La Plaza Mall in McAllen Texas.
This is the powerhouse mall in the Valley. At over 1.2 million square feet mostly on one level, this mall is huge. In addition to the traditional anchors, a lot of junior anchors have two floors. Two Macy's stores, Dillard's, JCPenney, and Cut! by Cinemark are the main anchors. Sears also anchored the mall but closed in 2015 and was redeveloped into more mall space.
The first two photos are from my 2019 visit to the area. The remainder are from January 2020.
We went really early in the day before the mall filled up with customers. An hour after the mall opened, it was filled with customers.
With this being a Simon property, there is not much color. There are some cool lighting effects like this one and more you will see below.
We visited the mall over 2 weeks after Christmas. It was really nice to see the decorations still up.
The Dillard's
This middle area of the mall has several two level junior anchors.
The wall to the right is where part of the mall was being demolished for the new Cut! by Cinemark cinema.
This part of the mall was the former Sears which was demolished. This stretch of the mall is split into two corridors with some two level stores, and several restaurants. The way this area opens up really grabs your attention.
This new section of the mall is really nice with lots of natural light. A few store spaces had not yet been filled, but three of the big fast causal retailers are located in this part of the mall.
The store entrances really stand out here.
I would have to say this part of the mall looks really cool. The retro bake shop and the ultra modern Forever 21 storefront.
One of the entryways with fountains and green astroturf fields.
This part of the mall that used to be Sears looks really nice, and still smelled new on our visit.
The Macy's Home Store anchor also has a Backstage closeout store inside.
I like this light feature in the food court.
The food court has a lot going on.
A tight corridor that leads from the food court towards JCPenney and the main Macy's store.
The JCPenney corridor.
The Macy's corridor.
A rare mall Luby's.
Now from exterior mall shots.
This part of the mall was being demolished to make way for a movie theater.
The main Macy's has some extra greenery that most stores don't have.
After walking to Kmart, we return to the mall for some more shots.
Food court
JCPenney
Macy's main store.
Macy's Home Store.
Dillard's
JCPenney and Macy's Main store.
JCPenney
There is a lot to this mall to like, thanks for the photos. While this mall is not particularly young, it does look like it has been renovated and kept in excellent condition. The fact that it has a new extension into the old Sears area certainly helps keep the mall looking more modern. I like what they've done with some of the decor at the mall. Those red, orange, and yellow things around the skylights gives the mall a real 1970s-early 1980s look to it which is pretty neat.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of stores at this mall which I'm not familiar with, but they don't look like cheap independent stores either. Some of them look pretty nice. I'm not familiar with Carlo's Bakery, but they look like an intriguing place to stop for a snack. I can't say I'm familiar with Pro Image Sports either. I probably wouldn't shop there with all that Cowboys stuff in their display, lol.
That Merle Norman sign looks pretty retro. It's interesting to see a tad of retroness at a mall that isn't all that retro looking. I reckon that front desk at the Luby's is a to-go ordering area. That's a neat touch, I like how someone can get to-go food without having to even go inside the place. Of course, given Luby's current state, who knows how long that location will last if it's even still open.
The exterior design of the JCPenney really fits in with the area. It also reminds me a bit of Amigoland Mall. I'm sure this mall does really well with international shoppers. Simon seems to be keeping this mall in good condition to try to attract money from the international shoppers. I'm not sure how many stores are at this mall that I would be interested in now that Sears is gone, but at least the mall seems like a pleasant place to spend some time.
La Plaza Mall has a lot of great food options and a handful of stores that interest me. The mall feels really large and it is a high quality property. There is enough color and variety in design that the mall does not look plain.
ReplyDeleteI have seen a few Pro Image stores here and there. The Galleria had one at one time. San Antonio and Austin have some locations as well.
Really impressed by the size of this mall!! The second Macy's store was originally Service Merchandise and the Luby's closed there around 2020, Sears was torn down for a new wing of the mall after it closed and where Jared is now was a restaurant called Pelican's Wharf (they had other locations in Texas too) it was torn down in the 90s for Eyemasters and that was eventually torn down for Jared
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update on Luby's and the additional info on the former Service Merchandise and Pelican's Wharf. I really liked my trip to this mall, it has a bright future.
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