Here is a brief trip to Hulen Mall in Fort Worth Texas. The mall is listed as just below 950,000 square feet of retail space, but it feels much smaller. The mall opened on August 4, 1977. We visited 4 malls on a Sunday for this trip so we just did a brief walkthrough here and focused most of our time at Sears.
The anchors are Macy's and Dillard's along with the vacant Sears.
Macy's started off as a Sanger-Harris which was later converted to Foley's, then Macy's.
Dillard's and the corridor leading to Dillard's was added in a 1994 expansion.
Sears which closed on August 9th 2020 originally opened as a Montgomery Ward which closed in 2001. Sears took over the closed anchor and opened in 2002.
One of the few Sanger-Harris/Macy's locations still in operation.
You have to love these murals, detail like this is extremely rare to see in 2020.
The closing Sears, we will visit this store as well in a separate post. On our visit, the store had only 7 days left.
More of the awesome mural as we walk up to the mall.
The inside of the mall is bright and has tons of natural light. Here is the Sears corridor with a running water fountain.
The clock in the center court is a nice touch. I didn't hear the bells during my visit so I am not sure if they are still active.
Looking towards Macy's from the center court.
The mall corridors are slightly reminiscent of Collin Creek Mall. This is the corridor leading to Dillard's and the food court.
The mall is a slightly shifted T-shape. Even though the mall is 2 floors, it feels pretty small. The corridors leading to Sears and Macy's are short with the corridor to Dillard's and the food court being fairly lengthy. Additional restaurants were added recently to the mall, but all of those have exterior entrances.
Looking at the front entrance to the mall from the center court.
The front of Macy's still has a classic design. I am glad to see the water fountain here as well.
Next up, Hulen Mall Sears.
This is a good look at the Hulen Mall. Although the overall design of the mall isn't too different from two-story malls from the 1980s and 1990s, the overall look of the mall certainly looks like something from the late 1970s or early 1980s even though there have been renovations to the mall. It's good to see that the mall is doing about as well as anyone can expect a mall like this to do here in modern times.
ReplyDeleteThe Texas History Portal has a few videos about Hulen Mall. Here's one from 1978 which shows off a lot of the main mall corridor. As one can see here, it really has not changed a lot since the mall was new. Also, here is a video from 1983 discussing mall expansion plans.
Those Montgomery Ward-to-Sears conversions are always interesting. I can't wait to get a closer look at that Sears!
Thanks for those videos, that mall looked really small before the expansion. Those aerial shots are awesome. They should have left the main entrance of the mall as is, the restaurants block the way so it doesn't look nearly as good anymore.
DeleteI should have the Sears visit post up soon. I really wished I had seen the store earlier before the closing sale.
That mural is stunning.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, those old stores have been disappearing fast too. I was able to document several of those stores before they met the wrecking ball.
DeleteWas there a shopping center at the northwest corner of Gears Road and I-45 near Greenspoint?
ReplyDeleteAt that intersection I am not sure. There are several gasoline storage tanks pretty close by.
DeleteThere is a shopping center a little bit down Gears and Greenspoint Dr. that was originally anchored by Target. Burlington took over the Target space.
South of Gears and I-45 was a massive shopping center. Sports Sportstown USA, Children's Palace, and several more big boxes were located there. It is now a tech/office development.
I think the tech/office area that you are talking about is the shopping center that I was thinking of
ReplyDeleteI drove by.the other day by coincidence and that is the closest spot
DeleteWhen did it become abandoned?
DeleteIt was pretty much empty by the late 90's. They built the center at the wrong time. Greenspoint was beginning to become a high crime area, and most of the big box stores there quickly had financial issues.
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