Sunrise Mall Corpus Christi March 2020 update

Sunrise Mall will soon be down to the last 4 tenants. Freedom Fitness, New Life Church, Planet Fitness, and Workforce Solutions. Wilcox Furniture closed in late 2020, and Burlington will leave the mall probably before the end of the year. Feb 4, 1981 was the date the mall officially opened and the last retail tenant will be gone in 2021. We will have to see what the future holds for the property, but things are looking very bleak.

This has got to be the most sketchy mall visit that I have done to date. It started out as a normal mall walk, but once nightfall hit things seemed to get weird. 

We start our tour in the parking garage across from Burlington.

Broken glass, graffiti, and the smell of urine.

These windows aren't boarded up lets see what is inside.

The Burlington neon sign was still on casting a red glow to an empty mall.

The Workforce Solutions is still open, but they have an exterior entrance.

A left over Montgomery Ward sign still being used for Wilcox Furniture.

The old Montgomery Ward was split up between Freedom Fitness and Wilcox Furniture. Wilcox Furniture closed a few months after my visit.

Here is the mall entrance inside of Wilcox Furniture, unfortunately it was covered up.

The edge of the parking lot had a carnival going on. At this point in 2020, just about every event was being cancelled, and we were just a few days away from the partial lockdowns in the State of Texas.

More spooky shots

Inside of the former Mervyn's, this lone light shined. The other half of the building houses the Planet Fitness.

Another look into the empty corridors of the mall.

Sears still had their signage and some interior lights lit up.

Sears with Planet Fitness to the left.

Sears had only been closed just a few months before the visit.

I wonder if anyone used this coupon.

A peek inside of the store through the uncovered window.

A look at the entrance near Sears and New Life Church/former Stein Mart. 

A flickering light shines at the creepy back dock of the Burlington Coat Factory.

Here is my Youtube video

The side view of the New Life Church.

As we now know, this Burlington will soon move into a new location officially ending the era of retail at Sunrise Mall.

One last look at the mall entrance with the Burlington neon glow and a completely dark mall building. To make matters worse, the parking lot lights were off as well.

More to come, stay tuned.

First Colony Mall Sugarland Texas November 2020

Here is one of the newest Houston area indoor malls. Opened in March of 1996, this super regional mall serves the Southwest side of Houston. Anchors of the mall are Macys (previously Foley's), Dillard's Womens store, Dillard's Mens store (previously Mervyn's), JCPenney, and Dick's Sporting Goods. The mall has undergone 2 expansions adding an outdoor shopping/dining corridor, and again in 2016 adding the Dick's Sporting Goods anchor to the food court. 

First Colony Mall has been a booming mall ever since opening, and 3 nearby malls have suffered as the retail in Sugarland has expanded. Westwood was the first one to fall, closing in 1998. Sharpstown was the next to fall into dead mall status prior to the renovation and conversion to PlazAmericas Mall way back when this blog was started. West Oaks was hit with the double whammy of both First Colony and Katy Mills opening in the last half of the 1990's. West Oaks has fallen into dead mall status over the last 5 years despite a plan to rejuvenate the mall with a new state of the art Edwards Cinema. 

The Dillard's Mens store pictured here was originally a Mervyn's.

Dillard's Womens store

The outdoor mall extension.

Macy's/Foley's

JCPenney

Now for the inside of the mall. Despite the bland colors throughout the mall, the ceiling here really stands out. We entered the mall at Macy's.

The mall has a strange shape, the main concourse from Macy's to the Dillard's Womens store is shaped almost like the letter C.

Now we head out to the outdoor addition which features a Barnes and Noble with several other retailers and restaurants.

As you can see there is not a lot of shade out here. The outdoor outlet malls in the Houston area and the Baybrook Mall outdoor corridors do a much better job of providing shade. Houston weather is hostile most of the time alternating from blistering heat to monsoon rains, and even the occasional deep freeze. There are a good bit of vacancies out here so you would think that they would want this area to be as comfortable as possible. 

Barnes and Noble has a little more shade than the rest of the retailers on the strip.

This astroturf area once had some water features and a pond. The pond had fallen into disrepair and was taken out in favor of this area. A nice touch, but once again not enough shade for the Summer months. 

I am so glad we documented this property when the weather was nice.

Back to the interior mall we go.

Food court area.

The Dick's Sporting Goods addition.

A lot of natural lighting in the center of the food court.

Now we are heading towards the Dillard's locations.

Dillard's Mens store

I really like the ceiling designs here.

Dillard's Womens store

A few more center court shots here.

And we conclude the tour back where we started at the entrance to Macy's.

More to come, stay tuned.