Here is an update from about a year ago at the Esplanade Mall. Macy's closed in March 2017 about 2 years prior to our visit to the mall. We later found out that they had just finished recording scenes for the Jay and Silent Bob reboot movie earlier that week. The comic book store in the movie was somewhere in the mall, but I don't have any photos of the store that I know of. It very well could have been a store front in the closed off section of the mall. The Esplande Mall is struggling, and there are many more vacancies than our last visit. This is a Kohan Mall, and as many of us know, their properties struggle. The City of Kenner leadership is trying to bring businesses and their city hall to the mall.
Currently the anchors are Target (1 level), Dillard's clearance center (downsized to 1 level), and 365 by Image (2 levels). The mall also has 2 empty anchor pad spots that were never built onto the mall. The corridors to the empty anchor spots have an entrance on the first floor, and a dead end corridor on the second. Crime has also been an issue at the mall in recent news articles. Theft, break-ins, and robberies have all happened at the mall in the past few years.
As you can see Macy's removed the newer signage they placed on the building after they reopened in 2008. The original Macy's logo is still in place. This building may become the City Hall for Kenner.
Target and one of the entrances to the mall.
The 365 by Image anchor.
The entrance to the mall that is near the new cinema.
Here is the new Grand cinema that was built across the mall. The cinema was added on about 5 years ago. There is another long closed General Cinema a few hundred feet across the parking lot that is waiting to be redeveloped.
Dillard's clearance center. Formerly DH Holmes. As you can see the store has more detail than most newer Dillard's stores, but it is not as fancy as the former DH Holmes/Dillard's in Houma Louisiana.
Here is the entrance we chose to enter.
These second floor entrances are a fun way to walk up to the mall.
Inside of the mall at dusk, we see the wide view of the center section of the mall.
Here is the food court. There are only a handful of restaurants left. There is also a small unattended arcade, but the games were mostly broken or had defects in the TV screens.
The way they covered up some of the empty store fronts is definitely unique.
The only remaining anchor that has both floors open, 365 by Image. This store is similar to Forever 21 from what I can tell, they sell Women's clothing and accessories. There is another 365 store at PlazAmericas Mall in Houston. This anchor was originally a Godchaux's that only lasted a short time. Dillard's took over the space and opened a Men's store that closed in 2011.
Looking towards the Macy's corridor.
The escalator near the former Macy's was out of service. It is a long walk back to the center court of the mall to the nearest working escalator.
The second floor mall entrance to the former Macy's is covered up with this interactive selfie painting.
Footaction remains open at this dead end of the mall. It was remodeled not too long ago.
Looking from the former Macy's to the rest of the mall.
Lens Crafters and a Penguin Ice skating/entertainment business.
Here is another example of the vacant store fronts covered up with Louisiana style.
The dead end hallway to the former Mervyn's second level. Target is only one floor.
Looks like the GNC had just recently closed. Lots of fixtures were still inside of the store.
Going towards the Dillard's clearance center. The second floor in this corridor is mostly blocked off to the public now.
The mirrored mall entrances, are unique to this location. I don't think any other Dillard's store has this kind of entrance.
Looking into the center of the mall from near the Dillard's corridor/Cafe du Monde.
Charlotte Russe stores all closed, but a handful have reopened. This one has not reopened.
We are walking back towards Macy's but on the first level this time.
The former Old Navy. This space may be used for The City of Kenner indoor sporting events.
Looking into the mall from the first floor former Macy's entrance.
As you can see from the directory, the second floor (left side) is nearly anchorless.
The first floor former Macy's entrance. They did a good job with this area. There are multiple charger/USB plugs and a wifi hotspot with ample seating.
Kids for less is a very strange name for a store.
Here is the Shoe Department store that was used for a scene in the 21 Jumpstreet movie.
Here we are again in the center area of the mall by Target.
This is a very simplistic entrance to Target.
Here is more of the center area of the mall.
Cafe du Monde is still going, but closes earlier than the normal mall hours.
Here is the closed off Dillard's second level corridor. They have some comfy seating with phone chargers as well at the end.
Looking from the sealed off Dillard's corridor into the center of the mall.
Former Electronics Boutique turned into a video game store called Spawn Point gaming. The interior of the store is nearly identical to the former video game store.
From this view, the mall looks prosperous. Sadly this is one of the few sections of the mall that is filled with stores.
Guess what we found, yes another out of service escalator.
One last photo of the mall to end this post.
More content on the way in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned.
This is a very impressive looking mall, but it's a shame that it appears to by a dying mall. I'm not sure what to think about the exterior design of that former Macy's. It's impressive in a way, but it looks like a giant tomb in other ways. I suppose it is a giant tomb now so maybe that's a fitting look. Perhaps it would have looked better if it had a good cleaning.
ReplyDeleteThat Dillard's mall entrance is rather unusual. It's kind of a Dillard's meets JCPenney, but in a way that looks higher end than the typical JCPenney mirrored entrance. It's too bad all of that fanciness just leads to a clearance store.
It seems a bit odd that a relatively new Target would be in a dying mall. It seems like mall Targets are usually in more successful places. Maybe they had high hopes that this mall would recover and stay solid, but that does not appear to be the case.
This mall still does have some major retailers aside from Target though like LensCrafters, Cafe du Monde, and the shoe stores. I think Almeda Mall got a 365 by Image a few years ago and it's quite a large store, but it's probably not nearly as big as the 365 at this mall. That's quite a strange mall entrance they have at this mall.
The food court at this mall is pretty pathetic in terms of food options. It's looking about as thin as what was at the Mall of the Mainland in the last few years before it closed.
Anyway, it's sad to see such a nice mall being underutilized. It sounds like it does not have the ownership now to have much of a chance at a comeback, but who knows. Hopefully they at least maintain the nice aspects of the mall as much as possible, but that might be asking for too much. The troublesome escalators are never a good sign. Once those start breaking down at a troubled mall/retailer, it seems like they never get properly fixed.
That Macy's building is very imposing and it used to be my favorite view of the mall when it looked much better. Now it looks terrible.
DeleteDillard's did not do much to update the interior of this store when they took it over from DH Holmes.
Just 10 years ago, the Esplande Mall was still doing very well. Macy's had just reopened their flooded out store with a completely new interior. Dillard's operated the Men's and Women's anchors, and the closed off Mervyn's was demolished for the new Target. The cinema was also part of the plan, but it was delayed for some reason.
I am not sure what caused the mall to slow down this quickly. This was a popular mall for many years and the decline was a quick one. The New Orleans area does not have a lot of land for development, so developers usually tear down to build new. The Target was an excellent addition, but the mall traffic really started falling off.
I will catch up on the rest of the comments at another time.
I used to think that the Willowbrook JCPenny looked like a tomb when I was younger.
DeleteIt does. They used a granite stone that is not ideal. That is a strange JCPenney store inside and outside.
DeleteThe Willowbrook Mall JCPenney has a lot in common with the Esplanade Mall ex-Macy's in that both are in desperate need of an exterior cleaning and re-painting. Unless things have changed in the last couple months, the Willowbrook JCPenney is looking really quite rough. It looks to me that the paint has worn off the exterior of the building. This was starting to become obvious 3-4 years ago, but it's only gotten worse as you can imagine. Also, on the side facing Dick's Sporting Goods, they moved the sign a bit towards the outside of the building. I suppose this is because the Dick's building was blocking the old location of the sign. Anyway, since they never re-painted the wall, there is tremendous labalscar left in that area. The building needs some desperate attention. It really does look like it is in worse condition than the Willowbrook Sears even with Sears' lack maintenance even though the JCPenney at Willowbrook is about 12 years newer than the JCPenney building.
DeleteWhen the Willowbrook JCPenney first opened, I thought it looked quite nice. It was rather big for a newer JCPenney in the post-hardlines era of the chain. From the time the store opened until the Ron Johnson era, the upstairs had what I thought was a pretty nice look. They used a powder blue carpet up there which might look dated by modern standards, but it looked nice and airy at the time. Under Ron Johnson era renovations, they ripped the carpet and tiles out up there and left bare concrete which showed and still shows tile scar. It's made the second floor look dark and rather unsophisticated. I'm not a fan of the look.
I'm not sure if the Deerbrook Mall JCPenney got any Ron Johnson updates or not, but quite liked the interior of it during my visit in around 2011-2012 even though the store was smaller. It's been about five years since my last visit to the Meyerland Plaza JCPenney so I don't know what changes have happened there, but I found it in the past to probably be the nicest looking JCPenney in the Houston area. It still has a some retro looks from a time when JCPenney was a more upscale, successful chain.
I need to drive by the JCPenney next time I go to Willowbrook. With the company problems right now, we may never see that store exterior clean again.
DeleteDeerbrook did get the updates as well. The interior is starting to look tired, it still has that mid 90's color scheme in a lot of departments.
I haven't been to the Meyerland JCPenney in a very long time. The JCPenney at San Jacinto Mall is just as old school in design as the mall was. Only a small section of the store was updated during the Ron Johnson era. The rest of the store is pure 1980's. Carpet, ceilings, and even the upholstery on the stockroom doors have to be original.
If you look at the very top of the JCPenny exterior, above the logo, on all sides of the building, there is what I presumably thought was mold. You can see the black stuff on Google Street View, especially the side facing south. The Willowbrook Macy’s (The one that was a Foley’s, not the former Montgomery Ward’s that was turned into a Macy’s Men’s & Furniture Store) exterior looks almost the exact same as the West Oaks one.
DeleteI just took a look at that. I am surprised how badly the building has aged. That one side has the very visible labelscar, they really need to power wash the building.
DeleteYou are right, the Willowbrook Macy's building is nearly identical to the West Oaks building. Both stores were built close to the same time and the design the same. West Oaks had been updated on the first floor, but the second floor was the original design. Willowbrook has been renovated multiple times and looks much nicer that West Oaks did.
From what I could tell, I think the Willowbrook Mall JCPenney needs a full exterior re-painting. Obviously, they would have to wash the building first before they paint it properly so it really needs both a cleaning and a painting. It looked to me in person like I could see the cinder block surface because the paint was so worn out. It's probably been ~28 years since that building was painted so it's probably due to be painted anyway. Really, it needed work done to it at least 3 years ago. It's been looking bad for a while, but it's just getting worse and there is that bad labelscar issue as well.
DeleteGiven JCPenney's financial woes, I'm not so sure if that store will get a fresh coat of paint. Who knows, maybe they've been able to get some work done while the stores have been closed. We'll see I suppose. I wonder if the mall can file a complaint and make JCPenney paint their store kind of like how a HOA works in a residential setting. I don't know. I am also not sure if JCPenney owns that building or if it is leased.
As je said, the West Oaks Mall and Willowbrook Mall Foley's were basically the same design when they opened. The two stores around the same time. I think the West Oaks Foley's opened a year or two before the mall was built. Je is also correct to say that the Willowbrook location received many more updates than the West Oaks location did. Going into the West Oaks location in the last few years it was open was a real blast from the past. It was like walking into a time machine, but certainly the store was looking a bit tired and the clearance furniture department was certainly less impressive than the old Foley's furniture department at Willowbrook Mall before it moved into the old Montgomery Ward. Oddly enough, the furniture department at the Willowbrook Foley's/Macy's Men's & Furniture store is in what used to be the Montgomery Ward attached automotive service garage. I remember buying cases of Pennzoil there at Wards in the 1990s and then returning to bring the used oil for recycling in that garage. Now they sell furniture there.
Even if the building does not get a paint job, mold/algae removal can't be that expensive. JCPenney seems to be rapidly headed to bankruptcy, which is sad. Most of our area malls have already lost Sears, now JCPenney closing at any local mall is a real possibility.
DeleteJCPenney may not be a part of the San Jacinto Mall redevelopment now. The developers are planning on moving on with or without JCPenney now. I was able to read the latest article on the mall redevelopment.
Thankfully we still have 1 retro area Foley's/Macy's at San Jacinto Mall. Many parts of that store have the original wood floors. Even the furniture clearance center signs from West Oaks are now here.
This mall was really hopping in the 1990-2005 period and even for a time after. The interiors were originally painted in light pink and green pastel colors, and the second floor balconies used to have hundreds of (fake) potted plants affixed to their edges. Also the center court and the other small courts in front of the anchors were filled with several fountains which have of course been removed. I spent a lot of time in this mall going back to the early 1990s.
ReplyDeleteThe Macys building really needs a power wash.
I remember the fountains around the center mall elevator as well. The mall was doing well after it reopened after Hurricane Katrina as well. It seemed like the mall was in great shape just a decade ago with the newly reopened Macy's and new Target.
DeleteThe Esplande was my go-to mall in the late 90's when I lived nearby, I have never been a fan of Lakeside, the mall feels small and congested.
Clearview Center sounded like a cool mall before Sears closed because it had Target, Sears, Dollar Tree, and Bed Bath & Beyond.
DeleteIt is a decent mall, but it is very small. There are plans in the near future to tear down the mall corridors and turn it into another open air development. I don't understand why so many developers want to redevelop malls into open air centers in the Southern US. The weather and bugs just make the shopping environment terrible for at least 6 months out of the year.
DeleteHave you ever done a mall walk? They are walks that malls offer early in the morning, just before opening. I think that if you ever had the time, it would be a great opportunity to take pictures of a mall without people in the pictures.
ReplyDeleteWhy yes I have. I have only been to a handful of malls before opening, I am a night owl. I last did a walk in Memorial City Mall back in late 2019 before the mall opened for the day. Those photos will be used for a future blog post.
DeleteIf you had the time, money, and resources, would you publish a book or something similar about retail?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, I could probably come up with enough material for a decent sized book if I had the time. It could be a project in 20+ years from now when I hope to retire.
DeleteThe blog alone has 403 posts with only 14 of those in various stages of development. I have a backlog of photos that could push me to more than 500 posts. The blog has been a slow project that I sometimes have to abandon for weeks at a time due to my personal schedule.
Google Maps says that Willowbrook Mall is “Permanently Closed”. I hope it’s a mistake by Google. Sears says the same thing. (If you look, you will have to tap on any anchor store except Nordstrom Rack and Dick’s Sporting Goods and tap on the Willowbrook Mall text that is blue. You should see the “Permanently Closed” in red text.)
ReplyDeleteI wonder how Google let that get confirmed. Willowbrook Mall will certainly reopen, but Sears is more than likely done. The Sears at Deerbrook is now sealed off and all of the signage for the store closing is gone.
DeleteI was looking at the Willowbrook Mall website today (as of 04/22/2020) and it said Sears was an essential business, for tools and appliances only.
DeleteInteresting, I wonder if the store is still open. The Deerbrook Mall Sears has been sealed off and the store closing signage is gone.
DeleteI’m excited for the new Microsoft Flight Simulator for 2 reasons: Number 1 is that the developers said that the imagery in Houston is from around 2014, so there will be some permanently closed stores that are still open in the game like Toys R Us and Sports Authority. Number 2 is that other flight simulators were not accurate with the scenery. The only one that was accurate Google Earth, which was a very basic simulator. The new Microsoft Flight Simulator gets accurate scenery from Bing Maps and it lets you fly actual planes, with a full-blown realistic cockpit. It combines the best of both worlds: It takes Google Earth’s accurate scenery and it combines it with the detailed planes from other simulators.
ReplyDeleteIt would be really cool just to see how much has changed in about 6 years in the Houston area. Is it an easy to use program?
DeleteI don’t know yet, because the simulator hasn’t come out yet. The development might be delayed because of COVID-19. It was supposed to come out this year.
ReplyDeleteLots of games have been postponed due to the virus. I am a Nintendo fan. There have not been a lot of new games so far in 2020 from Nintendo themselves. Thankfully 3rd party games are still going strong.
DeleteDo you get a rush when you find something really cool that is retail related? I got a rush when I is found that you can look at old Street View angles. If you want to look, here is the link https://www.google.com/maps It only works on this link, not the mobile app. The furthest it can go back is 2007.
ReplyDeleteYes, every now and then I go to a place where little to no information is available online. Amigoland Mall in Brownsville is a perfect example. Very few photos are posted online of this awesome mall. The mall has a Wards sign still intact, a very rare find in 2020.
Delete