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.

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. 

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.

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.

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:

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).

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.

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.

More on Highland Mall:

• A bunch of savage Yelp reviews
• Mall Hall of Fame article on Highland Mall

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.   

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.    

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.

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. 

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.

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, 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. 

Corpus Christi, the largest city in South Texas, is home to 285,000 people with over 430,000 in the metro area.  Home to HEB grocery stores, the Whataburger fast food chain, Corpus Christi is also the 8th largest deep sea port in the U.S.  The following submission is from reader “Jonah Norason” and his experience with Sunrise Mall, one of Corpus Christi’s two adjacent malls:

“I have a special connection with this mall. It was my first dead mall experience. Owned by Tom Morris, the slumlord of Six Flags Mall, Sunrise Mall is another story of why moving very close to an existing mall is generally a bad idea.

“From what I could tell, the mall started out as pretty upscale, virtually right next to Padre Staples Mall. The opening tenants in 1981 included Sears (which predated the mall by six years),Frost Brothers, Joske’s, and a pre-existing HEB(I’m pretty sure H-E-B did not open into the concourse). Many existing tenants at Padre Staples, such as Foot Locker and GNC, opened new locations at Sunrise rather than moving. The mall was popular at first, even starring in the 80s movie The Legend of Billie Jean(you can see the comparison here.

“But all that would slowly come to an end. Sunrise Mall’s upscale feel dropped off pretty quickly during the ‘80s. It became more discount oriented. Joske’s did not convert to Dillard’s, since there was already one at Padre Staples, so it closed was replaced with Montgomery Ward. Frost Brothers gave way to Burlington Coat Factory. H-E-B closed and became Stein Mart (which has an interior entrance, I’m pretty sure of). Mervyn’s was added as a sixth anchor. Still, over the period of the next decade, demographic shifts, the generally bad local economy, and competition from Padre Staples slowly squeezed the life out of Sunrise. Wards closed in December 2000. From what I can tell, Sunrise Mall’s prosperity (or what was left of it) went from bad to worse around 2004-2006. This was judging by the outdated mall directory that we’ll get to (it still had Mervyn’s).

“The mall was thoroughly uninviting. Partially obscured by uninviting parking garages, untamed shrubbery, and an outdated sign, it was surely to be a treat. Inside the mall, I was overjoyed as it had all the trademarks of a “dead mall”. Escalators shut off. Sections converted to office space. Wooden facades. Dead fronts. Nontraditional tenants. Neon. I love neon, it made me sad because it seemed like there used to be more neon in my local mall that disappeared over the years. There was a Montgomery Ward, which was still mostly intact. The directory, made somewhere between 2000 and 2006, showed that at one time, it was slightly better, but based on the bizarre things listed, like “Girls Rock” and other miscellany, it was obviously proceeding to the dark side.

“The food court was interesting. A dark corner of the mall, it almost was if the whole food court was subterranean. A Wendy’s was getting good business, but the majority of the food court tenants were dark. I didn’t pay attention, but there was a shell of a Chick-fil-A within those corridors. Other food court stands included one “Orange Creations” (guess what that used to be!) and “Anna Ice Cream & Deli”.

“What was more impressive, though, was the full-size sails. I liked them, they were a nice touch, but pretty depressing at the same time. There was also a dollar theater, but it was only four screens and the movies showing at the time were pretty sub-par at best.

“And that’s when we left. The mall is currently anchored by Burlington Coat Factory, Stein Mart, Sears, and a brand-new “HomeSource by Wilcox Furniture” in the former Wards store. However, not all is well. The mall faced foreclosure in April to be auctioned on May 6th but May 6th came and went without a buyer. Good, I suppose.

“I took these photos in summer 2007, actually before the Cherry Hill Mall pictures I took.”

Thanks for the submission, Jonah!   I also visited Sunrise Mall, in April 2007.  I found it and its more successful neighbor mall, Padre Staples Mall, to be a curious set.  Considering these two malls are the only two for Corpus Christi, the pair together don’t even really add up to what I’d expect in a market this size.  Padre Staples, Sunset’s more “successful” neighbor, was (as of 2007) pretty dated as well.  In fact, I’d even expect another mall to serve a different part of town, considering the population here. 

My pictures:

More of Jonah’s photos:

Longtime reader/commenter Jonah Norason of Two Way Roads sent us this detailed history of The Galleria in Houston, Texas, that we had to share with you. I haven’t been down to this one myself (though Prangeway has), but after looking at these photos I’m pretty tempted to try and get down to the Lone Star State sooner rather than later. Thusfar, the only place in Texas I’ve even been to is Amarillo! Anyway, thanks to Jonah for all the great swag–the remainder of the words and photos on this post are his.

“The Galleria is THE largest mall in Texas and 7th largest in the United States. It’s a massive beast buried in the heart of Uptown Houston. There is so much about this mall, it’s hard to know where to start. Inspired by Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, The Galleria opened in 1970 as a three-level mall with an ice rink, a hotel, an office building, and a Neiman Marcus. Up until this time, ice rinks in malls were not uncommon, but a mall centered around an ice rink was unheard of. This was the first. During this time, competition included but was not limited to: Sharpstown Mall, Memorial City Mall, and Gulfgate Center.

“But the Galleria expanded. Around 1977, the Galleria was expanded with an expansion entitled Galleria II. Galleria II featured upscale San Antonio retailer Frost Brothers and Lord & Taylor.

“Marshall Field’s was added in 1979, adding a fourth anchor to the mall. Then, in 1986, a third addition was added, entitled Galleria III. Galleria III was interesting because it did not connect to the main mall concourse (you had to cut through Marshall Field’s to get to it) and added one anchor: Macy’s. This was a real Macy’s store, one that was actually opened by the original R.H. Macy company (as opposed to Federated). Today, that’s the only “real” Macy’s left in Houston.

“In 1996, Marshall Field’s pulled out of the Texas market. This was not the only Texas mall affected, it included Town & Country Mall as well. In the Galleria, the store was replaced by Saks Fifth Avenue.

“In March 2003, the fourth addition to the Galleria was finished and the mall embarked on yet another renovation. This was Galleria IV. It featured a very upscale Foley’s and Nordstrom. The Foley’s addition was somewhat ironic, as Foley’s had been a Houston-based department store for years and it had also seemingly been in talks with the Galleria forever to make it happen.

“But change was on the way. In 2005, Lord & Taylor pulled out of the Texas market for good and closed their store. Furthermore, in 2006, a tragic incident happened. The Houston-based Foley’s was folded into Macy’s corporate and the Foley’s stores, which included not only the vast presence it had in Dallas and Houston, but the entire Texas area, as well as areas in New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Louisiana, to become simply “Macy’s”. At the Galleria, this caused the older, original Macy’s to be redubbed “Macy’s at Sage”, referring to the street it was facing.

“The former Lord & Taylor was partially demolished and redeveloped into a stunning addition featuring upscale stores and restaurants. This included a two-story Borders store. This addition has been informally named “Galleria V”, but it’s not a true addition since the other Gallerias did not replace anything and were entirely new wings with new anchors.

“The Galleria really was a truly unique urban structure, as shown in these postcards from Malls of America: here and here (note the Florsheim in the upper left corner, we’ll get to that later).

“To really understand the unique layout of the mall, you’d have to look at Simon’s official map that they made for the Galleria or this Google Maps photo. In other words, there’s four distinct sections of the mall, as illustrated by these pictures taken in March 2008.

“The centerpiece of the Galleria, Galleria I is a dumbbell-shaped wing that is three levels (two levels plus a “rink level”) and features the posh Neiman Marcus at one end. In addition, the complex features Westin Oaks Hotel and Post Oak Tower.

“Galleria II is the center portion of the mall. The floor plan resembles a cross. The north end goes toward the former Lord & Taylor area, the east side points toward Galleria I, and the south end either goes outside (1st level) or goes across a skywalk to Galleria III. There’s three levels in this section, and the third level (that goes above the 2nd level, it does not connect with the Rink Level) is carpeted and has banks and whatnot. The cool part about this section of the mall is the Westin Galleria Hotel rooms overlook the mall. I took a few photos inside Borders and the former Lord & Taylor space. Note the modern Florsheim!

“The west end goes into Saks Fifth Avenue and Galleria III. Galleria III is bizarre, because there’s no contiguous way to get from the main mall in the main building to Galleria III without going outside or walking through Saks. Galleria III is a plus-shaped wing with a few more shops and Macy’s at Sage. I really like this wing, because of its low traffic, strange layout, vacancies, and neon!

“The south end of the “cross” at Galleria II connects to the boomerang-shaped Galleria IV, which was dedicated in early 2003. This wing features Macy’s (the former Foley’s) and Nordstrom.

“Finally, the exteriors of the building, which include the detached Dillard’s across the street. Dillard’s isn’t connected to the Galleria and is not considered an anchor. Most of these pictures were from March 2008, but a few of them are from summer 2003.

For those out there who are true dead mall fans, this one’s for you.  Get ready for a tale of competition, empty promises and sad outcomes, but not before a complete pre-demolition tour of an empty ghost mall nine months after it closed for good.

Located in northern Tarrant County, Texas, about 10 miles northeast of downtown Fort Worth and 25 miles west of downtown Dallas, North Richland Hills is a suburb of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, home to over 6 million people with a geographic spread larger than the states of Rhode Island and Connecticut combined.  North Richland Hills has a population of about 60,000, but is surrounded on all sides by other suburbs and the city of Fort Worth.

North Richland Hills has an enviable location in the DFW Metroplex, in between Dallas and Fort Worth and relatively close to DFW Airport.  The city is served by Loop 820, the freeway which circles around Fort Worth, and also by TX 183, one of the three east-west freeway linkages between Fort Worth and Dallas (the others being I-20 and I-30, respectively).  In addition, North Richland Hills is also home to a popular water park, and until fairly recently was home to two large, adjacent enclosed malls.  The city was also ranked in 2006 as one of the “Top 100 Best Places to Live in America” according to Money Magazine.

Because of its location and prosperous demographic base, retailers sought to establish presence in the area early on.  North East Mall opened in 1970 or 1971 (which?) in the small city of Hurst, right next to North Richland Hills.  North East Mall was anchored by Montgomery Ward, JCPenney, Sears, and Leonard’s (later Dillard’s).  As the area grew, a complementary mall called North Hills Mall was built directly across Loop 820 from North East Mall, in North Richland Hills.  North Hills Mall opened in 1979, anchored by Stripling and Cox, Foley’s and Mervyn’s.  As it was newer than North East Mall, it stole the thunder for a period of time; however, due to the anchor balance between the two malls the relationship proved a complementary balance for many years.

This all changed in 1997, when North East Mall struck a deal that would forever change the co-existing relationship between the two malls.  It was announced then that a subdivision of over 100 homes would be demolished south of the existing mall for a large expansion, which doubled the size of the mall and added destination anchor Nordstrom in one fell swoop.  The entire mall was also updated and renovated and when the whole thing was complete, North East Mall also received several high-end fashion stores, putting it miles ahead of its former competition across the freeway.

As renovation proceeded on North East Mall, the owner of North Hills Mall scrambled to get in gear and embark upon a renovation of its own.  In November 1999, North Hills Mall was sold to a new group of investors with ideas as big as Texas itself.  Plans were unveiled to promote North Hills Mall as the ‘entertainment’ complement to North East Mall’s fashion dominance.  In theory, the two malls would continue to co-exist peacefully again as they had for years prior.

In a June 2002 edition of the Dallas Business Journal, developer Burk Collins announced a $93 million loan for renovation and expansion of North Hills Mall, over two years after first announcing the same project.  Among his plans included a Cinemark Tinseltown theater, a Jillian’s entertainment complex and an Olympic-sized ice rink.  Another of his most far-fetched yet awesome ideas was a people-mover system throughout the planned 1.2 million square-foot mall, a man-made three acre lake, and a fountain which would project 200 feet into the air.  The rest of the new space would be filled with themed restaurants including a Dave & Buster’s and a new Burlington Coat Factory anchor.  “It’s a lot of fun…” Collins said. “I hope we can work something out.”

Unfortunately, nothing remotely close to the above plans panned out for North Hills Mall, for various reasons.  First, access to the mall stemming from TXDot construction on Loop 820 in prevented traffic from getting to the mall efficiently for several years.  This, combined with the lag time in development in comparison with the booming success story across the street caused the closure of Stripling and Cox in 2000 and Foley’s in Fall 2001.  Foley’s also added insult to injury in building a brand new store onto adjacent North East Mall.  Then in 2004, the architectural firm responsible for the proposed renovations, by this time long overdue, sued developer/owner Michael Kest because Kest apparently wouldn’t return their blueprints and instead distributed them to competitors.  Whoops.

All this time, the mall became more and more troubled.  While North East Mall thrived immensely, North Hills Mall went from 75% occupancy in 2000 to 20% occupancy by mid-2004.  Mervyn’s was the only anchor left by Fall 2004, and legal wranglings were still ensuing between California owner Kest and local developer Burk Collins over what to do.  Meanwhile, the bottom fell out and the mall was bleeding money profusely, and, On October 15, 2004, North Hills Mall’s remaining tenants were forced out and the mall locked up for good.

Well, almost.

In July 2005, we arrived at North Hills Mall unwitting to the above story and attempted a visit.  It was not immediately apparent that the mall was closed for business; however, there were signs that the mall was on its last legs.  Several signs in the parking lot advertised sales of fixtures etc., but we figured a couple stores might still be open because the mall’s doors were wide open and many people were walking around the site.  We ventured into the shuttered Mervyn’s store and gained access into the main walkway, and became instantly aware that the mall was being prepared for demolition and the people walking around were workers harvesting any valuable fixtures from the site.  Most of them ignored us, and we were able to walk the entire length of the mall unfettered, and even use the mall’s restroom which was located in the former food court.  However, upon leaving the mall we were confronted by a man on a bicycle (?!) who wanted to know what we were doing, and also admonished us for being there.  He followed us out on the bike the same way we came and also back into the parking lot, before riding back into the mall.  The whole ordeal was a bit strange, but it allowed for all the pictures you see here and in the end the mall’s memory can be preserved.

Rather shockingly, when researching for this article we discovered the mall was not immediately torn down following our visit.  Instead, due to legal wranglings over the site, the mall sat and rotted until early 2007 when a court order from the city finally forced them to tear it down completely.  Other uses for the shuttered center included developing an Asian-themed mall or turning part of the abandoned structure into medical facilities, but the mall fell into such disrepair that none of this became possible without a complete demolition.

So what will become of the site?  That’s a question we can’t really answer right now.  After all the legal wranglings and funding issues, the site was supposed to become a 900,000 square-foot “Lifestyle Center” called Citywalk at Calloway Creek (link to PDF), with at least two-thirds of the space devoted to retail and entertainment in order to complement the mega-monster mall next door which still thrives today.  Isn’t that what they tried to do with the old mall?  Hmm.  Furthermore, this Citywalk business was announced in 2005 and has yet to come to fruition (as of February 2008) despite numerous online articles announcing it would already be open by now.  We won’t hold our breath.

It seems rather sad to me that the poor citizens of this area have watched their once-thriving mall literally crumble to pieces while a perfectly viable option was proposed and seemingly funded for several years.  I hope someday something beneficial and unique returns to the vacant site, and is much more than the typical vapid sea of box stores floating amid a shiny gray abyss of parking stalls.

Directory snagged from defunct mall website.  Thanks, wayback machine!

Outside, including former Foley’s:

Inside, including dark abandoned Mervyn’s and stripped mall corridor:

San Antonio might be known better for its Latin flavors, the Alamo and its neighboring historic tourist-laden Riverwalk area of downtown, but few tourists venture beyond the riverboats and history and delve into the rest of the city.  Why?  Well, unless you’re a local or in one of the various military installations around the area, there isn’t really that much to do.  Except for us retail buffs, of course.  San Antonio is possibly one of the most over-malled metros in the entire country, and its numerous vacant or recently imploded shopping malls speak to this. 

San Antonio is typical of Texas cities, and of Sun Belt cities in general in its growth patterns.  Unfettered growth, often with little to no zoning regulations has run rampant for several decades and suburban sprawl exists just about everywhere.  In fact, San Antonio has become the second largest city in Texas and seventh largest in the country; however, due to the fact that the city has few suburbs, it is only 30th in metropolitan area rankings. Because of the unfettered growth in the latter half of the 20th century, a lot of retail strips were constructed.  One of the most prolific of these is the I-410 belt around the city, but others exist along the other freeways and major thoroughfares.  Several of the city’s malls were also constructed along this beltway, including the Crossroads of San Antonio, located on the northwest side of the city near the intersection of I-10 and I-410 along Fredericksburg Road. 

Crossroads opened in the 1960s as Wonderland Mall and quickly became a super-regional destination for the entire area.  From what we can tell, the mall chugged along and was fairly successful for quite a few years.  However, as fickle as the retail market is, San Antonians shifted their shopping preferences to other centers, specifically the two which surround Crossroads on both sides of I-410.  Located within five minutes on either side, both Ingram Park Mall and North Star Mall have retained shoppers’ fancy in recent years, the latter being San Antonio’s most successful retail destination for some time now. 

Crossroads is also unique in that it has been profiled since 1986 by the Urban Land Institute in a case study concerning the center’s economic viability over time.  The mall changed dramatically starting in the late 1980s due to swirling competition from better-positioned malls and continued to evolve into what it is today: a value-oriented mall.  As is typical with the downfall and conversion of enclosed super-regionals to value-oriented or obsolete malls, the puzzle pieces don’t seem to fit right.  This was definitely the case here, as while much of the mall has remained viable through off-price and local merchants and anchor stores (ie. Burlington Coat Factory, Hobby Lobby, Stein Mart), good portions of the mall remain vacant today.  Take a look at the study, it also indicates the competition from other malls inspired the center to renovate and expand in 1987 before succumbing to the competition in 1991 and shifting focus to being an off-price destination.  Today the mall exists as such, complementing to the malls on either side of it in its value niche.  But for how long?  In 2005 plans were announced to refurbish the center and reposition it to be more inviting to customers.  Can we say comfy couches and carpeting? 

In terms of decor, Crossroads is currently looking rather aged except for the 1987 expansion featuring the food court and its own wing, which looks very much like it doesn’t belong with the rest of the earth-toned features occupying the rest of the mall.  Its two levels are set up rather interestingly in order to fit into a rather tight footprint between Fredericksburg Road and I-10, yet the mall is still rather large at 700,000 square feet. 

Take a look at the pictures we snapped in April 2007.  Tell us more and let us know the detailed history of the mall, including your own personal stories.