Sunland Park Mall El Paso Texas

Here we are at the Sunland Park Mall in El Paso Texas, I finally made it to the Western tip of the state. Sunland Park Mall opened in 1988 and has over 900,000 square feet of space. This mall is anchored by Sears and 2 Dillards stores. There are 5 anchor spaces at the mall. Macys closed in 2017 and will be replaced by Star Western Wear later this year. Forever 21 closed a few days after my visit to the mall in April 2018. Forever 21 was a former Mervyns that closed in 2008. Macys was a former Foleys that was converted into Macys with the rest of the chain.

The mall is really well designed and looks awesome inside. Sadly this mall is suffering from declining sales and the loss of 2 major anchors. Parts of the mall have vacancies and there are also some non-retail tenants. I read several articles about the decline of this mall, which is being blamed on the nearby El Paso Outlets and Highway construction. If anyone has any further info on this mall, please comment below. I would like to find out more about the history of El Paso retail, even though this was the only El Paso Mall I was able to visit. 

The last Kmart in El Paso that closed in January 2018 was located just down the street from the mall, but I was unable to pass by that shopping center. 

The mall directory

The escalators were out of order in the Sears wing.

The mall has a ton of natural light with a warm stone flooring and trim throughout the mall. It was refreshing to see a mall without the boring bland look you see these days.

These stores on the second floor are interesting. I would prefer to see these kinds of mini stores in 2 story malls instead of kiosks.

I almost needed to keep my sunglasses on inside. The mall was very bright.

The circus tent style roof in the food court seemed out of place. 

The big fly was part of a Spring display they had in the food court.

Old school Bath and Body Works.

The Dillards Women's store. Both Dillards stores are in the same section of the mall along with one of the entrances to the closed off Macys.

But the Dillards court was also hiding a gem. FYE stores are vanishing so it was awesome to find one I had not visited before.

Now we head up to the second floor. 

Another tent roof. 

These courts looked really awesome, they really make you feel like the mall is enormous. 

The closed off Macys entrance.

The Dillards Men's Store 

Here is the food court which is also located on the second floor.

A new looking movie house is located at the food court mall entrance. 

Now let's head back to where we started. 

Dressbarn, why would anyone shop there? The name just sounds terrible, I have no idea how this store has a nationwide following.

The Sears court also has a tent roof.

Forever 21, my other photo of the entrance did not come out well. Apparently this store closed less than 10 days after my visit.

Sears and Amazon together at last, lol. The Sears wing has the most vacancies.

Let's pop in Sears. Now this is a very cool and unusual design for a Sears store.

The skylight just keeps going.

Here is the first floor.

Mattresses in the former electronics department.

Here are a few shots of the exterior of the mall with the mountain in the background. The closed Macys and Dillards Women's store are shown also.

Sears looks very unique.

Another wider view of the mall.

Stay tuned, more new places are coming soon.

Goodbye Sears Baybrook Mall

Sears Baybrook opened in 1978 along with the grand opening of the mall, and was the last original anchor left at the mall. The store had an extended closing sale and the closing date was moved from September 2017 to January 2018. As you can see from my photos taken in late August of 2018, the store had a lot of inventory and a discount of 10-60% off. 

The reflection on the floor from the sign was awesome. Too bad these signs did not get moved to a nearby location. 

This Sears location was one of the nicer ones in the Houston area. (1st floor entrance)

This store very strongly resembles the Sears in Waco Texas in many aspects, even though that store is smaller.

We will now go to the second floor.

The store still had a decent amount of electronics prior to the closing sale. 

As most of us know now, Sears electronics departments have shrunk significantly over the past few years. This store was probably the last one I will visit that still had a large electronics department that had not been painted over. 

Not much activity in this somewhat hidden part of the store.

STOP!

As with many Sears locations, this store had mattresses all over the place. As store shelves get dismantled and less and less products arrive to stores, the mattress departments grow. 

A standard Sears checkout counter.

A peek into the former portrait studio.

An interesting design here above the escalators.

Now we go back downstairs.

Merica'

These hearing aid departments were always in some random room in the store. This one is no exception, right in the middle of the tool department. 

I am not so sure the Made in the USA sign is true anymore.

For a second, I thought that was a dude staring at me. Nothing like a realistic store poster to get your attention.

A short video from the tool department. I like the changing image sign.

Now we walk towards the softlines going towards the mall entrance.

Here is the rare photo on my blog of a jewelry counter. 

The outside of the store where we entered and left to store.

A few more outdoor shots of the store.

Adios Sears Baybrook. RIP January 2018.