Unusual mall anchors

pseudo3d
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Unusual mall anchors

Post by pseudo3d »

In recent years, the traditional mall department store anchors (JCPenney, Macy's, Sears, Dillard's, etc.) have dramatically shrunk, which have led to some non-traditional mall anchors (Dick's, Target, Forever 21, At Home). What are some rare unusual anchors, or if they haven't touched a mall at all?

This is of course for interior entranced-anchors, shadow/walled-off anchors don't count. :P

- Walmart of course anchors a handful of malls (including their late Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza store) but I don't know of any Sam's Club malls.
- Costco has opened into a few malls (like Christown Spectrum or Westfield Wheaton) but retains a single entrance, so it doesn't have a separate mall entrance and main exterior entrance (1970s mall-based discount stores, including Kmart, were also like this).
- The Home Depot did open into Mall 205 in Portland in the mid-2000s, though I'm told the entrance has since been sealed. I can't think of any other examples or anything by competitors (Lowe's, Menards).
- Grocery store anchors were extremely common in early malls and a few lasted into the 2000s but I cannot think of any modern examples except for Beltway Plaza (Maryland)'s Giant-MD store added in the early 1990s and a few gourmet/international chains (like Seafood City in Westfield Southcenter).
- IKEA has at least one mall store (Broadway Mall--a mall entrance was added in 2003, presumably as part of IKEA's expansion).
- Most of the smaller "big box" junior anchors have appeared in malls (even PetSmart, with Phoenix Spectrum Mall again).
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Re: Unusual mall anchors

Post by buckguy »

IKEA was a charter tenant at Potomac Mills (one of the early pillars of the "Mills" chain of outlet malls) outside DC---they relocated the store (but stayed in the mall) when the mall was enlarged. They havd an outlot location at White Marsh Mall outside of Baltimore. It probably dates to around the same time as Potomac Mills, although the White Marsh store is claimed to be the oldest in the US.

I lived near a Woolco turned Walmart in Columbia, MO. That store did have a mall entrance, but it was a small mall (Montgy Ward was the other anchor and most inline stores were not national chains) and probably didn't have the rent structure of a regional mall. Woolco had many locations in second string malls.
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Re: Unusual mall anchors

Post by Super S »

In Kelso's Three RIvers Mall, a used car lot opened in the former Emporium space, but was very odd in that the whole anchor space was wide open to the inside of the mall and they had maybe two vehicles in there most of the time. Toward the end there were a few instances where they had more inventory inside, but for most of its existence the cars were outside. It seemed like a waste of money to rent the space for that. The space was also a church for a while. Sportsman's Warehouse currently occupies the space, and I am not sure if they have any other mall locations.

The now-closed Shoppes At Riverside in Aberdeen, WA had the Extreme Fun Center with an indoor go-cart track in the former JCPenney building. I am unsure if this is still open as, from what I know, the Sears and JCPenney buildings did not have the settlement issues that the main mall had, I know that the main mall remains closed.

Odessa, Texas has a CBS TV affiliate in the mall, looking at the directory I guess this could be considered a junior anchor?
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Re: Unusual mall anchors

Post by ClownLoach »

Driving down I-5 through Washington and Oregon it seems Hobby Lobby has taken several mall locations.

Movie theaters were a thing in malls in the 80s but most had closed down due to obsolescence. But they are definitely back with a vengeance. Seeing the COVID shakeout I'm surprised that the only theater locations I have seen remain closed are off-mall (except for the Pacific/ArcLight situation which was the whole chain folding). Funny but most Orange County Edwards/Regal locations are serving popcorn in old ArcLight buckets. I'm guessing supply chain problems delayed their shipments and maybe their vendor had a mountain of ArcLight that weren't ever shipped out so they took those?

Also Dave and Busters was primarily an off mall, entertainment center type place but all of their new locations that I'm aware of are in malls.

What has happened is that the "revitalized mall" is a merger of the old malls, power centers, and entertainment centers all under one roof. If they can't get a diverse tenant mix reflective of all three types of businesses then the mall fails now.
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Re: Unusual mall anchors

Post by rwsandiego »

ClownLoach wrote: February 5th, 2022, 5:20 pm Driving down I-5 through Washington and Oregon it seems Hobby Lobby has taken several mall locations.

Movie theaters were a thing in malls in the 80s but most had closed down due to obsolescence. But they are definitely back with a vengeance. Seeing the COVID shakeout I'm surprised that the only theater locations I have seen remain closed are off-mall (except for the Pacific/ArcLight situation which was the whole chain folding). Funny but most Orange County Edwards/Regal locations are serving popcorn in old ArcLight buckets. I'm guessing supply chain problems delayed their shipments and maybe their vendor had a mountain of ArcLight that weren't ever shipped out so they took those?

Also Dave and Busters was primarily an off mall, entertainment center type place but all of their new locations that I'm aware of are in malls.

What has happened is that the "revitalized mall" is a merger of the old malls, power centers, and entertainment centers all under one roof. If they can't get a diverse tenant mix reflective of all three types of businesses then the mall fails now.
In the 1970's, Woodfield Mall outside of Chicago had an ice rink, arcade, movie theater, aquarium, post office, bank, diner, Osco Drug, and Kresge in addition to the department stores and specialty shops. There was also a Singer sewing machine store and a fabric store. In the 1990's and 2000's malls stopped having those businesses. For a while, it worked. Then it didn't and here we are.

Everything old is eventually new again.
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Re: Unusual mall anchors

Post by Brian Lutz »

Epic Games (makers of Fortnite and Unreal Engine) are currently in the process of redeveloping the former Cary Towne Center in Cary NC into their new corporate headquarters. Although they will ultimately demolish and rebuild the vast majority of the property (with the exception of the mall's former Belk store), it appears that they are allowing the Dave and Busters (one of the last remaining businesses in the mall) to remain on the property, albeit in a different location:

https://www.wral.com/dave-buster-s-to-r ... /19507009/

And speaking of game developers, there's the Bellevue Connection (formerly Bellevue Galleria) in Bellevue WA which originally opened with a movie theater, arcade and several restaurants and other smaller businesses (including a Ben & Jerry's scoop shop and an optician) which all eventually closed, and got turned into what is now the corporate headquarters for Bungie. The portions of this center which Bungie didn't occupy (previously occupied by an LA Fitness, a Men's Wearhouse and a couple of restaurants) are being redeveloped now, and it is not known what tenants will occupy these after the work is completed.
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Re: Unusual mall anchors

Post by marshd1000 »

In Edmonton, Alberta Canada the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, aka CBC, has the studios for their Edmonton TV and Radio stations at the Edmonton City Centre Mall. This mall is in Downtown Edmonton and still has a Hudson’s Bay store. But it doesn’t seem to be taking the place of a previous department store. When I was there, the space seemed to be purpose built.

Here’s a link to the mall map of the level where the CBC is: https://edmontoncitycentre.com/find-a-store/#/
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Re: Unusual mall anchors

Post by SamSpade »

Off Topic
In 2004, the CBC's Edmonton operations moved into a new digital broadcast facility downtown, bringing all operations of radio and television, under one roof. The old television facility on 75th Street was 70,000 square feet (6,500 m2), while the radio building on 51st Avenue was 48,000 square feet (4,500 m2). The new combined facility at the Edmonton City Centre totals 38,700 square feet (3,600 m2). At the same time, master control was consolidated with those of CBRT in Calgary into a single facility presently based at the CBC Studios in Calgary.
- via Wikipedia.
It sounds like kind of similar to Salem Center in downtown Salem, Ore,, the Edmonton City Centre was originally two 'malls,' one anchored by The Bay (also now closed) and one that was anchored by Eatons. Eatons closed in 1999 and I am assuming Sears Canada didn't want this space, they were probably well established elsewhere in the city (maybe West Ed. Mall, for example?).

It sounds like the owner of the HBC block was able to purchase this block then figured out ways to find tenants. CBC likes downtown centres and to be accessible to their citizenry, look at BC, Toronto for example.
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Re: Unusual mall anchors

Post by marshd1000 »

SamSpade wrote: February 7th, 2022, 9:13 am
Off Topic
In 2004, the CBC's Edmonton operations moved into a new digital broadcast facility downtown, bringing all operations of radio and television, under one roof. The old television facility on 75th Street was 70,000 square feet (6,500 m2), while the radio building on 51st Avenue was 48,000 square feet (4,500 m2). The new combined facility at the Edmonton City Centre totals 38,700 square feet (3,600 m2). At the same time, master control was consolidated with those of CBRT in Calgary into a single facility presently based at the CBC Studios in Calgary.
- via Wikipedia.
It sounds like kind of similar to Salem Center in downtown Salem, Ore,, the Edmonton City Centre was originally two 'malls,' one anchored by The Bay (also now closed) and one that was anchored by Eatons. Eatons closed in 1999 and I am assuming Sears Canada didn't want this space, they were probably well established elsewhere in the city (maybe West Ed. Mall, for example?).

It sounds like the owner of the HBC block was able to purchase this block then figured out ways to find tenants. CBC likes downtown centres and to be accessible to their citizenry, look at BC, Toronto for example.
Funny, that link to Edmonton City Centre still listed Hudson's Bay!

I was at the mall in May of 2019 before the closure. It was a very nice mall but it did seem quiet. So in the back of my mind I was wondering if it would survive. There was also a lot of construction going on with light rail. But I am sure COVID pushed it over the edge. The mall in Downtown Calgary seemed to be busier when I was there in 2018.
West Edmonton Mall still was going strong before COVID.

Here's the article about it's demise. https://retail-insider.com/retail-insid ... 207-years/
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Re: Unusual mall anchors

Post by bryceleinan »

Carson Mall in Carson City, Nevada. Main anchor is Sportsman's Warehouse (former JCPenney and Gottschalks), junior anchors are Carson Home Furnishings, and Carson-Tahoe urgent care/physical therapy (former Safeway and JCPenney). This mall also has a JoAnn fabric (former Sprouse Reitz) location too, and a Dotty's casino. Outparcels have Chipotle/dentist and Dutch Bros Coffee. I remember as a kid when this place had Orange Julius and RadioShack.
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