Northwest Mall is located on I-610 and Hempstead road in northwest Houston. Opened in the 1960's with Foley's and JcPenney as anchors. This mall and Almeda Mall were built at the same time with nearly identical floor plans. The opening anchors were the same at both mall's as well. This mall is in a depressed area of Houston and there are too many nearby malls to take away business. Memorial City and The Galleria are about 10 minutes away without traffic. Northwest Mall currently has about 75% of the in-line space filled; even without any large anchors. I first visited this mall in 1999 before the JCPenney's closed and this mall was very busy. The JCPenney had not been updated for many years and was in poor condition prior to the closing. Hurricane Ike damaged that store in 2008 and Macy's still has not decided if they want to re-open the store. On our visit May 4, 2009 the mall did not have many customers. The food court area is doing well and the whole corridor to Macy's is nearly full, but the lack of shoppers that afternoon concerned me. If Macy's or a replacement does not reopen; this mall will be in trouble. Palais Royal is the only junior anchor open at Northwest Mall.
JCPenney closed since 2001
Macy's closed since Hurricane Ike in 2008. The signs on the door read "Macy's Northwest temporarily closed". The signs are still up, but the store may not reopen.
Interior photos
Oh my goodness! I don't live in Houston anymore, but my mother used to work at the F.W. Woolworth store in the 60s and 70s. My kids loved this mall and had pictures taken in the middle at the water fountain with my daddy. Thanks for this site. It's brought back many memories.
ReplyDeleteThere use to be an EB games or KAYBEE Toys right there by those black squares (stools). I use to come to this mall when I was little with my mom. (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996).
ReplyDeleteK*B Toys was originally "Playhouse Toys" and closed somewhere around the mid 2000's. Woolworth's restaurant is still there, used for storage now, even though the old five and dime is long gone.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone remember Ferrells ice cream parlor?what about the pirate ship in the kids shoe section of Foley's? The food court in the seventies and early eighties was awesome......corn dog7,orange Julius, and square pan pizza!I was really small,but vaguely remember these plastic animals you could play on.
ReplyDeleteI remember the pirate ship in the kid's shoe department quite well, I use to play on it! It was the best! I am 41 years old now, but I would love to see a photo of it again!
ReplyDeleteI was just a young kid and watched NW Mall being built as our backyard backed up to 610 service road. My mom was so excited as it was the first true enclosed mall in Houston back then. I worked in high school at Playhouse Toys and JC Penneys. Its a shame its going down hill as smaller malls offer a more comfortable cosie atmosphere than the bigger malls like the Galleria.
ReplyDeleteHow can we bring back the business to Nw Mall. I'm 35 and can remember the crowds the smell of great food the late shopping and both laughter and crying from the children as they waited for their parents to either window shop walk or reward them for their behavior at weeks end.!@
ReplyDeleteNorthwest is probably going to continue as is until the property is redeveloped. The property was sold last year. Once oil and gas picks back up I would not be surprised to see plans to redevelop the property. Right now developers are having difficulty getting financing for large commerical/residential projects.
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