggling with that severe of a vacancy problem. The original 1971 portion of the mall was a little dated, but not severely so (nothing that, say, some new flooring couldn’t fix). The Macy’s wing felt almost newly renovated. I was there on a sunny weekday morning, but the place felt totally safe to me.

Also, downtown Austin is located only a few miles to the south, and is rapidly urbanizing and filling up with moneyed young professionals. For all the things Austin has to offer–including tons of bars, restaurants, and one of a kind boutiques–there’s not a ton of the kind of chain retail that’s found in the city’s malls. With a proper repositioning and clean-up–added entertainment options, for example, or an essentials retailer like Target–the Highland Mall shouldn’t really have much trouble coming back.

Rumors are that the mall is likely to close entirely in 2010 and be demolished to be replaced with something else entirely, possibly a stadium for the Austin Aztex soccer team and a lifestyle center attached to it. One benefit to redevelopment would be Austin’s proposed light rail line, which would directly access the property: any attempts at mixed use or urban density for the site would also have mass transit access, which would be useful for people who want easy carless access to downtown. The site also has some challenges for redevelopment, though; it’s cut off from on all sides by highways or rail corridors, making it hard to make it feel like anything other than an island–like the mall always was. This is also true of The Domain, so maybe it won’t hurt. The Domain is also located in a generally better area of town, though–as Andy Sarwal, lead developer for East Avenue Investment Group LP, told the Austin Business Journal in an article speculating on the site’s future:

“Look at the immediate surroundings in every direction, and it’s generally what people refer to as Class B,” Sarwal said. “It could be Class B office or retail space, or Class A industrial. I don’t anticipate seeing Highland Mall transform into the next Domain or Mueller or La Frontera.

Either way, it seems everyone’s rapidly giving up on this old place.

Southwest Center Mall (Formerly Red Bird Mall); Dallas, Texas

southwest-center-mall-08 Located 10 miles southwest of downtown Dallas, at the interchange between US 67 and Interstate 20, Southwest Center Mall is both an anachronism and an eyesore. But what an amazing eyesore it is. One needs only to take a look at the photos to understand what a unique specimen this is, in terms of design, decor, and blatant inadequacy. But let’s dig a little deeper and try to figure out what happened.

southwest-center-mall-22

Located 10 miles southwest of downtown Dallas, at the interchange between US 67 and Interstate 20, Southwest Center Mall is both an anachronism and an eyesore. But what an amazing eyesore it is. One needs only to take a look at the photos to understand what a unique specimen this is, in terms of design, decor, and blatant inadequacy. But let’s dig a little deeper and try to figure out what happened.

It wasn’t always this way. Opened over 30 years ago in 1975, Southwest Center Mall opened to the masses with a different set of principles, and a different name – Red Bird Mall. The DeBartolo Group developed this two level mall with a simple layout, and Red Bird Mall was anchored by four stores – one on each end of the mall and two flanking center court. Sears anchored the east end of the mall, JCPenney the west, with Dallas based stores flanking the mall’s center court – Sanger-Harris on the north, and Titche’s on the south. Red Bird Mall enjoyed instant success as south Dallas’ only enclosed mall, inspired by a proud neighborhood and a good location.

southwest-center-mall-08 Several anchor changes took place at Red Bird Mall throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In 1979, Titche’s became San Antonio-based Joske’s, and in 1987 two changes took place – Joske’s became Dillard’s, and Sanger-Harris became Houston-based Foley’s. Also, at some point a large Montgomery Ward was constructed at the southeast corner of the mall next to Sears.

As early as the mid-1980s, demographics began to change dramatically in the area surrounding Red Bird Mall, and at the same time a perception of crime began to brand the area – numerous car break-ins, vandalism, and robberies caused even loyal shoppers to begin taking their business elsewhere. And, in 1988, this became a lot easier, as a massive super-regional mall opened just 15 minutes from Red Bird Mall in Arlington. Called The Parks at Arlington, this new mega-mall would ciphon customers from Red Bird’s south Dallas consumer base more than any other, as most of its other competition is way up in north Dallas.

During the 1990s, Red Bird Mall continued its downward spiral. A man named John Wiley Price, a flamboyant Dallas politician, decided to make the mall and its woes part of his political platform, and staged protests outside the mall demanding retailers change their stock to reflect the black community, making statements it was ‘their’ mall. All the while, the mall got continuously worse, and DeBartolo, owners of the mall since it opened in 1975, unloaded it to NAAMCO Financial of California in 1997. At the time of the sale, the 1.12-million square-foot mall was only 65 percent leased.

southwest-center-mall-39 In an attempt to disassociate the mall from its troubled environs and checkered recent past, NAAMCO gave the mall a small refurbishment and a new name – Southwest Center Mall – in 1997. A new food court, begun under the reign of DeBartolo, was finished and occupied in 1998 at the mall’s northwest entrance. With a price tag of $18 million, the food court took up the lion’s share of updates to the mall upon its change of hands and change of name. In addition, though, Dillard’s increased their store size from 100,000 to 150,000 square feet, and Sears renovated their entire store in 1998.

The new millenium brought more of the same problems for the newly named mall. In 2001, Montgomery Ward closed as that chain folded, but it was swiftly replaced by a Burlington Coat Factory which moved from a nearby box center. Also in 2001, JCPenney closed their store in Southwest Center Mall, which remains vacant today. In 2006 Foley’s became Macy’s, and Dillard’s left the mall in 2007 for a new development 10 miles further out – its store is also still vacant.

Also gaining speed in the early 2000s was a movement to bring more retail to Cedar Hill, a suburb of Dallas approximately 10 miles southwest of Southwest Center Mall along US 67. Cedar Hill, combined with surrounding communities such as DeSoto, Duncanville, and Lancaster – known locally as the Best Southwest – represent a portion of south Dallas with higher incomes and demographics expanding national chain stores like to see. In addition to a glot of big box centers and other retail which seemingly sprang up overnight, Cedar Hill is the home to the DFW Metroplex’s newest lifestyle center – Uptown Village at Cedar Hill – which opened in March 2008. This new urbanist-style shopping center is anchored by Dillard’s (the one that moved from Southwest Center), Dick’s Sporting Goods, Barnes and Noble, and features 725,000 square-feet of retail space – featuring stores found in better malls like Hollister, Chico’s, and Aveda. It’s an outdoor mall and features nicely landscaped courtyards between the modern-looking buildings contaning stores, and has a decidedly upscale feel not found in other centers in south Dallas. From the perspective of Southwest Center Mall, Uptown Village is not only a slap in the face, but a few more nails – possibly more than enough – in the coffin.

southwest-center-mall-41 Perhaps another factor in Southwest Center Mall’s troubles is the lack of commitment from ownership. In the past eight years, the mall has had four owners, and its value on the tax rolls has decreased from $22 million in 2000 to just $6.25 million in 2008. In 2008, Southwest Center’s then-owner Thomas E. Morris – owner of other faily malls like Six Flags Mall in Arlington – declared bankruptcy, and in January 2009 the mall almost closed because the electricity was going to be shut off due to nonpayment. Whoops. An eleventh-hour save by a new owner – Madison Capital – who paid the bills, collected outstanding rent from some of the tenants, and even hired a professional security company. It’s no wonder the mall’s been in peril with such terrible past management problems, but Madison Capital is looking to sell the mall again to a more responsible owner. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.

In June 2009, nine economic development experts from the Urban Land Institute, with briefing books in hand from the Dallas Economic Development Office, will descend on Southwest Center for an intense week of study. Hired by the city of Dallas, the Urban Land Institute – a non-profit education and research organization focusing on land use and urban planning – is being paid $150,000 to study the mall, inteview patrons and tenants, and tour the environs in order to offer suggestions on how to make it better. In addition, Dillards – which relocated to Cedar Hill in 2007 – is currently marketing its dark anchor store to interested suitors.

southwest-center-mall-44 Despite all of these problem, however, there remains a niche of stores which are making it at Southwest Center Mall. Most of these stores cater exclusively to an African-American clientele, and feature clothing and knicknack shops which reportedly attract shoppers from a multi-state region. According to the article, these tenants also realize the mall’s in poor shape and wish there were typical mall stores like Bath and Body Works, Victoria’s Secret, and discount boxes like Marshalls and Ross. One tenant even wants the old name, Red Bird Mall, to be re-established. Also, others have expressed frustration and concern that while there is direct access from the US 67 freeway, there is no direct access from Interstate 20.

Whatever happens to Southwest Center Mall, one thing is for sure – something drastic needs to happen in order to change fortunes here. The reality may be that demographics have shifted and other centers have opened to ciphon consumer pennies away from this particular mall, but even today a dedicated group of tenants and local residents still want this property to succeed. The photos featured here were taken in Summer 2005 (images 1-13) and January 2009 (images 14+). As usual, feel free to leave your own comments, experiences, and opinions about the mall and its plight.

NorthPark Center; Dallas, Texas

One of the basic rules governing continued success in the realm of modern enclosed malls seems to be constant change through renovations, expansions, and other innovations in the face of increasing competition. Even if we ignore the implications and realities of the current recession, enclosed malls have gotten short shrift throughout the past decade as developers have oversaturated the retail landscape with big box power centers, ‘Lifestyle Centers’ and strip malls galore. Outdoor, ‘Lifestyle’ malls continue to be planned and constructed at a breakneck pace, even in extreme climates, and there are only a few enclosed malls currently either planned or in construction today across the United States. This oversaturation has resulted in massive problems across the country, such as urban blight and greyfields as there are more boxes than box stores to fill them, and sites only a decade or two old go fallow as new construction appears.

More importantly, as developers and shoppers alike have decided the traditional enclosed shopping mall was ‘out’, the extant landscape of shopping malls across the country has gone into a paniced frenzy to stay viable. Second- and third-tier malls have either languished or reinvented themselves as complements – such as discount malls – to first-tier malls, and many first-tier malls have gone through extensive renovations, expansions, and innovations – such as ‘Lifestyle’ outdoor additions – in order to remain competitive. NorthPark Center – Dallas’ premier first-tier mall with 225 stores on three levels – has not been immune to the challenges facing enclosed malls in today’s retail market. However, how the owners of NorthPark chose to innovate their continued success is not only unique – but fascinating when juxtaposed with traditional methods.

Before NorthPark became Dallas’ premier upscale destination, it was a 97-acre cotton field on the northern edge of Dallas. In the early 1960s, the cotton field was purchased by art connoisseur and developer Raymond Nasher, who had big things in mind. In 1965, NorthPark Center opened with great fanfare – at the time, it was said to be the largest climate-controlled center of its kind.

NorthPark opened in 1965 with a simple, minimalist design featuring clean lines and a one-level L shape. Dallas architectural firm Omniplan designed the mall with bright natural light, scrubbed concrete floors and white brick walls, a marked departure from more elaborate or fanciful designs. One reason for the minimalist design was Nasher’s love for modern and pop art, as the mall showcased works by Warhol, as well as other famous artists Lichtenstein, Borofsky and others. NorthPark received the American Institute of Architects Award for “Design of the Decade – 1960s” – and again won accolade in 1992 with AIA’s 25-year award for Design Excellence. Other commercial centers have featured public art, but Nasher’s influence brought a contemporary collision between commercialism and modern art – and in the 1960s these were one in the same, so it was a perfect and natural fit. The exterior of the center’s L-shape featured eloquently manicured, landscaped lawns with trees, and was a great place to sit for a picnic, or to people watch.

As the years and decades progressed, NorthPark was well poised to become one of two – the other being Galleria Dallas – Dallas area ‘showcase’ malls, and it became just as destinational as a tourist attraction as it was a shopping venue. Even as NorthPark reached a plateau of success, the owners of the mall – the original Nasher family who designed it in the first place – decided to embark upon a long-whispered about expansion of the mall, completing the mall’s four sides from an L into a square shape. The new expansion, which began in 2005, brought a two-level mallway along with a Barneys New York and a flagship Nordstrom, a third level 16-screen AMC theatres, and a brilliant food court with an outside seating area in the middle of the inside seating area; the expansion was complete in Spring 2006.

Balking today’s renovation trends which employ the same sterile materials and designs, the Nashers amazingly decided to build the mall’s expansion in the exact same style as the 40-year-old extant structure, using the exact same materials and the exact same architectural firm – Omniplan. As a result, the two-level expansion is a seamless transition from the older part which was built in 1965; the same white brick walls, clean lines, and polished floors were used. In addition, the theme of public art was continued throughout the 2005 addition, featuring a giant orange sculpture by Mark di Suvero, as well as works by Claes Oldenburg and others. In addition, Bookmarks, a children’s library, the only of its kind in a mall, features a modern pop-art design and is also by Omniplan. Visitors can also relax in CenterPark, an outdoor landscaped garden featuring Live Oaks and other native Texas fauna, which is in the middle of the mall’s square design.

Today, NorthPark Center, at 2.3 million square feet, is the largest shopping center in the Dallas area and the 19th largest in the country. Featuring anchor stores Neiman Marcus, Dillards, Macys, and Nordstrom – and junior anchors Barney New York and Robb & Stucky furniture – NorthPark is an exciting, vibrant old-meets-new design that is functional as well as kitschy. With 25 million annual visitors, it is also one of the Dallas/Fort Worth area’s top tourist attractions, according to the Dallas Business Journal.

We visited NorthPark in July 2005 – before the renovation opened – and again in January 2009 – after it was completed. Our 2009 visit was, very coincidentally, the same day actor Kevin James was visiting the mall in character as “Paul Blart” promoting his mall cop movie of the same name. At any rate, enjoy these pictures of the clean, cool lines and architecural gem that is NorthPark Center, and feel free to leave comments.

2005 photos, original 1965 mall (first one shows the expansion under construction):

2009 photos, exterior shots:

2009 photos, 2005-06 expansion:

2009 photos, original 1965 mall:

Midway Mall; Sherman, Texas

Midway Mall, located in Sherman, Texas, is the only major shopping mall for a section of Texoma comprised of the cities Sherman and Denison, Texas, and Durant, Oklahoma. With a population of about 150,000, Midway Mall’s trade area is located approximately 70 miles northeast of downtown Dallas; however, the mall itself as well as the Texas side of its trade area are technically located within the behemoth Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area. With that said, the nearest of Dallas-Fort Worth’s malls are over an hour away, which should make Midway Mall a tier ‘A’ mall and successful, especially considering its size at 600,000 square feet with three anchors and several junior anchors. However, this is not the case; Midway Mall is currently challenged by an alarming and rapidly increasing vacancy rate. But why is this?

The faltering probably isn’t due to the mall’s location. Midway Mall’s location is ideal, situated on Texoma Parkway smack dab in between the cities of Sherman and Denison, and only half an hour from Durant, Okla. as well as the booming sprawlburg of McKinney. In addition to being located in between all the population centers in its trade area, Midway Mall is also adjacent to US 75, a major north-south freeway connecting Dallas and its suburbs to Oklahoma and points north. Also nearby is Sherman Town Center, located along US 75, featuring Wal Mart, Target, Home Depot, and 30 other stores, as well as a JCPenney which relocated from Midway Mall in 2007.

Recent problems may have also arisen due to competition. Although Sherman and Denison are some 70 miles north of downtown Dallas, the suburbs of Dallas-Fort Worth start in McKinney, which is just 30 miles south of Sherman. Although McKinney doesn’t have a traditional mall of its own, per se, it has nearly every store under the sun along the US 75 corridor, including many upscale options. In addition, several of the DFW Metroplex’s best malls are in Plano, Frisco, and north Dallas, and they are all approximately an hour away from Sherman and Denison. Also, Sherman’s own Sherman Town Center, an outdoor strip mall, appears to have more retail activity than Midway Mall, and in 2007 the Town Center stole the mall’s JCPenney. Whoops.

Ironically, competition somewhat recently favored Midway Mall, as it opened directly up the road from another mall, the Sher-Den Mall. Sher-Den Mall opened during the 1960s, which was anchored by Montgomery Ward and JCPenney (anything else?). Despite extensive renovations in the 1980s to compete with the larger Midway Mall, Sher-Den Mall closed with a whimper when Montgomery Ward went bankrupt and closed in 2001; it was torn down in 2004.

Perhaps the most telling statement of trouble is the condition of Midway Mall, which is amazingly dated in terms of decor and atmosphere. The entire one-level mall can best be described as cavernous, and the dimly lit corridors suggest slumber rather than the brightly-lit exuberance found in most modern, successful shopping centers. Perhaps not utilitarian nor functional by modern standards, the mall’s corridors do evoke a certain sense of the past, with bland carpeting, giant palm trees, sterile marble planters and three circus-like tents which puff up some 50 feet toward the sky at three spots/courts throughout the mall, and are a sight to see. So, too, are the mall’s maze-like corridors, which zig and zag and even double back on each other, and the nearly empty food court. Since there are few shoppers, there are fewer kiosks, too, and frequently lots of open space throughout the mall.

We visited Midway Mall on a recent Monday night and discovered that the mall’s online directory was way out of date, having missed the departures of Mervyns, JCPenney, Goody’s, the movie theatre, and probably some in-line stores as well. Bealls, Dillard’s, and Sears remain, and Mervyn’s has been replaced by Burlington Coat Factory. JCPenney moved to nearby Sherman Town Center in 2007, and Mervyn’s and Goody’s exited the market only to close outright some time later. Also, junior anchor Famous Labels has taken what was obviously an Old Navy space, and the mall was so dark and drab. There weren’t many shoppers, either, and the fact that the Day By Day Calendar Company kiosk boy was spaced out and listening to headphones while sitting on a nearby planter is probably telling as well (see pictures). Did we mention how dark it was?

Midway Mall is a dim, dank, outdated mall with an amazing layout. We were shocked at not only the mall’s condition, but at the alarming rate of vacancies; we expected this to be a much more typical, modern successful mall and not a cavernous maze. Being retail historians, we of course found this to our liking, but we feel kind of bad for the citizens of Sherman, Denison, and Texoma. We’d like to think they could use this; their population supports it, but it must be choosing to drive down to Dallas and its suburbs or to the outdoor strip centers rather than to patronize – or at least update – this mall. We’ll put it on deathwatch for now and keep our eyes peeled.