JCPenney Re-brands… Again

Only a year after modifying their Massimo Vignelli-designed logo–in use since 1971–JCPenney are scrapping their old logo altogether for a brand new look. It looks a little like a patriotic lego set to me, though I have to say that it looks cute on the bags and on the storefront. This is, no doubt, part of JCPenney’s major turnaround strategy which is going to feature innovative new pricing and a reduced emphasis on sales and promotions to distance themselves from rival Kohl’s.

What do you think? Does it look cheap or is it an effective re-brand?

UPDATE: I need to do this story proper justice. There are very big changes afoot at JCPenney. Their current CEO came from Apple and was responsible for much of Apple’s current wildly successful retail strategy. They plan on redesigning and renovating all of their stores with a “Main Street” concept with many smaller stores-within-a-store, and standardizing pricing at full dollar amounts and eliminating most sales and promotions. Instead, there’ll be an everyday-low-price model (slashing prices on most goods around 40%) with items becoming marked down as they age. Forbes has gone out on a limb in calling JCPenney the “most exciting retailer of 2012.” Compared to the slow, laggard Sears refreshes under Eddie Lampert, it is true that this dramatic change will at least be an interesting one to watch. It remains to be seen whether it works or not.

Jordan Creek Town Center; West Des Moines, Iowa

Located in West Des Moines, Iowa, Jordan Creek Town Center is the newest super-regional mall in Iowa and, as of early 2012, one of the most recently constructed enclosed malls in the United States. Opened in 2004, its construction was the culmination of over ten years of planning, resulting in not only a mall but an entire retail resort encompassing destinational shopping, dining, entertainment, recreation, and lodging, becoming one of the biggest shopping destinations in the midwest.

Located in West Des Moines, Iowa, Jordan Creek Town Center is the newest super-regional mall in Iowa and, as of early 2012, one of the most recently constructed enclosed malls in the United States. Opened in 2004, its construction was the culmination of over ten years of planning, resulting in not only a mall but an entire retail resort encompassing destinational shopping, dining, entertainment, recreation, and lodging, becoming one of the biggest shopping destinations in the midwest.

It all began in  the mid-1990s.  The land that became the malls was fertile farm land, and there was little to no development west of I-35.  In 1995, West Des Moines businessman Art Wittern proposed a mixed-use development called the “Village at Oakbrook”, located at 74th Avenue (now Jordan Creek Parkway) and E.P. True Parkway.  Around the same time, General Growth Properties, a Chicago-based mall developer, was busy at work building a super-regional mall 100 miles east of Des Moines in Iowa City.  That center, Coral Ridge Mall, quickly became eastern Iowa’s best shopping destination, and General Growth saw an opportunity for an even bigger undertaking in the state’s largest city, Des Moines.

In 1999, General Growth took the Wittern site, and continued work on the original plans to build retail there.  Stemming from the success of its Coral Ridge project, General Growth sought to make a bigger and better Coral Ridge, or as Walt Disney would say, to ‘plus’ the Coral Ridge concept.  The Jordan Creek proposal, unveiled in May 2000 and named after a pioneer settler to West Des Moines, sought to combine a large, traditional, super-regional enclosed mall with at least two other concepts.

The first concept, the Shopping District, consists of the mall and anchors the north end of the development.  The second concept, the Lake District, sits in the middle of the complex and features a 3.5 -acre lake with walking trails, a boardwalk with waterfront dining, an ampitheater, and hotels.  The third concept, the Village District, is a smattering of big-box stores arranged in a semicircle at the south end of the development.  At least one retail analyst compared the Jordan Creek development with Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza, only with a traditional enclosed mall added.

Take a look at a satellite photo of the completed Jordan Town Center area here.

While I believe the first two concepts are great and well thought out, and the lake is unique, the third concept should have been more of what it claims to be – a real Village District, with pedestrian walkways and in-line shops, similar to a scaled-down version of perhaps Easton Town Center in Columbus or any of the other well-executed outdoor malls.  Instead, it’s really just a smattering of buildings arranged around a sea of parking, much like a strip mall.  There’s no charm here, and nothing is at all unique or interesting about this part of the development, and it bums me out a little, especially considering there were ruminations of the development being a similar or slightly-scaled down version of Country Club Plaza in nearby Kansas City.

The extant retail options in the Des Moines market in the late 90s, about the time Jordan Creek was posited, consisted of three super-regional malls: Merle Hay Mall in northwest-suburban Des Moines, Southridge Mall in southeast Des Moines, and Valley West Mall in West Des Moines.  All of these malls served a niche in Des Moines’s retail landscape, but Merle Hay and especially Valley West served to lose the most from Jordan Creek’s new competition.  Interestingly, that was only the case for a time, and Southridge became the loser, despite being the most distant.

In fact, the owners of both Merle Hay and Valley West Malls sued General Growth over the Jordan Creek project, arguing that it was illegal to use TIF financing in making improvements around the mall.  The Iowa Supreme Court struck down the lawsuit in 2002, allowing General Growth to move forward with completing the mall.

Jordan Creek officially opened on August 4, 2004, and attracted over 17 million shoppers its first year.  The enclosed mall portion of the development is two levels and anchored by Younkers and Dillards, with the addition of Scheels All Sports as a major junior anchor.  The mall’s design is modern, and unlike similar dumbbell designed malls, the mall features a slight arc or curvature throughout its length, giving it the illusion of being larger than it is.  The in-line stores here are decidedly destinational, with Iowa’s only Apple Store, and even more unusual – a wine bar inside Younkers.

Jordan Creek became so popular that it accounted for 37% of taxable sales at all of the Des Moines area malls, and became a boon for development in Dallas County, the county located immediately west of Polk County, where Des Moines is.  Until Jordan Creek opened, development in Dallas County was limited and the county was agricultural, not suburban.  Since Jordan Creek opened, the county has been inundated with not only the commercial retail development spawned by the mall and its environs, but also residential growth as well.  In fact, Dallas County grew 62 percent between 2000 and 2010.

As far as the impact on the other Des Moines-area malls, it has been varied.  Both Merle Hay and Valley West malls have wisely embarked on renovations and repositioning tactics to keep their centers fresh, and while they are no Jordan Creek, they seem to be holding their own. Valley West, the market leader before Jordan Creek’s arrival, sits just over 4 miles from Jordan Creek, but an extensive renovation and the retention of complementary anchors to Jordan Creek (Sears, JCPenney, and upscale Von Maur) have kept it fresh.

Merle Hay is in a tier slightly below Valley West, but retains a smart niche of anchors as well (Sears, Kohls, Younkers, Target), in addition to partial renovations and the addition of new stores to stay fresh.

Unfortunately, Southridge Mall, which is clear across the metropolitan area from Jordan Creek, has suffered the most since Jordan Creek debuted.  However, Jordan Creek’s opening is probably only partially to blame for Southridge’s demise, as for many years it was the least accessible mall to the rest of Des Moines and its immediate vicinity is not growing as quickly. Interestingly, Southridge was owned by General Growth at the time of Jordan Creek’s opening, but General Growth smartly divested the property as it tumbled downhill.

We’ve visited Jordan Creek several times through the years, including the month it opened, and most recently in August 2011 when I shopped at the Express Men store, and had a weird experience.  After browsing polo shirts and confirming the sale price with an employee (it was a really good deal), I browsed the rest of the store and ultimately came back to purchase one of the shirts I saw.  It was the only one in my size.  However, it wasn’t there.  Puzzled, as there were no other customers in the store other than me that whole time, I went up to the register. Sure enough, there it was on the desk behind the registers. The employee who helped me had apparently took the shirt aside for himself.  As there were no others in my size, I was annoyed, and became incredulous when the employee quickly covered up the shirt with a bunch of other stuff he was folding and got nervous.  I ignored his deception and asked for the shirt and bought it.  At least he wasn’t going to continue hiding it.  But still, who does that?

Please feel free to leave your experiences and discuss Jordan Creek Town Center in the comments section.

Photos from August 2011:

 

 

 

Richmond Mall; Richmond, Kentucky

Richmond Mall opened in September 1988, a relative latecomer to the regional scene, as nearby Lexington’s three regional malls opened in the 1960s and 1970s. Richmond Mall enjoyed success for two decades, despite the eventual dominance of Lexington’s Fayette Mall, the largest and one of the best malls in the state of Kentucky. Local competition eventually did Richmond Mall in, with the opening of nearby Richmond Centre in 2008.

Located 25 miles south of Lexington in south central Kentucky, Richmond is a small city with 31,000 residents. Home to Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond has grown a lot recently. In the past two decades, Richmond has added over 10,000 residents, increasing its population by over 30 percent.

This massive growth spurt has been a boon to the city, and should have also been a boost for Richmond’s only enclosed mall, Richmond Mall. Except it hasn’t worked out that way. Located southeast of downtown Richmond along the Eastern Bypass, Richmond’s only mall can be summed up in one word: sad.

Richmond Mall opened in September 1988, a relative latecomer to the regional scene, as nearby Lexington’s three regional malls opened in the 1960s and 1970s.  Set up like a simple dumbbell, Richmond Mall is pretty minimalist and functional in design.

Richmond Mall enjoyed success for two decades, despite the eventual dominance of nearby Lexington’s Fayette Mall, the largest and one of the best malls in the state of Kentucky. Local competition eventually did Richmond Mall in, with the opening of nearby Richmond Centre in 2008.

Richmond Centre is a much larger, open-air center consisting of over 800,000 square feet of restaurants and shopping. Anchored by Belk, JCPenney, and Meijer, Richmond Centre features other popular stores and restaurants such as Panera, Childrens Place, Culver’s, Chik-fil-a, Michaels, TJ Maxx, Petsmart, and Logan’s Roadhouse restaurant. A Home Depot opened in the center but has since closed. Most of Richmond Centre is set up like a typical Power Center, but the central buildings retain a semblance of an open-air mall corridor.  A tiny semblance.

Sadly, and predictably, Richmond Centre caused a mass exodus at Richmond Mall. The two shopping centers are only two miles apart, both located along Eastern Bypass south of downtown. In addition to being more than twice as large and brand new, Richmond Centre is located directly along I-75, whereas Richmond Mall is a couple miles away.

Also, when Richmond Centre opened, it poached JCPenney, Goody’s Family Clothing, and Hastings entertainment directly from Richmond Mall. According to a Kentucky.com article published in November 2010, Richmond Mall was 98% leased when Richmond Centre opened in 2008. Just two years later, the mall was less than 50 percent occupied.

In November 2010, Richmond Mall defaulted on its loan and was auctioned. According to the same Kentucky.com article, the foreclosure came as a result of a lien placed on the property, which was owned by Richmond Mall Associates and does business as Bush Realty. The lien, which was sought by U.S. Bank, is valued at $16.4 million. The former owners of the mall wanted to sell the mall because they do not specialize in redevelopment.

Today, Richmond Mall has very few stores open. Most of the operating stores are on the mall’s west side. The food court remains completely empty. Aside from Sears, the eastern half of the mall is almost completely dead.

It’s shocking what a difference a couple years can make. I visited Richmond Mall for the first time in November 2011.  I came in the eastern end of the mall, which is the more vacant half of the mall.  When I left, I noticed a young man on a bike riding through the mall who exited the same door I did.  I’m kind of sad I didn’t see the mall before it died in 2008. Feel free to leave your comments.

November 2011:

Oakland Mall; Troy, Michigan

Oakland Mall opened in 1968, flanking the northwest corner of 14 Mile Rd. and John R. Rd., adjacent to Interstate 75, which was completed just prior to the mall’s construction. The mall was built on the southern edge of the city of Troy, a large northern suburb of Detroit located in Oakland County, the mall’s ostensible namesake. Troy is located 15 miles north of downtown Detroit, and has a population of 80,000 as of 2010. Troy is home to numerous corporations and white collar jobs that have been purged out of the city over the past fifty years or so.

Our latest post takes us to Detroit, a city marked by a history of innovation, a currency of blight, and a future painted with question marks.  As one of the country’s most auto-centric large cities, the Detroit area relied heavily upon a model of development favoring shopping malls and suburban sprawl from the very beginning.  This isn’t surprising, considering the city invented the modern automobile production process; it seems very fitting the development patterns would favor cars and lower-density development.  Even the city itself, as derelict as it is today, is unlike other eastern cities in that it is not at all dense away from its downtown core, owing to the automobile mantra of its development: numerous small single family homes for blue collar auto workers, and a good network of inter-urban freeways connecting them to their jobs via automobile.  This all happened even before the suburban explosion changed the way Detroit was forever.

The Detroit metropolitan area became dramatically over-retailed as socioeconomic processes such as White Flight dovetailed with the region’s auto manufacturing success following World War II, establishing booming suburban areas, mostly in Macomb and Oakland counties to the north of the city, and in west suburban Wayne County, the county containing Detroit.

As time went on, Detroit went fallow as investments neglected the city while the suburbs blossomed and flourished.  Whites moved up and out of the city to better suburbs, as impoverished blacks had to remain in the city while its infrastructure crumbled.  These processes began to act on metro Detroit so early and with such fervor that few large-scale retail developments were ever even constructed in the city itself.  There is certainly nothing resembling a traditional mall in Detroit, and the few retail developments that do exist are mostly along Telegraph Road in the far northwest part of the city, or along the southern half of 8 Mile Road, which marks the northern border of the city.  Nearly all of the large-scale retail development has occurred in the suburbs.

It’s fascinating to me how segregated the Detroit metropolitan area is, with an economic racial disparity to boot.  The two counties representing north suburban Detroit, Oakland and Macomb, are ten percent and three percent black, respectively, while the city of Detroit is 83 percent black.  The per capita income in the city of Detroit is $14,000 while the per capita incomes in Oakland and Macomb Counties average $28,000.  Hugely similar disparities exist in similar ways for crime, access to education, access to jobs, etc.  I realize this is a retail blog, but a socioeconomic history is always visible in the built landscape over time, and it informs the way retail sites behave too.

In keeping with its auto-centric theme, and similar to how many suburbs nationwide were constructed, most of Detroit’s suburbs were built with automobile commuting in mind.  However, as growth in the region slowed due to economic factors and competition in the auto industry, so too did the demand for retail in the region. In the past ten years or so, metro Detroit has lost at least four major regional or super-regional shopping malls, in addition to at least as many enclosed neighborhood centers.  As a whole, metro Detroit is shrinking, having lost 3.5% of its population since 2000, one of only five of the fifty largest U.S. metropolitan areas to shrink during that time period (Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Buffalo, and New Orleans were the others).  However, most of these losses occurred in the city of Detroit; all other counties in the Detroit region have reported gains in population.

Whether you happen to mourn the loss of these shopping malls or celebrate their demise in the eyes of progress, I think most people can agree that these places provided a solid foundation for memories and community-building for at least a couple generations of Detroiters.  After all, they were/are the de-facto downtowns that most of these suburbs lack.  For this post, we’re going to stray from the failures in the market for once and instead focus on a success: Oakland Mall.

Oakland Mall opened in 1968, flanking the northwest corner of 14 Mile Rd. and John R. Rd., adjacent to Interstate 75, which was completed just prior to the mall’s construction.  The mall was built on the southern edge of the city of Troy, a large northern suburb of Detroit located in Oakland County, the mall’s ostensible namesake.  Troy is located 15 miles north of downtown Detroit, and has a population of 80,000 as of 2010.  Troy is home to numerous corporations and white collar jobs that have been purged out of the city over the past fifty years or so.

Oakland Mall originally opened as a smaller dumbbell shaped mall, anchored by Detroit-based stalwart Hudson’s on the western end, and Sears on the eastern end.  A Detroit-based S.S. Kresge store was in there somewhere too.  Sears actually pre-dates the mall, having opened in 1965 as a standalone store.  Developers must have seen the centralized location and recent opening of I-75 as a no-brainer.  In addition, Wrigley Supermarket flanked the north side of the mall in between the two anchors.

One year later, in 1969, a small upscale mall called Somerset Mall opened about 5 miles away, also located in Troy.  Anchored by an existing Saks Fifth Avenue store which opened in 1967, the small mall was also anchored by Bonwit Teller.  This mall and Oakland Mall have both thrived in Troy ever since, despite massive expansion efforts on the part of both centers.

During the 1970s, little changed at Oakland Mall as other centers were built in and around metro Detroit.  Wrigley Supermarket closed and was converted to a JCPenney in the late 1970s, and the mall remained a simple dumbbell.  Meanwhile, the massive Lakeside Mall opened in 1976 just 12 miles northeast of Oakland Mall in neighboring Sterling Heights.

In 1980, amid pressure from competition and ample growing demands, Oakland Mall embarked on a massive expansion.  The extant JCPenney/former supermarket was demolished for a new northern wing.  Unlike the original one-level mall, the expansion was two stories and featured a new JCPenney as well as a movie theater.  This made for a rather unique setup, as the two-level expansion wing seems to miraculously sprout from the original one-level mall.

During the 1990s, competition from other centers could have put a strain on Oakland Mall, but didn’t.  In 1996, Somerset Mall embarked on a massive expansion project, adding a new three level building across the street from the original mall, more than quadrupling the center’s size.  It was renamed Somerset Collection, and became the most upscale mall in the state.  This repositioning didn’t hurt Oakland Mall as much as it could have, considering the two malls are only five miles apart, because Oakland Mall is positioned to be more mid-range.  Instead, the malls have continued to complement one another.

In 1998, major competition also came with the opening of Great Lakes Crossing, a mostly off-price/outlet mall that opened in Auburn Hills.  Fortunately for Oakland Mall, Great Lakes Crossing was both far enough away and not as much of a hit as expected.

Oakland Mall’s more recent history is mostly one of anchor changes and minor updates, as the mall has continued to enjoy success amid fierce competition.  In 1987, Kresge closed, and in the late 1990s a food court was added where a former Burger King and Godfather’s Pizza stood.

In 2000, the movie theater closed, and was later converted to Steve and Barry’s, which itself closed in 2009 only to be replaced recently by Michigan’s first Famous Labels, a similar off-price discounter.

In 2001, Hudson’s became Marshall Field’s, as Target Corporation rebranded all of its main line department stores after its most famous Chicago nameplate.  That became moot, however, in 2006, when Macy’s acquired Marshall Field’s and rebranded them as Macy’s.

Also interesting to note is that in 2004 Lord and Taylor was interested in adding an anchor store at Oakland Mall, but lost interest pretty quickly in the process.  This would have been an interesting addition to the mall, as L&T is significantly higher end than most of the stores here, and also curious because they already had a store at Lakeside Mall.  And, at the time, there was also one at Fairlane Town Center, which closed in 2006.

I first visited Oakland Mall in 1992, on a family trip to Michigan.  I remember seeing the old massive pylon, before it was toned down to muted modern standards later on, and I remember being fascinated that the third wing of the mall sprouted from one to two levels somewhat spontaneously from the original mall corridor.  While the mall has received a few cosmetic updates, it’s been pretty much the same for over thirty years.  It’s still successful, and provides a mid-market complement to the massively upscale Somerset Collection located just 5 miles away.  It’s also held its own against other developments in Oakland County, and will continue to be a major player on the scene as long as it remains current.

I took the pictures featured here in June 2011.

 

 

Schuylkill Mall; Frackville, Pennsylvania

The Schuylkill Mall opened in 1980, developed by Crown American properties, with Kmart, Hess, Sears, and Pomeroy’s as anchor stores. With around 800,000 square feet spread across a “T” shaped pattern, the mall was extremely large, especially given its rural trade area, and initially opened with a bevy of mid-range national tenants

I grew up watching ’80s teen movies and sitcoms–things like Fast Times at Ridgmont High or Saved By The Bell–and they all created the impression that California was this sunny mecca of palm-tree filled mall atriums and penny fountains, that the west coast was where the mall truly came from, the rest of the country was just trying to horn in on their sun-spackled glory. Almost four years ago, I moved to California. I then realized that we not only have fewer malls than most other developed parts of the country, but that (with the notable exception of the immediate Los Angeles area) they’re a lot more secondary to American life than they are in most other places.

Weirdly, the place that got far more of these concrete palaces is the less-glamorous rust belt.Pennsylvania, in particular, has a mall, or two, or three, in nearly every community of significant size. This mall, the Schuylkill Mall in Frackville, is one of three enclosed malls along a rural stretch of PA route 61 in east-central Pennsylvania.

The Schuylkill Mall opened in 1980, developed by Crown American properties, with Kmart, Hess, Sears, and Pomeroy’s as anchor stores. With around 800,000 square feet spread across a “T” shaped pattern, the mall was extremely large, especially given its rural trade area, and initially opened with a bevy of mid-range national tenants including Gap, Deb Shops, Spencer Gifts, Record Town, Jeans West, Foxmoor, Fashion Bug, B.Moss, Waldenbooks, Claire’s Boutique, Afterthoughts, Listening Booth, Slack Shack, KB Toys, and Footlocker. In 1987, a fifth anchor–Phar-Mor–opened on the mall’s north side to complete the roster, and that same year Pomeroy’s was sold off to The Bon-Ton, and the store changed nameplates to what it is today. For much of the 1980s and 1990s, this fairly dark and brown center was the dominant retail draw in the region, far dwarfing the two smaller malls south of it along route 61.

The Schuylkill Mall was never a fancy place. This part of Pennsylvania is rustic and blue collar, known for coal mining and industry. In fact, this area’s biggest claim to fame is nearby Centralia, a ghost town sitting atop an underground coal mine fire that has been burning since 1962. Despite this, the mall has always been at least somewhat successful and never exactly dead throughout its existence, serving as a mid-range catch-all for people living miles in every direction.

Hess’ closed their store at some point–possibly 1994 when the entire chain went belly-up–and their store was replaced by the Black Diamond Antique Mall, which occupies the space until today. Much of the wing leading to it has died out, and what few stores exist are somewhat temporary/lower tier operations (including a model railroad club!) In 2003, Crown American merged with PREIT, who is the current owner and operator of the mall. I visited the Schuylkill Mall twice, in 2004 and 2007, and took this set of photos on the latter date. Although the mall’s condition was around the same during those two visits three years apart–i.e., not great, but still with a fair amount of activity and national tenants–several accounts have noted that the mall’s fortunes have declined precipitously in the last several years, with many national tenants such as Kay Jewelers, Claire’s, Chik-Fil-A and Waldenbooks (duh) closing their stores in the mall.

What’s perhaps most interesting about this odd, beat up mall is its condition. It appears like it has gotten little love or attention since its 1980 opening, with its dated, primary-color logo and triangular planters hanging on like a hawk’s talons to a rat. Or something. Do you know what’s going on with this mildewy palace on the hill?

Southridge Mall; Des Moines, Iowa

Southridge Mall was the second major mall built in metro Des Moines, after Valley West, and both malls opened within weeks of each other in 1975. The two malls also complemented each other geographically, with Valley West serving the west portion of Des Moines and Southridge driving the retail corridor on the south side. Valley West was constructed by a firm from Minneapolis, and Southridge was built by General Growth Properties.

Des Moines is Iowa’s capital and also its largest city.  With a population of over 500,000 residents, metro Des Moines has four malls that can be classified as regional or better:  Valley West and Jordan Creek Town Center, both located in West Des Moines, Merle HayMall, located in northwest-suburban Clive, and Southridge Mall, located on the southeast side of Des Moines.

Southridge Mall was the second major mall built in metro Des Moines, after Valley West, and both malls opened within weeks of each other in 1975.  The two malls also complemented each other geographically, with Valley West serving the west portion of Des Moines and Southridge driving the retail corridor on the south side.  Valley West was constructed by a firm from Minneapolis, and Southridge was built by General Growth Properties.

Before Southridge opened, the project was named Army Post Plaza, after the adjacent Army Post Road as well as an actual army post; however, the name was changed to Southridge before the mall opened.

When it opened in October 1975, Southridge was anchored by just one store, Younkers, which still sits at center court today.  Sears opened as the second anchor on the east side of the mall in 1977, and Montgomery Ward became the third anchor in 1978, located on the west side of the mall. In 1982, Omaha-based Richman Gordman became the mall’s fourth anchor, opening a store on the southwest side of the mall adjacent to Wards.

In 1984, General Growth sold Southridge to Equitable Life, an insurance company, and General Growth continued to manage the mall until 1998.  At that time, the mall was acquired by an equitable partnership between Simon and Macerich, who continues to manage the mall today.

It seemed Southridge was primed to add a fifth anchor in 1987, when Arkansas-based Dillards wished to open a store in the Des Moines market and chose Southridge.  However, a spat ensued when Younkers sued Southridge management over the Dillards addition, arguing that its lease called for only four anchor slots at the mall.  A federal judge finally ruled against Younkers in 1990, but by this time Dillards had lost interest.  Dillard’s tried again in vain to open at Valley West Mall in 2000, but that never materialized, However, this outcome wasn’t the end of it, as the judge’s decision to allow a fifth anchor opened the flood gates for other interested parties to build, which led to the addition of Target in 1992.

Dillard’s tried again in vain to open at Valley West Mall in 2000, which never materialized, but they did finally open in Jordan Creek Town Center in 2004.

Meanwhile, Richman Gordman went bankrupt in 1992 and closed their store at Southridge.   It was filled in 1994 by JCPenney, which moved from downtown Des Moines.

The 1990s were less than kind to Southridge, as the decline of many regional malls and the nature of overbuilding retail space finally caught up to metro Des Moines.  Southridge became the ‘odd man out’ as retail boxes and new construction favored clustering around the major hub on the west side. By the late 1990s, Valley West Mall, which had originally opened in tandem with Southridge on seemingly equal footing, was clearly the dominant winner in the regional market.

The retail hub for the south side, anchored by Southridge, which had visibly taken a toll to the west side’s retail dominance, was also hit by emerging retail corridors in fast-growing Pleasant Hill, Altoona, and Ankeny to the north.  The south side wasn’t growing as fast, and furthermore, it didn’t have the transportation access the north and west sides enjoyed, sitting adjacent to or directly on Interstates 35, 80, and 235.  A new southerly freeway bypass (US 65/IA 5) of Des Moines opened in 2002 close to Southridge, but it was a bit late to reclaim its status as a successful regional mall.

In 1999, Southridge lost again when Montgomery Ward announced it was leaving Des Moines as part of its first round of bankruptcy closings.  The building remained vacant until it became clear it wasn’t going to be retenanted,and was demolished in 2006 as part of a larger renovation of sorts.

Caldor and I visited Southridge around this time, and although it was not the most successful mall in the region, it was a solid performer and seemingly not in danger at the time.  One of our best memories from that trip is from Southridge, as while we exited the mall we heard a teenage girl on a payphone (yes, a payphone) very obviously and loudly discussing with her friend about a sexual encounter the friend had.  In vivid details.  About the most vivid you can imagine, in fact.

The 2000s were a sad, continuous downward spiral at Southridge Mall, culminating in a high vacancy rate of 40 out of 91 possible stores, or a 44 percent occupancy rate, by December 2009.

In 2004, yet another blow rocked the potential viability of Southridge, pushing it faster toward oblivion, as a brand new enclosed mall opened in West Des Moines, Jordan Creek Town Center.  Jordan Creek, surrounded by a complementary brand new retail corridor of big box, strip malls, and destination restaurants, was one of the last super-regional enclosed malls to open in the United States. As Jordan Creek is located on the opposite side of the Des Moines area as Southridge, 0ne might expect the two malls on the west side of Des Moines to suffer and for Southridge to flourish; instead, the opposite happened.

Interestingly, because of synergy and proactive management on the part of both Valley West and Merle Hay Malls, these centers have been able to work together with Jordan Creek Town Center to remain viable and successful.  Much more viable than Southridge, in fact, which has become a repository of vacancy and an odd collection of many local mom and pop or ethnically-focused shops, with few popular national chain stores and restaurants.

In its management’s defense, though, Southridge isn’t going down without a fight.  Much needed renovations commenced in 2006, which involved the demolition of long-vacant former Wards, sprucing up the food court, as well as adding a new children’s play area.  Mini-anchor Steve and Barry’s arrived on the scene in 2007 to breathe new life into the center; unfortunately, that store closed the very next year when the entire chain went bankrupt in 2008 due to a crazy overzealous expansion that ironically put the store there in the first place.  Nothing lost, nothing gained, I guess.

By 2009, Southridge was identified in an article about the downfall of the enclosed American mall by U.S. News and World Report as one of 84 malls in danger of failure, due to its low sales per square foot and vacancy rate.

In 2011, another direct hit came as JCPenney announced they were bailing on the sinking Southridge ship in June.  We last visited Southridge in August 2011 and took the pictures featured with this post.  The last few stores leading to the former Wards (now demolished) are boarded up now, and this end of the mall seems to be the most vacant.  The bright spots of the mall are near center court, and although the food court was remodeled, it didn’t appear to attract more businesses into it.

There are a few national chain stores (Fashion Bug, Vanity, Radio Shack, GNC, Regis) still breathing life into the mall, but by far the balance of the 40 or so stores still kicking around, other than the anchors, are mom-and-pop local stores.  Many of  these stores are geared toward a specific ethnic population (Filipino Store) or service a small interest group (Iowa Reptile Rescue).  I have no doubt that these stores help serve a niche and I wish them well, but their sole presence unaccompanied by a mix of popular chains is just not enough to get people in the doors and accomplish the synergy necessary for an enclosed regional mall to succeed.

Or maybe, just maybe, this cat at the Animal Rescue League had the right sentiment about this mall.  Mouth open, sound asleep, and snoring as loud as can be.   He was really tired from shopping at Shag, Spike, and Canton.  At least the reptiles next door at Iowa Reptile Rescue didn’t get him.  I hope you got adopted, because you were adorable:

The only saving grace for Southridge are the remaining anchors: Sears, Younkers, and Target.  Their popularity will probably keep the place afloat for a while, but a 40% vacancy rate in the mall combined with a lack of popular brands does not bode well for sustainability.

So what’s on the horizon for Southridge?  As of Fall 2011, a career academy sponsored by Des Moines Area Community College has been proposed for a portion of the recently closed JCPenney space.  We’re hopeful that the plan goes through, because Southridge’s days as a retail-only venue are numbered.  Creative mixed-use schemes have a better potential to draw people into the mall, helping to retain the stores that are already there while reducing blight.

Pictures from August 2011:

New Harbour Mall; Fall River, Massachusetts

The New Harbour Mall is a 350,000 square foot dumbell style mall in the old industrial city of Fall River, in southeastern Massachusetts. Fall River has a population of approximately 92,000 people and is located about 15 miles east of Providence, Rhode Island, or 10 miles west of New Bedford. Technically part of the Providence metropolitan area, Fall River and its twin New Bedford are aging mill cities who saw their greatest successes during the industrial revolution in the 1800s and early 1990s, when hundreds of thousands of immigrants flooded the textile mills looking for work. For many decades now, however, Fall River has been something of an economic backwater, struggling with a lack of industry and a high unemployment rate. The city continues to welcome immigrants, however, and today has one of the largest percentages of Portuguese residents in the United States, giving it something of a unique character.

Originally named simply the “Harbour Mall,” the center opened on the south side of Fall River, just feet from the Rhode Island state line, in 1970. Bradlees and Grant City where the mall’s two original anchor stores, staring at each other from opposite ends of a small corridor housing around 30 smaller shops. Originally, the mall was fairly dark and moody, characterized by its external wood-shingle look and ’70s mod logo (which featured a captain’s wheel and the “Harbour Mall” name in a Helvetica-style font). In 1976, Grant City went out of business and was replaced by Kmart, and in 1984 a movie theatre was added to the center.

When it opened, the Harbour Mall was kind of the only game in town, but this didn’t last for long. The larger North Dartmouth Mall (now just “Dartmouth Mall”) was simultaneously under construction ten miles east, closer to Fall River’s twin New Bedford. That mall opened in 1971 but didn’t impact business all that much. The bigger blow came in 1975 when the even larger Swansea Mall opened just a few miles to the west of Fall River, strategically placed to serve both Fall River and the eastern suburbs of Providence. Although the opening of the Swansea Mall didn’t kill the Harbour Mall, it did solidify its place as the lesser “dirt” mall serving the area, an image it was never able to shake (locals call it “Harbour Hall,” even today). As the years went by, the entire commercial strip along Canning Blvd. in Fall River would become increasingly secondary in comparison to the strips surrounding the other two malls, reinforcing that this area was the least desirable of the major shopping districts around.

In 1993, perhaps recognizing the obsolescence of the mall that connected two still-popular anchors, then-owner Yale Realty Services decided to spruce up the Harbour Mall. Skylights were added to the interior and the moody hallways were redone in a queasy blend of mint and pink. Lastly, the exterior shingles were removed and replaced with green siding, and the main entrance facing route 24 was given a much grander facade to be visible to freeway traffic. Topping off this rather silly renovation was than even-sillier renaming of the mall to the “New Harbour Mall.” Because it was the NEW Harbour Mall. There is no such thing as a “new harbour.”

Nonetheless, it seemed to work alright for awhile. Business picked up a little bit and the mall continued to house a standard blend of the types of stores that frequented smaller discount-oriented malls at the time, such as Radio Shack, Fashion Bug, Rainbow, and Record Town. There was also an arcade, a McDonalds Express, and some other merchants. Unfortunately, in 2000, Bradlees announced that they were going out of business and closing all stores, including this one. That initially seemed like a bad omen for this mall–especially since Bradlees was its most popular tenant–but within a year, Wal-Mart announced their intention to fill the space. This gave the New Harbour Mall the distinction of being the first and thusfar only shopping center in the United States anchored by both Wal-Mart and Kmart, giving each other a death stare down this minty pink mall corridor. Over the years, the mall’s somewhat ill-considered renovation began to age very badly, and today there are many signs of neglect. On one 2006 visit from both members of the Labelscar crew, we found that the restrooms were bizarrely labeled “boys” and “girls,” and that they had just put bars of soap on top of the sink for anyone to use. Communal bars of soap. In a mall. Yuck.

In 2007, the movie theatres finally closed. Four years later, in 2011, Walmart announced that they would be closing their store at the New Harbour Mall to open a brand new supercenter an exit north along route 24, at Bryant Avenue. That store will replace–somewhat ironically–what used to be one of the city’s many old factories that had been converted into an enclosed outlet mall in the 1980s and 1990s. With the departure of Walmart and the somewhat unlikely nature of finding a tenant to replace them, management of the New Harbour Mall have hinted that the building may be big boxed, removing the center’s declining interior corridor for good. I hold out some hope that Kohls or Target (neither of whom have stores in the area, or to serve the Newport County RI area to the south) will take the space and the mall itself will be renovated and saved, but I’m doubtful.

This dopey little mall actually has some close ties to the Labelscar crew. I grew up about 15 miles to the south, in Newport, Rhode Island, and other than the long-since-departed Newport Mall, this was physically the closest enclosed mall to my hometown. We didn’t go here all that often because of its size, but I do have quite a few childhood memories of shopping at Bradlees for backpacks, sweaters, and Escape Club cassette tapes. Also, I wrote the deadmalls.com entry about this mall back in 2001, and it was one of the very first pieces of content that the crew over there posted from a contributor. (Admittedly, what I wrote was not my finest hour, but this whole write-about-malls thing was pretty new at the time).

The photos here were all taken on December 26, 2000, making them amongst the oldest original photos featured anywhere on the site. They’re the same set that I sent to Deadmalls, and were taken with a relatively low-res (but then seemingly pretty cool) digital camera that died within the first day I was using it. December 26 was also the exact day that Bradlees announced they were going out of business, and I was unaware of the announcement until I visited the store at the New Harbour Mall and saw all of the ominous yellow signs announcing that they weren’t accepting returns or taking checks. I was in the middle of a weird populist phase where as a broke college student I un-self-consciously did a lot of shopping at stores like Bradlees, Caldor, and Ann & Hope (the Targets of their day), who would all go out of business soon after. Pretty sad.

Southtown Mall; Fort Wayne, Indiana

Fort Wayne’s first mall, Glenbrook Square, opened in 1966 on the north side of town. Three years later, Indianapolis-based Simon decided that Fort Wayne’s recent and projected growth indicated it could support a second enclosed regional mall. Located on the south side of town, Southtown Mall opened in July 1969. Southtown’s single-level complex debuted with a 100,000 square-foot Montgomery Ward and a 114,000 square-foot Fort Wayne-based Wolf and Dessauer department store, which was acquired that same year by Indianapolis-based L.S. Ayres. When Southtown opened, it had 567,000 square feet of retail space, including the anchors. In addition, G.C. Murphy operated a 60,000 square-foot junior anchor store, and there was a single-screen cinema, which was twinned in 1972 and expanded to a triplex in 1982.

After a long hiatus spending a good chunk of this Summer in Europe, I’ve returned with a treat. The mall featured here has long been one of my personal favorites, so please enjoy.

My very first visit to Fort Wayne, Indiana yielded this mall in June 2001. Gas was just north of a dollar a gallon, and I was a teen with few cares in the world other than driving around and exploring new areas. I had never been to Fort Wayne despite the unlikely kinship that existed between the city and my hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin. Located about five hours apart, both cities were General Motors factory towns, and growing up I remember many families who set off to Fort Wayne in search of better jobs when the plant opened there in the late 1980s.  In the end, the ties between the two cities dissolved, as General Motors ceased production in my hometown, abandoning it, though the more modern Fort Wayne facility continues to operate.

Named for Revolutionary War general “Mad” Anthony Wayne, Fort Wayne was established as a frontier trading post for European settlers. The village was platted in 1823, and grew tremendously following the completion of the Wabash and Erie Canal in 1843, which provided a vital shipping passage between the Great Lakes and Ohio River valley, then leading into the Gulf of Mexico.

Today, Fort Wayne is the second largest city in Indiana after Indianapolis. With a population of over 250,000, Fort Wayne is located in the northeast part of the state, near the borders of Ohio and Michigan, and about 2 hours north of Indianapolis.

Fort Wayne’s first mall, Glenbrook Square, opened in 1966 on the north side of town. Three years later, Indianapolis-based Simon decided that Fort Wayne’s recent and projected growth indicated it could support a second enclosed regional mall.  Located on the south side of town, Southtown Mall opened in July 1969.

Southtown’s single-level complex debuted with a 100,000 square-foot Montgomery Ward and a 114,000 square-foot Fort Wayne-based Wolf and Dessauer department store, which was acquired that same year by Indianapolis-based L.S. Ayres.  When Southtown opened, it had 567,000 square feet of retail space, including the anchors.  In addition, G.C. Murphy operated a 60,000 square-foot junior anchor store, and there was a single-screen cinema, which was twinned in 1972 and expanded to a triplex in 1982.

How about a high school art mural from 1995:

Hopefully the Wayne High School Advanced Art Class of 1995 finds this page and is amused to find their mural may have been destroyed, but is saved in perpetuity on the internet.  I would be.  But maybe you’re just in the mood for a case full of plastic oranges at this defunct Orange Julius:

Also in 1982, Simon embarked on a major expansion of Southtown, adding a new southwest wing through recently vacated G.C. Murphy, leading to a new 90,000 square-foot Sears store.  Added in addition was a food court called The Patio, and a Service Merchandise.  After the expansion was complete, Southtown had 858,000 square-feet of total retail space, giving it the designation of Fort Wayne’s second super-regional mall after Glenbrook Square.

Unfortunately and ironically, the completion of the addition was the beginning of the end for Southtown.  The same year the expansion debuted, 1982, was the same year International Harvester dealt a whopping blow to Fort Wayne, eliminating over 10,000 jobs.  Most of these jobs were on the south side of the city, in Southtown’s immediate trade area.

In addition, Glenbrook Square expanded in 1976 and 1981.  Adding to its retail dominance in Fort Wayne, it became the hub of a massive conglomeration of retail strip on the north side of town, which it still is today.  In contrast, the retail offerings to complement Southtown were slim by comparison.

The fallout of Harvester’s Fort Wayne exodus was evident in the departure of Montgomery Ward in 1983.  Fortunately, though, Wisconsin-based Kohl’s stepped in to fill most of the vacant store, with apparel chain Spiece taking the remaining balance.

Southtown continued to soldier on with a full set of anchors, a designation it would keep until the 1990s; however, the newer southwest wing to Sears was never fully leased, and the mall was always thought of as a lower-level ancillary to Glenbrook Square.

In 1992, Southtown lost junior anchors Spiece, Richman Brothers, and Old Mill Pottery. L.S. Ayres also announced plans to shut their store that year, but were convinced to ride out their lease, which didn’t expire until 1997. Kohl’s opened a short-lived outlet venture in the shuttered Spiece space, attached to its regular store, but his proved to be a failed venture, closing after only a few years. I’m not sure Kohl’s has ever attempted this anywhere else since.

Then, in 1997, two major anchors departed, doling Southtown two death blows. Keeping their promise to stay out their lease, L.S. Ayres departed in July 1997, along with JCPenney a month earlier in June. Service Merchandise and MCL Cafeteria also closed around that same time, and the mall began bleeding stores faster than it had prior to these major departures.

In 1998, Simon had enough and unloaded Southtown to infamous mall slumlord Heywood Whichard of North Carolina, whose modus operandi is to buy moribund malls and run them into the ground, forcing taxpayers to foot the bill for the redevelopment. And he did just that – within two years he was already over $200,000 behind on taxes.

By 1999, things were looking grim at Southtown, and Kohl’s finally departed in March for a brand new store at Apple Glen Crossing, a new outdoor power center on the west side of Fort Wayne.  That same year, Southtown was put on the auction block, but no one offered to make a bid, and the whole process soon became confounded by the discovery of asbestos in the structure as well as underground storage tanks that didn’t meet modern regulation standards.

In 2000, some local developers attempted to buy the mall for redevelopment, and even offered to pay the delinquent taxes, but by then the process was tied up in litigation between the mall’s owner and the city of Fort Wayne.  Eventually they lost interest, and it became clear there was no future for redevelopment until the city forced condemnation.

All this time, the mall emptied, and by 2001 only a handful of stores were open, many of them mom-and-pop locals.  I remember an article I found online not long after I visited the mall in 2001, which profiled a retailer in the mall.  Her name was Su Won, and she operated a beauty supply store in the mall.  One of the photos with the article featured Su Won herself, sitting on a bench outside her store in the completely empty mall, staring wistfully into her store.  The photo was priceless, and I wish I could find it again.

In January 2002, Sears finally pulled out of the mall, leaving it with zero anchors and few in-line stores.  The mall limped along for another year like that, finally shuttering completely in February 2003.  The city of Fort Wayne condemned the property that year, so redevelopment could finally move forward on the eyesore behemoth.  Unfortunately, this meant that in August 2004 the whole thing would be torn down.

In 2006, the redevelopment debuted and the new Shoppes at Southtown opened, anchored by a 225,000 square foot Menards, and a 217,000 square-foot Wal-Mart SuperCenter.  In addition, a small strip center opened as well, featuring T-Mobile, Great Clips for Hair, and Star Financial Bank.

I visited Southtown in the Summer of 2001, and was shocked at the condition and size of the mall.  Only a handful of outlets and Sears were open for business, and few people were walking around inside the dated monster mall.  Aside from the Sears wing, where a few stores operated, the rest of the mall was completely devoid of activity. Take a look at the pictures I took that day, and leave your own reactions and anecdotes as well.  Also, what ever happened to Su Won?

Elsewhere on the web:

Pictures from June 2001:

 

 

 

Metrocenter Mall; Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix was one of the largest cities in the country that I hadn’t personally visited until a few months ago (others on the list include Miami and Atlanta), and I really had no knowledge of its development patterns or neighborhoods. Just looking at a map and guessing which malls might be in a safe place to compete, I’d guessed that Metrocenter was probably one of the staid and sturdy old behemoths of Phoenix retailing, due to its central location right along a major freeway and its large size. This is one of those cases where I was extremely surprised: Metrocenter Mall is one of the largest malls in all of Arizona, and it was once the dominant mall in all of Phoenix, but now it is slowly and visibly dying, due to its age, demographic changes, and outmoded design.

Metrocenter Mall is one of the most centrally-located malls in Phoenix, with frontage right along the busy I-17 corridor. Metrocenter opened in 1973, a joint venture between Phoenix-based Westcor and Homart, the real estate division of Sears Roebuck and Company. When the mall opened in 1973, it was the first two-level, five-anchor mall in the United States, and was not only the largest in Arizona (at 1,400,000 square feet) but one of the largest in the country. Designed as a massive showplace, the mall even had the fuselage of a 747 airliner within the center to house a bar!

Metrocenter Mall’s original anchors were Sears, Rhodes Brothers, Goldwater’s, Diamond’s, and The Broadway, and a large ice skating rink in the food court area acted as an entertainment anchor as well.

At the time, the mall was situated at the far northern extreme of Phoenix, sitting outside of the city limits in unincorporated Maricopa County. Developers believed that development was going to sprawl northward in Phoenix, and that there’d be significant growth to support the center in the future–an assumption that proved correct long-term. Metrocenter immediately swiped a significant chunk of the trade area from the more centrally-located and older Chris-Town and Park Central malls just a few miles south; it was part of a trend that would ultimately also spell doom for Metrocenter decades later.

For a time, the gargantuan center was a major draw for shoppers from all over Arizona, and people traveled hundreds of miles to shop. Metrocenter had a fairly long period of dominance, lasting through the 1980s. By the time the 1990s rolled around, however, things began to change. Phoenix was experienced explosive growth, and development had sprawled well past the once far-flung Metrocenter and newer malls (in particular, Arrowhead Towne Center, opened in 1993 several miles to the northwest in a newer section of Glendale) opened further from the city’s core had stolen much of its thunder. On top of that, the neighborhoods were beginning to look worn and tired, and crime in the vicinity of the center had increased considerably. Many of the neighborhoods west of I-17 were significantly more working class than areas north or east of Metrocenter, and the mall is one of the closest large retail centers to some of the city’s tougher neighborhoods a few miles to the south. Although the movie “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” was filmed in the mall in the late 1980s, it was the beginning of a turning point: the iconic ice rink closed at the beginning of the following decade. Here’s a video of the mall from 1990:

Throughout its life, the mall saw the standard comings and goings of anchor tenants. Rhodes Brothers was converted to a branch of Hawaii-based Liberty House, then to Joske’s. Joske’s was acquired by Dillard’s and the location became a second Dillard’s for a time before converting to a JCPenney. The Broadway was acquired by Federated department stores in 1997, and converted to a Macy’s. Goldwater’s was converted to J.W. Robinson’s, which became Robinsons-May in 1993. After May department stores were acquired by Macy’s in 2006, Macy’s moved from the former Broadway to the Robinsons-May building, leaving the former Broadway vacant.

The ailing mall was sold in 2004 to Macerich and AEW Capital Management, who brought back original owner Westcor to attempt to reposition to the center. They planned an extensive repositioning, including an external renovation (2005) and later an internal remodel (2007) meant to modernize and brighten up the center and its surrounding grounds. However, it hasn’t helped the center much; despite the hulking size and relatively good condition of the property, there is a significant number of vacancies scattered throughout the property, and the poor old place can’t help but feel like a slowly dying beast. JCPenney left the mall in 2007, ironically to return to Chris-Town (where they’d shut several years earlier), leaving a huge gap, and Dillard’s shut one level of their store to downgrade to a clearance outlet in 2009. As a result, 2.5 of the mall’s 5 elephantine anchors are currently dark. The current anchors at Metrocenter are Macy’s, Sears, Dillard’s Clearance Center, Sports Chalet, and Harkin’s Theatres. As of 2010, Westcor decided to abandon the dying mall, letting Jones Lang LaSalle take over management.

These photos were all taken in May 2011:

Retail Relic: Ann & Hope Department Stores

Ann & Hope, Warwick, Rhode Island

We haven’t done one of these in a very, very long time. I recently stumbled upon a cache of old photos that I took in the summer of 2006–in the nascent days of this blog–on a trip back to my home state of Rhode Island to capture some of the retail oddities of my home region. Ann & Hope was one of the most storied retailers in New England during their reign from the 50s until 2001, and is most famously known as the pioneer of discount department store retail. Legend has it that Sam Walton modeled Walmart after their concept.

Ann & Hope was founded by Martin Chase, a Ukrainian immigrant who moved to Providence, Rhode Island when he was six years old. He spent much of his young adulthood working at various clothing retailers, before starting his own store, Chase Clothes, in the 1930s. Chase minimized overhead by using inexpensive store fixtures and not offering frills such as alterations. In the mid-1940s, as the clothing market was depressed due to World War II, Chase began to look at new business ventures to expand into, and he purchased the sprawling Ann & Hope mill complex, named for a ship lost at sea off the coast of Rhode Island in 1806. The mills were located in Cumberland, Rhode Island, just north of Providence. The Ann & Hope complex was made up of large, somewhat disused factory buildings, and Chase split the spaces up and rented them out piecemeal to subtenants and retailers.

In 1953, one of the tenants moved out of the complex and left a large amount of ribbon behind in the mill, and Chase opened the space to the other tenants in the center to purchase the remnants. Inspired by his success, Chase decided to reopen his own retail venture in the space, and gradually expanded his retail operation within the complex. By the end of the 1960s, Ann & Hope had grown to a $40 million-a-year general merchandise business, and Walton’s famed visit occurred in 1961.

Ann & Hope pioneered the discount department store concept, with centralized checkouts, large amounts of merchandise that customers could peruse without sales personnel, and shopping carts. The original Ann & Hope mill location, which was located in oddly-sized rooms on different levels in an old industrial building, also featured shopping cart escalators and a large parking lot, both innovations at the time. Ann & Hope stores also featured a full-service cafeteria and generally had several small sub-tenant spaces such as a flower shop or garden center in the front of the store. Ann & Hope stores typically sold a wide variety of merchandise, including a large grocery section, a wide range of apparel and home goods, as well as electronics, appliances, general merchandise, and more. They carried much of what you would get at a modern Sears or Best Buy, along with many of the softer goods you’d find at Target, all under one very massive roof.

In addition to the original Cumberland location–which bore little physical resemblance to the modern big box store, the chain opened large (often over 200,000 square-foot) suburban-style stores throughout New England. The other locations were in Warwick, Rhode Island; Seekonk, North Dartmouth, Randolph, Danvers, Watertown, and Methuen, Massachusetts. The Watertown and Danvers stores even anchored large regional malls, whereas the other locations were standalone. From the 60s to the 90s, Ann & Hope was a dominant retail force in New England, and many of their stores acted as regional draws much in the same way as malls did, anchoring their respective retail districts and attracting a flurry of commercial development–development that, in many cases, would ultimately spell their demise.

Ann & Hope, Warwick, Rhode Island

In the spring of 2001, when the economy was weak but was especially struggling in New England, many regional discount chains such as Bradlees, Apex, and Ann & Hope finally found they were unable to compete with larger competitors. Many of these chains, such as Target and Walmart, were able to use the leverage of operating many locations in less-expensive regions of the country to offset the high-cost stores in New England, whereas smaller chains like Ann & Hope simply didn’t have the leverage or buying power to stay on board. All of the store locations, save for the Warwick and Cumberland stores, were closed outright. The remaining two stores were converted to “Curtain and Bath Outlets,” focusing on a few key areas of Ann & Hope’s offering (along with lawn and garden), and a dramatically shrunken footprint. Much of the remainder of the Warwick store even served temporary as the headquarters for Brooks Pharmacy, while their own offices were under construction a few miles away in East Greenwich. The Curtain and Bath Outlet seems strange–and the appeal seems to be primarily to older women–but has proven so successful that the still-surviving chain has opened a total of 11 stores under this new format.

These photos were taken in summer 2006, approximately five years after the closure of this location as a full-service Ann & Hope store. The exterior of the building is largely unchanged from pre-2001, except for the addition of the ugly “OUTLET STORES” sign below the main A&H signage. The Curtain and Bath concept was operating, however, hence why I was able to get inside and snap a few quick pictures, but it’s important to note that this bears very little resemblance to the original Ann & Hope, which was significantly more comparable to a higher-end Walmart Supercenter or the hypermarket chains like Meijer, Fred Meyer, or Bigg’s.