Texas and Louisiana Southern Malls and Retail

Southland Mall Houma LA

2012-01-25T00:36:00.000-06:00

Here is a classic 1969 South Louisiana Mall. The Southland Mall is located in Houma Louisiana at Bayou Gardens and Westpark Ave just south of Highway 90 (future I-49 freeway). Houma is located about an hour away from New Orleans and 30 minutes from Morgan City LA. The Southland Mall is shaped in an L shape with anchors at each end and a massive anchor in the middle of the mall. The mall has been recently updated and sports a vanilla interior like most of the nicer malls of the 2000's. The Southland Mall is all one level except for the massive Dillard's/ DH Holmes that has 3 levels. The Dillard's here is one of the few stores that Dillard's did not convert to the plain Dillard's style and looks like a DH Holmes on the outside. The three story anchor definitely catches your attention and it faces the main intersection where the mall is located.

The Dillard's/ DH Holmes towers over the mall. Take a good look at the design of the store from both angles; that is how the more modern DH Holmes stores were designed.

The JCPenney exterior is similar in design to the San Jacinto Mall in Baytown.

Rite-Aid Pharmacy was a converted K and B store; that is still open despite the trend of pharmacies leaving malls for their own buildings.

Los Sombreros restaurant

Sears is a basic design with a Sears Hardware store behind the building and across the parking lot.

This Kirschman's closed before the company was acquired in 2006 by Rooms to Go Furniture. The store is located just across the street from the mall. The sign is a find because this is their old logo. The last design the company used was a basic black and white cursive logo.

The inside of the mall is doing well; most of the spaces are occupied by a mix of chain and local stores. Bonus points for the Sports Avenue and F.Y.E. store located here.

The mall does not have a food court and has restaurants in a few spots throughout the mall.

FYE is just to the right of this arcade.

Inglewood Mall Morgan City LA

2012-01-20T00:31:00.001-06:00

Here is another fascinating mall from Louisiana. Several Louisiana posts and an update on Mall of the Mainland are on the way, stay tuned. The Inglewood Mall is located just east of downtown Morgan City Louisiana at the corner of 9th and Brashear Rd. (1025 Victor II Blvd), in a city of over 12,000 residents. The mall is shaped in a cross pattern with no large department store anchors and entrances on three sides. The small corridor on the south side of the mall does not have an outside entrance. Unfortunately the mall doors were locked on the 1st visit (on a weekend), so I could not go inside. On my second visit during the week the doors were open, and so were a few offices. This mall featured an A and G Cafeteria, The Computer People store, K and B, and was built in the 1970's. Currently a Tampico Restaurant, Lake Cinema, a bank, and a few offices are open for business. There is no online information about what happened to this mall; we would appreciate any comments that can tell us more about this mall. The mall was obviously built in an area that could not support a mall with a large enough population. Any comments about some more stores that were here in the past or important events will be appreciated.

This is the east entrance to the mall. K and B was just to the left of the entrance behind the middle tree. The Tampico restaurant appeared to be nearly empty on this weekend day.

This former K and B location has seen better days. Water damage or humidity has really taken its toll on the interior of the store. The pharmacy "prescriptions" can still be clearly seen with the peeling K and B purple wall paper.

The cinema is the most lively part of the mall even though the cinema does not appear to have mall access.

This is the entrance to the west wing of the mall next to the cinema.

The east wing facing west. This mall is stuck in the 1970's and I will make a return trip on a weekday in the future to take a walk inside and get better photos. The mall appears to be in good repair despite the aged look.

The west wing facing east.

The north wing facing south.

The second visit Jan 2012; when the mall was open.

It is never a good sign when "we are open" is on the sign of a business.

The entrance to the cinema.

The main entrance to the mall.

The interior of the mall did not have many lights on and was very dark. The businesses open inside of the mall are the court reporters, a bank, an office for the Morgan City government, a medical supply shop, Tampico Restaurant, and there are a few other storefronts that were labeled, but were closed on my visit.

This dead end in the mall looks to have been a back entrance to the cinema.

I can see why most of the lights are off; there are hundreds of bulbs around the skylights. The bill would be high even with a switch to florescent bulbs.

Inside of the mall; I was able to get a much better shot of the K and B store. I visited this store in 1998 when it was still open. The mall did not have any retail stores left in 1998 either.

This is the entrance to the Tampico Restaurant 'after hours club"

The storefronts in the mall are all retro 1970's/1980's and very well preserved.

Brazos Mall Update

2012-01-17T15:54:00.001-06:00

Brazos Mall has not lived up to the full potential of the area. The mall needs to gain more inline stores near the Dillard's wing because there is not much left. With the exception of the new food court area; the mall has not gained enough new stores to make it a destination. If they can fill the former Service Merchandise anchor with a discount retail outlet such as TJMaxx; the mall will gain more much needed traffic. More stores themed to the tourists that go to the nearby Surfside beach could help to revive the Dillards wing. The population close to the mall is over 100,000, but the Pearland area around 30 minutes to the north has gained many new stores. The Pearland area has grown tremendously over the past five years taking away some of the customers that would normally shop in the Brazos area.
The JCPenney looks to be two stories, but the store is only one story.

Steve and Barry's once a Service Merchandise.

After a light rain; this Service Merchanside labelscar was revealed on the side of the building.

A look through the store to the mall.

It is a shame that this chain did not last; LSU gear for less than $10 is not easy to find.

The food court is illuminated by the stained glass skylight squares.

Dillards with the wood paneled entrance.

The mall corridors were very empty on my last visit.

A former Gadzooks with the neon lights on.

Circuit City Harvey LA

2012-01-16T00:01:00.000-06:00

This former Circuit City is located at the corner of the Westbank Expressway and Manhattan Blvd. This shopping center also once housed a Wilson's/ Service Merchandise that was located where a Marshalls is located now. This location was probably less than 5 years old when it closed looking at the condition and style of the store.

Circuit City Marrero LA

2012-01-15T19:15:00.000-06:00

Just across Lapalco from the former Belle Promenade Mall is this 1980's style plug Circuit City store. The store was being worked on and had permits on the door indicating that the store is being re positioned for another use. This is one of two closed Circuit City locations on the Westbank of New Orleans.

There is a clear labelscar on the building.

Former K-Mart Marrero LA

2012-01-09T15:15:00.001-06:00

Breaking News Story The Mall of the Mainland was hit by a tornado on 1/09/2012 click on this link and read the last comment from the post.

This K-Mart was shuttered in the last 1990's and appears to have been untouched since then. This K-Mart was one of the classics that were still in operation after the change to Big K-Mart. Just next door to this K-Mart was a Showbiz Pizza in the small strip center next door that is also closed.

Belle Promenade Mall Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-01T01:34:00.002-06:00

R.I.P. Belle Promenade Mall 1983-2000
1701 Barataria Blvd, Marrero, LA 70072-4249

Aerial photo from the West Bank Guide.

The site plan

This project may be updated in the future with more photos. I would like to give a special thanks to Ryan Smith and David Owens for helping with the research of this article.

This was the one mall that I watched from the early years all the way to the demise in the late 1990's.
The second Westbank mall project began in 1979 under the name Lapalco Square Mall with a plan for a super regional mall that was to be built in two phases at the corner of Barataria Blvd. and Lapalco Blvd on 145 acres. The land that the mall was planned for is the geographical center of the Westbank of New Orleans in Jefferson Parish. The initial plan was for the mall to have five department stores in a square design that was similar to the Plaza Mall that was in New Orleans East for 1.2 million total square feet of retail space. The mall was built on speculation of future population growth on the West Bank, and many real estate agents did not believe that the West Bank could sustain two major shopping malls. Jim Wilson and the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company spent 50 million to develop Belle Promenade Mall which means "nice walk" in French. Low rise offices and a 20 acre recreational area were also planned for the site but were later developed as retail and restaurants. The first department store on the site; DH Holmes opened up on September 9, 1982 while the mall was still under construction. Big Bird and the Cookie Monster were there for the opening festivities. DH Holmes with 250 employees had mostly clothing on the first floor with electronics, toys, A,T,and T Call Center, Housewares, and Furniture on the second floor. My first visit to the mall was at the Holmes store when the mall entrance was not yet opened, but there was a spot to peak at the mall corridor under construction.

The first and only phase of the Belle Promenade Mall opened up on October 5, 1983 to huge fanfare and rave reviews. JCPenney with 300 employees; had clothing on the first floor with electronics, an A,T,and, T phone center, toys, sporting goods, furniture, linens, photo framing, kitchen goods, dining room supplies, and gift items (87 million in inventory). The JCPenney had several dark mirrors as part of the design inside and outside of the mall. The Les Halles food court was the first true mall food court in the New Orleans area, and had seating for over 500 people. The Sound Shop, Kay Bee Toys, and Camelot Music advertised Atari 2600 games. GNC gave away free soap with each purchase, Diamond Jim's arcade one free game, Hanover Shoes gave away a free stuffed puppy with a purchase of hush puppy shoes, and most of the food court restaurants had coupons for free sodas or fries with a purchase.

The second phase which was to include two more department stores in 1984 did not happen. Another visionary version of the second phase was to add only one department store in 1984 and 100,000 more square feet of retail space in 1985. The recession in the mid 1980's in the New Orleans area was probably the reason the mall was never expanded. (If Belle Promenade Mall had expanded; we would probably be writing an article about the demise of Oakwood Mall). The department stores of Godchaux, Sears, Maison Blanche, and Montgomery Ward were companies that had interest in the mall but never showed up.
The Gulf States theater 6 opened on May 23, 1984 with Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom as the first movie. By the first week of June five of the screens were showing Indiana Jones (on 2 screens), Star Trek 3, Pete's Dragon, Once Upon a Time in America, and the sixth opened with The Karate Kid on June 22.

Exclusive photos of the mall in 1984 provided by David Owens

Diamond Jim's arcade was located in the middle of the mall where the carousel was later added.

A rare token from the Diamond Jim's arcade.

Simply gold

The inside of GNC in 1984

A walk down the mall corridor shows that even when the mall was new; there were empty spaces.

Here is the exclusive official store list from the grand opening advertisement from October 5, 1983.

Department Stores

D.H. Holmes 2 floors

JCPenney 2 floors

Accessories Men’s and Women’s

Parklane Hosiery

You and Yours

Apparel Men’s

D’Marks

Designer Collections

J. Riggings

LaVanti

Apparel Men’s and Women’s

Chess King

Jeans West

Merry Go Round

Apparel Women’s

Catherine’s Stout Shoppe

Fashion Stop

5-7-9 Shop

Hit or Miss

Jean Nicole

Learner Shops

Limited, The

Ormond Shop

Pappillon

Books

B. Dalton Bookseller

Waldenbooks

Cards, Gifts, and Stationary

Florentine Gift Shoppe

Gateway Hallmark

Gifts Imported

Summit Stationers

Drug Stores

Eckerd Drugs

Electronics/Computers

Radio Shack

Engraving/ Keys

Things Remembered

Formal Wear

Mitchell’s

Hair Styling

Great American Hair Salons

John Jay Hair Styling

Health Services

Dental Clinic

Home Furnishings/ Housewares

Cutlery World

Deck The Walls

Rolling Pin, The

Wicks ‘n’ Sticks

Jewelry

J. Todd Jewelers

Piercing Pagoda

Simply Gold

Market Research

Opinion Center

Records and Tapes

Camelot Music

Sound Shop, The

Optical Services

Pearl Vision Center

Texas State Optical

Pet Stores

Doctor Pet Center

Photography

Fotomat

One Hour Photo

Wolf Camera

Restaurants/ Fast Food

All American Hero

Bresler’s 33 Flavors

Chick-Fil-A

China Gate

Corn Dog 7

Daiquiri Shoppe

Famous Ramos Hot Dogs

Famous Ramos Potatoes

Pavone Pizza

Penn’s Golden Nuggets

Shirl’s Snacks

Spats Restaurant

Taco Tico

Specialty Foods

Barnie’s Coffee

Cookies, Inc.

General Nutrition

Glass Oven Bakery

National Health

Peanut Shack

Russell Stover Candies

Tin Can Alley

Shoes

Ansonia

Baker’s

Butler’s

Fanfare

Florsheim

Hanover

Jarman

Kinney

Naturalizer

Stride Rite

Thom McAnn

Smoke Shops

Tobacco House

Sporting Goods

Footlocker, The

Hale and Jones

Marchand’s Athletic Shoes

Toys and Hobbies

Kay Bee Toy and Hobby Store

Game Rooms

Diamond Jim’s

Opened in November 1983

Casual Village- Women’s Apparel

Picadilly Cafeteria- Restaurants/ Fast Food

Today’s Woman- Women’s Apparel

Opened in the spring of 1984

Big Sky- Sporting Goods

Gap, The- Men’s and Women’s Apparel

Gulf States Cineplex- Cinema

Hausman Jewelers- Jewelry

Limited Express- Women’s Apparel

Zales- Jewelry

Leonard Krower (jewelers and distributors) also arrived at the mall sometime in 1984.

As you can see from the store opening list; the mall had almost every category of stores that were popular in the 1980's and even in 2012. The mall hosted many events such as fashion shows, "puttin on the hits" singing contest, carnivals, blood drives, arts and craft shows, and even a Mallopoly game that gave shoppers Mallopoly bucks to use at a special auction which included a new Buick Skylark and several other prizes. Belle Promenade was the mall of the west bank of New Orleans until the mid 1980's the oil bust recession of New Orleans started to take its toll on the area. In 1986 the first signs of decline began to surface at the mall with an article in the Times Picayune showing declining sales at the mall during the Christmas season. Belle Promenade Mall was built for an anticipated population growth that was supposed to add over 200,000 residents near the mall in Jefferson Parish over the next twenty years. The population of the New Orleans Metropolitan area actually decreased in the late 1980's with the West Bank of New Orleans and New Orleans East losing the majority of the residents. Nearby Oakwood Mall also took on a renovation in the late 1980's that expanded the mall to include Mervyn's.

The Les Halles food court in 1987 included these restaurants.
Chik-Fil-A
China Gate
The Cookie Company
Corn Dog 7
Daiquiri Shoppe
Famous Ramos Hot Dog Place
Famous Ramos Potato Place
McDonalds
Olde Tyme Sandwich Shop
Peanut Shack
Pretzel Basket
Sim's
Taco Tico
Tin Can Alley
Vegi-Table

Plus additional restaurants
Moonlighting Cafe and Bar next to Eckerds
Picadilly Cafeteria near JCPenney

By 1989 the second restaurant in the Spats location, the Moonlighting restaurant had closed, and several chain stores had closed. The Spats/ Moonlighting was a bar/restaurant concept probably similar to Ruby Tuesday (We never went that I can remember). D.H. Holmes became Dillards this year as well. The cinema around this time also added four screens to ten total screens, and was taken over by the United Artists chain.

Photos from the late 1980's possibly from 1989 with the Holmes nameplate still intact. Photos Courtesy of Perez and Ryan Smith (Perez helped with the design of the mall).
JCPenney to the far left, Spat's / Moonlighting Restaurant (already closed), and Eckerd's.

Spat's restaurant (already closed), Eckerd's, and Holmes.

The entrance to JCPenney; Spencer's gifts was just to the right of where this photo was taken.

The corridor to Holmes with a mall entrance to the left of where this photo was taken.

The food court of the mall had several eateries when the mall opened, but started to lose tenants in the late 1980's. The Times Picayune had a few advertisements to purchase food court restaurants in the late 1980's that were probably failing inside of the mall.

It was all about the skylights at Belle Promenade Mall; the skylights towered inside of the mall. A look at the aerial photo above shows the tall skylights in several spots throughout the mall.

In 1993 the owners spent millions renovating the mall and added a carousel. The renovation changed the inside color to a light white and pink and also added an updated logo on the mall entrances. This remodel added a few new stores, but the damage was done from the recession of the late 1980's. Many stores that had closed were not replaced and the mall was losing ground to Oakwood Mall.

In the mid 1990's these were the stores operating in the mall; notice that the store list is much smaller from the 1983 list.

Department Stores
Dillards
JC Penney

Beauty Salons
Command Performance
Nail and Facial
Regis Hairstyles

Candy stores
Bourbon Street Candy Co
Chocolate Mania

Children’s Apparel
Kids Mart

Discount Stores
Dollar Tree

Doctors/ Optometrists
Texas State Optical Marrero Office
Vision Plaza Marrero

Food Court
Chick-Fil-A Inc
Mcdonalds Corp
Sbarro

Jewelry
Gold Valley
The Golden Chain Gang
Gordons Jewelers
Jewelry Kingdom
Kay Jewelers
Piercing Pagoda
Zales Jewelers

Men’s Apparel
Fashion Man Inc
J Riggings Co Men’s Clothing
Mitchell’s Formal Wear

Music and Entertainment
Camelot Music
The Carousel Co
Mallscapes
Radio Shack
Sound Shop
Spencer Gifts
United Artists Theatres Belle Promenade Cinema 10

Restaurants
Piccadilly Cafeteria

Security/ Government Offices
Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office

Shoes
Bakers Shoe Store
Champs Sports
Donnauds Western & Work Boots Inc
Footaction USA
Foot Locker
Jarman Shoe Store
Lady Foot Locker
Payless Shoesource
The Wild Pair

Specialty retail stores
Beepers Plus
Cardamerica
Deck The Walls
General Nutrition Center
Kay-Bee Toy and Hobby Shop
Things Remembered
Waldenbooks
Wicks N Sticks

Women’s Apparel
Catherine’s
Five-Seven-Nine Shop
Hi-Style
Jean Nicole Plus
Jeans West
Lane Bryant
Lerner Shop
The Limited

By 1998 Kay-bee, Waldenbooks, Chick Fil A, McDonalds, and even the mom and pop stores were leaving. JC Penney’s started a closing sale in November 1998 (They moved into the former Maison Blanche location at Oakwood the larger west bank mall after Belle Promenade closed.) Dillards announced that they refused to be the only anchor in the mall and started their closing sale a week later. Dillards already had an Oakwood location that was very successful less than 5 miles away. After the anchors closed up the 1980's style Spencer's that was located in the closed JCPenney corridor, shut down. The Dollar Tree, The Sound Shop, Champs sports, even the optometrist closed up. A carnival fair in the parking lot in 1999 also was shut down abruptly when three people were shot in a fight near the carnival with one 17 year old killed. The last 17 stores on the inside faded to three and the cinema within 6 months.

Belle prominade mall closed in 2000 and the last three remaining stores were Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, GNC, and also the United Artists Theaters. The inside of the mall closed in March 2000 and the theater literally boarded up access to the mall past the theater entrance. Then the United Artists theaters closed in June 2000 and the center went dark. Shortly after the mall was shut down, the site became a makeshift truck stop/ party spot until the entrances to the mall parking lots were closed off. The site sat empty until 2001 when partial demolition took place when the old Dillards and half of the mall were taken down over the course of a year. In 2003 the rest of the mall except the old JCPenney anchor was demolished and a road was built through the middle of the old mall floor (Still intact after the demolition) and a Wal-Mart super center opened. Now there is a strip center with the GNC almost directly on top of where the old store was inside the mall. A piece of the mall with the skylight still intact was still attached to the empty JCPenney's anchor until 2008 when it was demolished for a Lowe's. Two strip centers on the site keep the name of the mall alive; Promenade Shoppes and Belle Barataria Center. Currently the Promenade Shoppes, Lowe's, and Wal-Mart are the only stores that have been built on the actual mall site. The rest of the development has been around the mall facing Barataria or Lapalco.

Unfortunately I did not have a very good camera when this mall was being demolished so these are the only pictures that I have. If anyone has any pictures of this mall I would be interested in them. I grew up around this mall and watched it decline and get demolished in less than 20 years. This mall has a nearly identical floor plan to the Pasadena Town Square Mall in Pasadena Texas.
1999

2000

Google birds eye view just before demolition

2001 exclusive new video pre-demolition at the mall.
Belle Promenade Mall

2002 The demolition.

This was the center court of the mall.

This shot is where the Dillard's stood facing the south side of the mall.

Here is a shot of the length of the mall from the south near Lapalco Blvd. JCPenney is the far away two story building. The next three shots are of JCPenney, the mall entrance sign, and the former food court/ cinema.

2004

In 2004 or 2005 Urban Explorers went into the former JCPenney; click on this sentence for the link.
2007
This is all that remained of the Belle Promenade Mall in July of 2007. This is the JCPenney anchor along with a piece of the old mall attached.

2011
The back parking lot going towards the former cinema and food court of the mall.

Take a good look at the ground behind this sign; the floor of the food court is still intact in some spots. For now this part of the site is empty, but the site has been gaining new developments every few years and it may be gone soon. The developers of the site are heavily marketing the site for further development.

The food court and cinema foundation was being used by skateboarders.

The tiles are still in some spots despite being out in the elements.

The view from behind Wal-Mart over the former food court and cinema.

Wal-Mart was built at the edge of the site just outside of where the food court and cinema were.

Looking at the former parking lot in between the strip center and Lowe's.

Looking towards Lowe's which was built at the site of the closed JCPenney.

This road was actually built over most of the mall footprint and circles around to Barataria Blvd.

This was once the entrance to the parking lot of the mall, but now the road goes to Wal-Mart and Lapalco Blvd.

This small strip center keeps the name Promenade going and even has a GNC which was one of the last stores at the mall.

Looking from Lowe's to the strip center. Fifteen years ago this would have been roughly where Spencer's gifts was at inside of the mall.

The next two photos are of the possible future site of Wayne's World, an entertainment complex. More importantly this was the site of the Holmes/ Dillard's, Eckerd's, and Spat's restaurant.

I also made it to the Gambit for my question about the mall
http://www.bestofneworleans.com/gambit/hey-blake-im-looking-for-information-on-the-former-belle-promenade-mall-in-marrero-on-the-west-bank/Content?oid=1905853

If anyone has any photos or even a mall directory from the mall we would like to be able to share these items with our readers. Please comment below or send an email to southernmalls@gmail.com
Also any other mall information that is on my site or requests for new malls are always welcomed and appreciated.

Comments that were deleted from my previous Belle Promenade Mall post.

Anonymous said...
Anyone remember the name of the pub/restaurant in Belle Promenade?
November 8, 2011 11:26 AM

je said...
Picadilly was near JCPenney and Spats was the restaurant near Eckerd and Holmes. The Spats spot was later used for another restaurant but I don't have the name for that one.
November 8, 2011 3:06 PM

je said...
To stir some debate, Spencer's, and the Dollar Tree were near JCPenney. Kay Bee Toys, Sound Shop, Champs sports, and Footlocker were near the food court. GNC, an Airbrush shop, and Bourbon Street Candy were in between the Food Court and Holmes. Sbarro, Chik fil A, Corn Dog 7 were some of the food court tenants.
November 8, 2011 3:18 PM

Anonymous said...
The name of the aracade in the mall was called Diamond Jim's, I believe. It was located sort of in the middle of the mall close to the food court. I remember the McDonald's was near the bathrooms in the food court. The movie theater also had like a smaller arcade adjacent to where you would buy tickets. Later they moved the movie theater to the other side of the mall corridor. When BP was built, it put a big hurt on Oakwood mall. It' s a shame that we have no sort of decent mall on the Westbank now...Oakwood is shell of what it once was.
November 8, 2011 10:57 PM

je said...
I agree with the comment about Oakwood; it looks nice on the inside, but lacks the character of the 1980's malls. Oakwood was put back together as quickly as possible to re-open, but did not address the issue of refilling the Mervyn's anchor spot leaving a huge void in front of the mall.
November 9, 2011 12:15 AM

Anonymous said...
I wonder if another anchor would possibly save Oakwood?
Was there any music stores in Belle Promenade?
November 10, 2011 3:31 PM

je said...
They had a sound shop music store near the food court, and a smaller independant music store near Dillards in the mid 1990's. Oakwood looks much nicer since they re-opened the mall in 2007. I am surprised that Macys or Belk has not taken the empty Mervyns anchor spot. I will be putting together an Oakwood post in the near future for the blog, I think Oakwood has a great future ahead once they fill the empty anchor spot. The original DH Holmes anchor has been partially filled by Forever 21.
November 11, 2011 12:18 AM

je said...
I recently uncovered a new video from 2004 that I will add to the upcoming article for the Belle Promenade Mall. It is an up close view of the JCPenney and the small covered part of the mall that remained when the rest of the mall was torn down. We are still looking for photos of the outside of the mall and interior of the mall to add to this upcoming article. A special thanks goes out to one of my readers that has been working diligently to help gather information for the complete history of the Belle Promenade Mall article coming soon.
November 11, 2011 2:44 AM

Anonymous said...
The "independent music store" you're referring to in Belle Promenade was actually a chain store, called Camelot Music. It was on the end by DH Holmes/Dillards.
November 12, 2011 10:34 AM

je said...
@ anonymous Thanks for the clarification :)
November 12, 2011 8:20 PM

je said...
I now have a 1990's store list, but we need more photos.
November 12, 2011 11:07 PM

je said...
After doing some major research we now have a complete 1983 store and food court list, the original name of the mall before Belle Promenade, the first movie shown in the theatre, and much more information. We also have a complete Lake Forest Plaza 1974 store list and Kenilworth Mall 1970 store list from both of those openings. A bunch of historical info is coming soon to the blog.

Lakeline Mall Cedar Park Texas

2011-12-15T15:41:00.000-06:00

Lakeline Mall opened in 1996 in the North Austin area of Cedar Park and quickly became one of the power malls of the area. The original anchors were JCPenney, Sears, Foley's, Dillard's, and Mervyn's. The mall has benefited from major nearby growth and new highways. Currently Lakeline Mall has two Dillard's anchors, Macy's, Sears, and JCPenney as anchors. The mall is in great shape and I did not see a single empty spot inside of the mall.

This Dillard's was converted into a Men's store after Mervyn's closed.

Spacious; the mall is one long straight shot from end to end.

These ceilings are an interesting touch to an otherwise plain mall design.

The entrances to the Dillard's Women and Dillard's Men store are the exact same. Here is the Women's store.

The Men's store.

JCPenney

Macy's with a F.Y.E. store one of my favorite stores at the mall.

Sears; check out the cool Halloween display in the middle.

An Orange Julius; I remember when these were in every mall.

Highland Mall Sept 2011

2011-12-03T23:25:00.000-06:00

Highland Mall appears to be winding down retail operations in the mall and more stores have closed since my last visit in May of this year. The food court restaurants may be the only outlets that are allowed to stay after the mall is converted into a college over the next five years. Austin community college purchased the mall in pieces and they are moving all of their operations into the former mall.

The mall directory is updated, but has several stores listed in different categories that make the list look larger.

The food court has one new restaurant; a pizza place that was reopened in the Villa Pizza spot.

Gamestop and a pretzel store are down this hallway to the former JCPenney.

No cookies and ice cream here!

The center court

In front of the former JCPenney, Champs is still open but is one of the last stores left in this section of the mall.

Emptiness

JCPenney labelscar.

The Macy's corridor has the most stores still open.

Inside Macy's which will soon become offices for the college.

Back to the Macy's corridor with some of the open stores.

Going towards the Dillard's woman store corridor.

Inside of the Dillard's woman store.

The fountains are still on for now even though most of the stores have left this part of the mall.

The former Macy's first floor.

Inside of the JCPenney appears to have been gutted and ready for the renovation into offices.

The former Macy's view from the parking lot of the old JCPenney.

More shots of the former JCPenney.

The former Dillard's men store.

The former Dillard's woman store.

The Mall of Acadiana Lafayette Louisiana

2011-11-26T02:10:00.000-06:00

On the other side of Lafayette is the Mall of Acadiana which opened at the end of the 1970's. This mall is located off of Ambassador Caffery Pkwy and Johnson Street. The mall of Acadiana is the dominant mall of the region with Dillard's, Macy's, JCPenney, and Sears as the anchors. Each anchor is two levels, but the mall is only one level. A large Forever 21 store is also located in between Macy's and JCPenney. This mall has been renovated in a French style to make the mall look like an older town. Many of the storefronts have brick entrances which are a nice change from the boring 2000's mall styles. Most of the popular chains can be found at this mall and I did not see one empty space which means this mall may have a waiting list to get in. More information can be found about the mall including former anchors here. The mall looks to have been designed to have five major anchors, but only four opened.

The food court entrance.

FYE was a Sam Goody in a past life; check out the brick entrance.

The food court is a typical 2011 food court; nothing special.

The design of this mall is very unique.

The design of the mall helps to break the monotony of the plain styles of most 2000's updated malls.

These arches are on the way to all of the anchor stores; a nice touch. As you can see there is no shortage of lanterns all along the mall corridors.

Sneak preview for the Belle Promenade Mall mega article

2011-11-21T20:32:00.000-06:00

The second Westbank mall project began in 1979 under the name Lapalco Square Mall with a plan for a super regional mall that was to be built in two phases. The second phase of the mall was never developed and the first phase of the mall opened up on October 5, 1983 as Belle Promenade Mall. (More to come in the mega article).

Here are some previously lost video clips from February 2004 of the former JCPenney and the small piece of the mall corridor that was left behind.
Ten years before these videos were taken these were the stores inside of the mall. 58 total spaces filled with stores, restaurants, doctors, salons, and a sheriffs department outlet. This list might be missing a few names, but it is the most complete list that I could find.

Belle Promenade Mall

1701 Barataria Blvd, Marrero, LA 70072-4249

Department Stores

Dillards
JC Penney

Beauty Salons

Command Performance
Nail & Facial

Regis Hairstyles

Candy stores

Bourbon Street Candy Co

Chocolate Mania

Children’s Apparel

Kids Mart

Discount Stores

Dollar Tree

Doctors/ Optometrists

Texas State Optical Marrero Office
Vision Plaza Marrero

Food Court

Chick-Fil-A Inc

Mcdonalds Corp

Sbarro

Jewelry

Gold Valley

The Golden Chain Gang

Gordons Jewelers

Jewelry Kingdom

Kay Jewelers

Piercing Pagoda

Zales Jewelers

Men’s Apparel

Fashion Man Inc

J Riggings Co Men’s Clothing

Mitchell’s Formal Wear

Music and Entertainment

Camelot Music

The Carousel Co

Mallscapes

Radio Shack

Sound Shop

Spencer Gifts

United Artists Theatres Belle Promenade Cinema 10

Restaurants
Piccadilly Cafeteria

Security/ Government Offices

Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office

Shoes

Bakers Shoe Store

Champs Sports

Donnauds Western & Work Boots Inc

Footaction USA

Foot Locker

Jarman Shoe Store

Lady Foot Locker

Payless Shoesource
The Wild Pair

Specialty retail stores

Beepers Plus

Cardamerica

Deck The Walls

General Nutrition Center

Kay-Bee Toy & Hobby Shop

Things Remembered

Waldenbooks

Wicks N Sticks

Women’s Apparel

Catherine’s

Five-Seven-Nine Shop

Hi-Style

Jean Nicole Plus

Jeans West

Lane Bryant

Lerner Shop

The Limited

Northgate Mall October 2011 Lafayette Louisiana

2011-11-11T02:52:00.001-06:00

I always enjoy discovering or re-discovering malls that have no current information online and bringing the malls to you on this blog. Northgate Mall in Lafayette Louisiana is alive and still open for business. Northgate has survived even with the development of a large big box center around two miles away from the mall. Northgate Mall is located south of I-10 off of exit 103A at the corner of NE Evangeline Throughway and Willow Street. Northgate Mall was the first major indoor mall built in Lafayette in the early 1970's. Northgate Mall coexisted with the Acadiana Mall for years until all large anchor stores closed and were replaced by non-traditional mall stores without mall access. This is my third visit to this mall and I was fortunate to have seen this mall in the mid 1990's when the mall was bustling with all of the anchors operating. I also visited the mall in 2007 and the mall was not much different than this visit in October 2011. I was actually surprised to see the mall operating since there is no information and their website was closed several years ago. I found this thread from 2009 with names of stores that gives a little insight into the past of the mall. There is also a funny facebook page with several hundred friends that is worth checking out. This mall is a nice change from the boring malls of the current generation and serves almost as a time capsule of a mall from the 1980's. All three of the main department store anchors closed; JCPenney, Montgomery Ward, and Service Merchandise were there at the mall for the best years. Now Home Depot, Albertsons, Stage, and Anna's Linens are the main draws to the mall. Transcom a call center took the former Service Merchandise anchor for their operations. The mall has survived by being at a great location and bringing in many different stores to keep people coming to the property.

Check out the old school computer in the picture; I bet the child in the picture is a teenager by now.

I took shots of two different mall directories. Take a good look at the anchor stores for a nice surprise. Yes a 2011 mall directory still listing a department store that has been out of business for over a decade.

Surprisingly the tenant list is mostly up-to-date. Although Beeper Boutique, Aladdin's Castle, and Sam Goody are gone. Does anyone besides doctors use a beeper anymore; they were such a hassle. Try finding a payphone these days to make a call when your beeper goes off.

There are a variety of signs around the mall with different styles of mall logos.

These signs advertising Stage stores are all around the mall. Mall management must be really trying to make sure that Stage does not start locking their entrance to the mall up.

The main entrance to the mall next to Albertsons.

Albertsons is located on the former JCPenney site.

Stage looks out of place with the modernized entrance.

Stage and the back of the former Service Merchandise (just past Stage)

This former junior anchor is in bad shape. I can't tell what it used to be; maybe a grocery store. This junior anchor is located directly next to Anna's Linens in the mall taking up a significant amount of space in the nearly empty mall corridor.

This view shows how popular the mall is on a Saturday afternoon.

Service Merchandise is now Transcom a call center; and has a secured mall entrance.

The Home Depot is detached from the mall and is located mostly on the former Montgomery Wards site.

The ceilings have mirrored glass square designs in several spots throughout the mall.

Stage is the only true department store anchor left at the mall. The anchor choices of this mall helped to facilitate the demise of this mall as the retail destination of Lafayette. You can still get in and out through the mall, but it appears to be a matter of time that Stage will eventually lock up this entrance.

The former entrance to Service Merchandise has been completely changed.

The lights are on; maybe this former store is an extension of the Transcom anchor.

Eight stores including Stage are in this half of the mall.

Hi Style, Style America, and GNC are a cluster that has stayed together. On the right two closed food outlets and the Maison De Hallmark.

Gordons or Zales store?

This is the entance to the dilapidated junior anchor/ (grocer?) from one of the above photos.

Hibbett has this location in the mall and one a little over a mile away at the new development with Target and JCPenney. How long will this store last?

The old Foot Locker; someone took the hoop away that was in between the two numbers above the register stand.

The new Footlocker; well the 1990's version. I like the 1990's version of Foot Locker stores better than the boring vanilla stores of the 2000's. Check out the + designed skylights.

There is a small working fountain in the middle of the center court.

These four stores sell mostly men's clothing and they are all connected together inside of the stores to easily hop from one to another. This is the first mall that I have been to that has more men's clothing stores than women's clothing stores.

Three kiosks remain in the mall these two by the main entrance. There are 12 stores and 3 kiosks open in this half of the mall including Anna's Linens.

Store after store here is closed; the blue and red looks to have possibly been the Aladdins Castle.

The former entrance to Montgomery Wards; which has been demolished.

More mirrored glass designs.

The former entrance to JCPenney was walled off when the store closed. Albertsons is on the other side of this wall.

Footaction USA sports an updated look, but the inventory of the store was very low compared to the store space.

Another former junior anchor possibly at one time a Woolworths.

Walking towards the Stage store.

Maison de Hallmark is actually a jewelry store not a Hallmark card store.

Wood panel storefronts should have never gone out of style.

Saturday afternoon at Northgate; once a great mall. What will it take to bring this mall back?

The Service Merchandise/ Stage court. There is a small food outlet that was closed today, but probably only opens for the Transcom crowd.

Anna's Linens looks to have once been a K and B Drugstore.

Borders Woodlands Texas

2011-11-08T18:07:00.000-06:00

This is the final chapter of the farewell to Borders series on my blog. The Borders in the Woodlands was in the outdoor lifestyle center just behind the Woodlands Mall. Borders has now been absorbed by Barnes and Noble and the website at borders.com will redirect you to Barnes and Noble.com. Next up are some more new malls to my blog including two dying/ dead small Louisiana Malls and more closed Louisiana Circuit City stores. In early 2012 I expect to have the complete history of Belle Promenade Mall up, but I still need help with store names.

Borders Webster Texas

2011-11-07T13:15:00.000-06:00

Here is the Webster TX Borders location and one of the newest locations in the Houston area.

Borders Alabama and Kirby Houston

2011-11-04T21:29:00.001-05:00

This is part four of the farewell to Borders series; the Alabama and Kirby Borders. This is one of the larger Borders stores in Houston, and possibly the largest. Also check out the new label section on the right of the homepage to find older articles easier by tagnames.

Borders Meyerland Plaza Houston

2011-10-29T02:03:00.001-05:00

This is the third post in the farewell to Borders series. This was one of the strangest designs of all of the borders stores I visited. The first floor had very little sales space, but the second floor was much a larger sales space.

Irony; a date with doom.

Borders Galleria

2011-10-28T00:28:00.001-05:00

Part two of this series the Galleria Houston location. This space is already being redeveloped for another use. This store was closed around a week earlier than the rest of the Houston locations in September 2011.

Borders Stafford Texas

2011-10-26T18:29:00.001-05:00

This is the first in a series of Borders locations on my blog. All Borders stores closed in September and the name has been purchased by Barnes and Noble. This Borders store was closed in the first round of closings after filing bankruptcy in early 2011.

Marshall Mall

2011-10-23T04:53:00.001-05:00

Marshall Texas has a population of nearly 25,000 and the smallest town that I have seen a mall in so far. Four colleges are in the city and the city is about 45 minutes from Shreveport Louisiana. Marshall is a little more than three hours north of Houston and three hours from Dallas to the west also. Marshall is also near Longview and Tyler Texas to the west.

Marshall Mall is located on HWY 59 and Pinecrest Dr. Marshall Mall has JCPenney, Bealls, Baskins, and Factory Connection as anchors to the mall. All of the anchors appear to be 30,000 sq ft or smaller.

Bealls is located in the back of the mall and has a very plain entrance.

Baskins and JCPenney. Baskins is a western wear department store.

This is a view of nearly the entire mall; the closed anchor is to the left.

The closed anchor looks to have been a local chain; the space looks to be around 20,000 sq ft.

The size ,style, and anchor placement in the mall is very similar to the University Mall in Nacogdoches Texas. It is very possible that these two malls were built by the same company.

Between JCPenney and Beall's the mall is almost full.

Even though the mall is small; the curves in the corridors help to make the place feel larger.

The center court of the mall with Bealls in the back of the mall. The Marshall Mall entrance to Bealls looks just like the former Bealls at University Mall in Nacogdoches was.

This end of the mall has several vacancies and no anchor a contrast to the other side of the mall.

Retro 1970's-1980's wooden storefronts in this section of the mall.

I can't tell what this former anchor used to be.

Pierre Bossier Mall Bossier City Louisiana

2011-10-19T16:00:00.002-05:00

Pierre Bossier Mall is located just off of I-20 and Airline Drive in Bossier City Louisiana. We start this tour of Pierre Bossier Mall at this lonely entrance that looks trapped in the 1980's. Pierre Bossier Mall is the largest enclosed mall in operation in the Shreveport area. This mall has faced nearby competition from the Louisiana Boardwalk near downtown Shreveport, but it is holding on. The mall has been recently updated and looks new on the inside, but the outside is dated and probably looks the same as it did when the mall opened in 1982. The interior of the mall has a 2000's look, the sign off of the freeway a 1990's look, and the mall entrances have a 1980's look. This mall also finishes the Shreveport metropolitan area indoor mall segment of the blog. We are going back to Texas for the next several posts, so stay tuned.

Service Merchandise is the only dead anchor at this mall and still has a sticker for Service Merchandise .com on the door. Once again the reflection kept me from getting any interior photos.

The interior of the mall has been modernized and looks very clean.

Stage entrance

Sears entrance

Dillard's entrance

It is good to see an FYE store still open; all FYE and Suncoast stores have pulled out of Houston.

The food court entrance. The food court has a Raising Cane's Chicken Finger restaurant good stuff!

Two mirrored glass entrances to JCPenney is very cool and retro 1980's.

Mall St. Vincent Shreveport Louisiana

2011-10-16T19:42:00.001-05:00

The old mall logo is intact at this entrance, or a replica of the 60's style logo.

The footprint of the mall is very small; unfortunately the only way this mall can expand would be to add a second story.

This three level Sears has a very unusual footprint. The third floor is angled towards the mall and the first floor appears to be an extension of the store even though it is connected at the middle of the store and behind the hill. Look at the third photo for a better view of the whole store.

The Dillard's was added to the mall in the 1990's.

The Dillard's wing of the mall and entrance.

The center of the mall has a small fountain and a high ceiling.

The mall slopes down or up in two spots depending on the direction you are going in.

The entrance here screams 1980's!

The ceilings are very nice in this mall, and you cannot tell from the inside that this mall is older.

The mall entrance next to Sears.

South Park Mall Shreveport Louisiana (Summer Grove Baptist Church)

2011-10-05T15:05:00.001-05:00

I had the unique experience of visiting this former mall one afternoon recently. This mall is located at 8924 Jewella close to LA 3132 in South Shreveport Louisiana. If you are into deadmalls this is a great former mall to check out that is open to the public. The mall was nearly empty of people with the exception of a custodian cleaning the floor in the center court. I visited the mall around an hour before nightfall which gave the mall an even creepier feel. The former stores of the mall are used as school class rooms, church craft shops, church offices, and there is a cafe. As an added bonus the former Montgomery Ward was open with a thrift sale filling the entire first floor of the store which was also open to the public. As you can see from the below photos and labelscar article the mall has not been changed much with the exception of the JCPenney church. The reuse of this building shows what can be done to save a failing retail property without demolition and do something good for the community.

Burlington does not appear on the directory.

Burlington is the last true retail holdover from the former mall.

JCPenney is now a church.

You can see the labelscar from this side of the former JCPenney.

Dillard's still has labelscars over each of the three entrances.

This is the entrance next to the former Dillard's that was open to the mall.

The former Stage store also has a labelscar.

This looks to be where the Picadilly Cafeteria was.

Montgomery Wards appeared to be as tall as a three story anchor but was two stories.

The paint is peeling away from the columns of the former Montgomery Ward.

This is the first mall that I have visited where you can play basketball directly in front of an anchor store.

You can see the former Spencer store on the right of this photo.

This is nearly the same spot that this flicker photo was taken from (click words for link).

The Dillard's entrance.

Basketball or Burlington?

No more gag gifts to be found here.

Champs

Bath and Body Works is long gone along with every other store. The green reflection near the center court is from the cafe in front of the entrance to the church.

This place must be hopping on a Sunday, but not on this weekday afternoon.

The cinema has not been modified from the past and even had some of the lights on.

This is the former Montgomery Wards corridor.

Surprisingly some of the lights over these skylights were on, but after nearly ten years only a few are working.

The mall entrance to the Montgomery Wards has seen better days; the roof and wall is damaged.

The former Montgomery Ward store was open to the public for a Goodwill style resale shop. Enjoy this look into the store over ten years after the store closed.

There were a few signs still intact from the store; I wondered if the elevator still worked but I was not crazy enough to try.

A peek into the second floor; the tarp did not help to get a good photo of the upstairs. The upper floor was probably where the Electric Avenue was as the first floor appeared to have been mostly clothing departments.

South Park Mall San Antonio

2011-10-01T21:56:00.001-05:00

This is the first of two different South Park Mall posts and the first of five new malls to be featured on my blog. Southpark Mall San Antonio is the main mall off of I-35 south and Military that serves the south areas of San Antonio. South Park Mall has Sears, JCPenney, Macy's, Bealls, and Anna's Linens as anchors. The mall is almost full and seems to be too small for such a large population in the nearby area. The closing of nearby McCreless Mall has helped to fuel business at the mall. Mervyn's (the only empty anchor) lasted here until the last round of Texas closings shortly before the company completely closed in 2008. The malls opening date is listed as 1968 on Wikipedia.

The Macy's (Foley's) was added onto the mall in the 1990's.

This is the original section of the mall.

The food court is located just beside the former Mervyn's anchor.

A still active F.Y.E. store; this was the company that took the Sam Goody and Musicland chains over. A bunch of these stores have closed since CD's are losing popularity.

Only one space in the Mervyn's corridor is empty; the rest of the stores are still going strong..

The mall owners covered up the Mervyn's outside entrances with bags, but you can see the inside still has many of the fixtures.

The entrances have a late 1990's style multicolored neon nameplate.

With the exception of the closed Mervyn's anchor the mall is nearly full and busy.

Wonderland of the Americas Mall

2011-09-27T18:14:00.001-05:00

Although the retail strip near the mall has declined; the Wonderland of the Americas Mall seems poised to take advantage of their long term plan for the property. Adding office space on one floor with retail on the upper floor will help to increase the amount of visitors to the mall. Most of the retail on the first floor has moved to the second floor or closed. GNC is all alone in the main section of the first floor and Radio Shack is located next to the first floor entrance.

The mercado is similar to the mercados in Houston. Behind the wall to the right is where phase two will open up in the future. Most of the spaces are filled in this first phase.

Burlington is only on the second floor of the mall.

Radio Shack and GNC are near this entrance to the first floor of the mall.

50 years and counting.

This entrance of the mall is under construction for the new Ross.

There are several hotels in the area and the location has quick access to I-10 and I-410.

The entrance to the Mercado.

Ross is coming to Wonderland in the former JoAnn and additional space.

The Ross construction takes up a huge amount of space and will help to fill some of the empty space.

The two floor have been separated by uses. Floor one is being advertised as medical and office space as floor two is retail.

Although the mall appears to be empty there were many people near the anchors and food court.

The newer part of the mall looks much more modern than the original section of the mall.

The hallways to the newer section of the mall are mostly empty.

The entrance to the mercado has a large playground which helps to draw families to the mall.

Although there are many unused spaces; the remaining retail outlets are mostly bunched up near the anchors.

This hallway leads to the food court where most of the people were at on this Saturday afternoon.

Radio Shack is one of the last retail stores left on the first floor of the mall.

North Star Mall San Antonio Texas

2011-09-26T15:09:00.001-05:00

North Star Mall is the largest mall in San Antonio located off of North I-410 in one of the most populated areas of the city. North Star is also one of the oldest malls in the city. North Star Mall also had a mall directly next door that has since closed and been developed. Here is a directory of the former Central Park Mall Sears is the only remnant of the former Central Park Mall. North Star Mall has Macy's, JCPenney, Forever 21, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Dillard's as anchors.

The entrance in between JCPenney and Saks has this Cheesecake Factory.

The front of the mall on I-410 has two large boots; only in Texas.

Here are a couple of historic photos that were on display in the mall.

The mall map shows the different levels of the mall. The mall has changed significantly over the years with many additions to the original floor plan.

Macy's and the corridor leading into the mall.

JCPenney is three levels and was most recently Macy's before this location consolidated with the Foley's on the other side of the mall.

The food court is located on the second floor near Macy's.

This is the two story section of the mall that has Forever 21 to the left and Saks Fifth Avenue to the right.

Dillard's is just past the two story section of the mall with Saks and Forever 21.

Can I help you?

Saks Fifth Avenue has taken up much of the space in this part of the mall.

Forever 21 was most recently a Mervyn's.

Rivercenter Mall San Antonio Texas

2011-09-22T17:31:00.001-05:00

This is just a brief article on the mall; a larger update will be in the works for the future. The Rivercenter Mall is located in the heart of San Antonio just a block away from the Alamo and it is connected to the riverwalk. The Rivercenter has a combination of local shops, corporate chains, tourist oriented shops, entertainment venues, and restaurants. The mall is three levels with the majority of shops located on the second and third floors of the mall.

This is the riverwalk entrance to the mall; you can see the stores through the glass.

The former Dillard's still sits idle waiting for the redevelopment to take place.

The food court which was closed for the night on my last visit.

Macy's (Foley's) is the lone anchor left at the mall.

The three story mall has very high ceilings and an open air portion on the riverwalk.

Usually this corridor is bustling, but after hours the mall is a cut-through to the parking garage.

Windsor Park Mall Update September 2011

2011-09-21T00:21:00.001-05:00

Windsor Park Mall still stands mainly unchanged on the outside but has been gutted on the inside according to this you tube video.

The former Mervyn's anchor has been renovated into the main offices for Rackspace.

Dillards and JCPenney

The former Dillards appears to be under construction for more office space.

Montgomery Wards

The food court is in the back of the mall behind this fence.

This is one of the signs still remaining from the mall.

Just down I-35 from the mall is this closed Circuit City location; an original plug entrance.

Dead K Mart in San Antonio Texas

2011-09-16T21:36:00.001-05:00

Attention K Mart shoppers there is a blue light special, but not at this location. This was a Super K Mart that probably closed nearly 10 years ago when K Mart pulled out of San Antonio and Houston. This location is eerily similar to the Super K Mart that sat abandoned in Humble Texas that was redeveloped after sitting for 9 years in nearly the same condition as this location.

One hour photo will be delayed for a very long time.

The garden center grows once again; weeds.

The former Little Caesars on the left side of the building.

Dead Montgomery Wards in San Antonio

2011-09-14T19:08:00.002-05:00

A wrong turn into a shopping center led me to this great find. This former Montgomery Wards location has been partially redeveloped with Bealls taking a portion of the building. The labelscars are clear on most sections of the building and the rest of the center appears to have been demolished to make way for a new HEB store. I have no information about this store, but if anyone does feel free to leave a comment. This location is just off of I-410 one exit north of US 90 West.

Northwest Mall September 2011 Update

2011-09-13T10:51:00.002-05:00

Northwest Mall has not changed much since my last visit, although the former JCPenney anchor is about to see new life as an antiques center. The freeways around the mall are also under construction and will have a major effect on traffic in the area. Once the freeway is completed this area will be easier to access and be a prime location for redevelopment. Will the mall stay or go is the question. The mall has placed banners all over the closed anchors to draw attention to the property. Leave some comments about some ideas for the future of this mall.

We start the inside tour with the former JCPenney wing now named the north wing. This half of the mall is around 50% full and has the most vacancies.

This is the entrance to JCPenney which will soon be re-opened as the Antique Center for the first time in over 10 years.

This covered up storefront was a Kay-Bee Toys and lasted a little more than a year after the JCPenney closed.

This dark hallway is the entrance to the North wing of the mall.

You too can open a business here; this store front gives potential store owners ideas on how to start a business at the mall.

Palais Royal is the only junior anchor store at the mall currently operating.

The food court only has Chik-Fil-A left as a corporate restaurant; the rest are independently owned restaurants.

This is the half of the mall where Macy's was. It has around the same amount of stores operating as when Macy's was still open. Macy's may return to the mall as part of a new redevelopment plan.

The Macy's entrance and corridor.

Downtown Lufkin Texas

2011-09-12T00:59:00.001-05:00

Downtown Lufkin is very small for a population of 35,000 residents and most of the action seems to favor the US 59 retail corridor. Downtown Lufkin has several small businesses though and retains the feel of a classic American downtown. Many of the buildings in the downtown area appear to have been used for retail in the past; I wonder if any of the major department stores that are at Lufkin Mall were ever located there.

This is the tallest building in downtown Lufkin.

This building has several coke murals; it appears to have once been a merchandise store. In the second pic you can see a cinema.

Downtown Port Arthur Texas

2011-09-01T01:21:00.005-05:00

Covering a downtown area may be a little off topic, but there are several lost retail stories from every downtown area in the United States. Port Arthur Texas is a city of around 50,000 people that has seen better days. The downtown area was flourishing in the 1950's through the 1960's and dropped off significantly leaving the area mostly abandoned and blighted. Downtown had several restaurants, offices, and retail stores that lined Proctor and the surrounding streets. Most of the retail of Port Arthur is located on Gulfway or towards Nederland with the Central Mall anchoring the area retail. What happened to the businesses here in Port Arthur is not documented well on the internet, but the nearby industries seems to be one of the causes. I would like to see some of these projects to redevelop downtown take off and bring this area back to life.

We start our tour of downtown Port Arthur at the tallest building that still stands; the Sabine Hotel. There was also a taller downtown hotel that was demolished in the 1980's named the goodhue hotel. The Sabine Hotel is slated for redevelopment, but it will take a really committed developer to pull this off. Many windows are broken and the hotel has been exposed to the elements for many years and several hurricanes. If this building can be fixed up; it will make downtown much more attractive. Also of note six downtown buildings that are pictured here have been slated for demolition.

Take a good look inside some of the windows; you can see some fans and light fixtures.

The vacant World Trade Building. I really like the style of this building and it looks to be one of the most well preserved of the vacant structures in downtown. You can buy this building as of 9/1/2011 for a mere $275,000 or less.

Here are the rest of the downtown buildings; how many of these were retail shops and markets? Looking at a historic photo from the 1960's shows that the downtown area was much fuller.

This building is an example of what should be done downtown; it is one of the few buildings that are occupied and keeps the style intact.

This building has lots of damage and some of the window frames have caved in. This was once a Kress department store and you can see the logo in the middle of the building near the top. Kress is a department store chain that had a store in downtown New Orleans also. Not much has been documented from Kress since it was a smaller retail chain that did not last.

No news is good news? Not in Port Arthur.

Some of the buildings have labelscars from murals.

Even several of the houses standing around downtown have been neglected.

More of the commercial buildings.

This view of Proctor street through the heart of downtown shows the lack of people on this weekday afternoon.

The roof has caved in on this building.

As Is just as the sign says.

Not all in Port Arthur is looking grim; these long vacant buildings have been purchased by developers looking to redevelop the properties. The Kress building has a new building in the empty lot on the rendering.

The Sabine Hotel may become apartments.

This former grocery store is located further away from downtown on Gulfway Drive. Gulfway Drive has several businesses, but the majority of the area retail is located near the mall.

This temple is located almost across the street from the creepy former Texaco pictured below.

This creepy old school Texaco is North of downtown on Proctor St.

Coming soon to Texas and Louisiana Malls

2011-08-23T22:56:00.001-05:00

I am going to go a little off track on my blog for the next few articles. I have taken a few trips to downtowns around Texas that I am going to post. Some of these downtown areas have lost nearly all of their retail and look like ghost towns. As always feel free to comment (no spam) and click the ads to help support my blog. I am planning on continuing a good pace of articles over the next three months until my usual two month break in November/ December.

Aug 22, 2011 Photo Updates to existing articles.

Katy Mills
Circuit City Lake Charles Mar 2011
Last look at Circuit City/Mervyn’s Deerbrook
The most recent Lufkin Mall update.

University Mall Update Aug 2011 Nacogdoches Texas

2011-08-21T18:48:00.001-05:00

The JCPenney wing of the mall.

Former Foot Locker.

Radio Shack Labelscar.

The center area of the mall.

These sealed off storefronts are where the new junior anchor Cititrends will be.

The Belk wing

The old school former Waldenbooks with a retro Claire's to the left.

Inside of the long closed Waldenbooks; very spooky.

This is the area of the mall under construction for a new store.

Belk still sports the older logo.

This long vacated space is getting a new life as a CitiTrends store.

As an added bonus; the Nacogdoches Hastings store.

Last look at the Deerbrook Circuit City/ Mervyn's

2011-08-18T14:57:00.002-05:00

Here is a final look at the former Mervyn's anchor which was also a Circuit City, Steve and Barry's, and Total Home Furniture store after Mervyn's closed. This anchor is being converted into yet another Forever 21.

The former entrance to Circuit City

This part of the former Mervyn's had not been redeveloped and was walled off from the mall when Circuit City opened.

The inside will look very different when this anchor is reopened.

This was the Circuit City/ Total Home Furniture store.

Prien Lake Mall Lake Charles Louisiana

2011-08-14T13:45:00.002-05:00

The mall has been filling up the empty spaces and doing well. Most of these images were taken after the mall had closed.

The Dillard's entrance.

The Sears entrance.

The court between Sears and Dillard's.

From Dillard's to the food court.

JCPenney, Picadilly Cafeteria, and the corridor.

Cinemark theaters.

Kohl's and Kirklands occupy most of this former Macy's/ Foley's/ Montgomery Ward anchor. You can see a faint Foley's labelscar over the entrance.

The Kohl's wing has changed drastically since my last visit. Sam Goody and some other stores have been replaced by the Shoe Dept.

The food court sign has a huge pot of crawfish and crabs, but the selection in the food court consists of the same restaurants in most American food courts.

Old style Footlocker and Footaction.

Circuit City Almeda

2011-08-13T01:15:00.001-05:00

I only have one picture of this Circuit City before it closed. This Circuit City was located a couple of blocks away behind Almeda Mall, but they relocated into a new shopping center with Wal-Mart. The store lasted less than five years and closed along with the rest of the company. I will try to take some better quality pictures on my next trip with my new camera.