Here is a quick update to the still going Northgate Mall in Lafayette Louisiana. This is an older update to the mall. We recently did a 2023 update along with more Louisiana retail goodies. Surprisingly the mall is doing better in 2023. One of the reasons why this mall seems to continually reinvent itself is the lack of retail options in the area. Walmart closed their nearby Supercenter several years ago and the nearby shopping centers along the Acadiana Thruway are struggling.
Planet Fitness moved in and keeps the back area of the mall alive. The call center still has not been replaced as of March 2023.
As you all know by now. All Stage stores closed in 2020 with the liquidation of the company. I believe this store closed a few years earlier than the bankruptcy.
Most of the road signs have been blown out.
The former Albertsons is now a learning academy.
This road sign is still mostly intact, but some slots have fallen out.
West Mall entrance with the former Albertsons to the left of the mall entrance.
Let's go inside to see how the mall is doing.
Not too much traffic on this weekday around lunchtime.
The Transcom mall entrance. The call center has been closed for several years unfortunately.
The East court.
A cluster of businesses in the East wing of the mall.
The inside of the former Kay Bee Toys. Not too many of these still exist these days.
The front of the Kay Bee Toys and former Cookie Shop.
The Real Deal store on the right has taken over the former Anna's Linens store.
Hibbett Sports is one of the few national retailers still in the mall.
A current layout of the mall. Sadly the old mall directories have been removed.
Footaction, as you know all Footaction stores were closed in early 2022.
I really like the skylight designs throughout the mall.
The hallway leading to the public restrooms.
The hallway is inside of a former store.
More of the cool ceiling design elements in the mall.
The cutoff corridor that led to the former Montgomery Ward.
That is all for now. More to come soon.
Wow, Northgate Mall looks quite rough here even compared to 2011 when the mall was looking rather rough. It is good to hear that things have improved lately. That’s not the way things usually go with malls like this as they usually continue to downslide once things start going downhill.
ReplyDeleteThe blown-out signs really appear to be a big problem. Hopefully those have been replaced. I’m not sure if you noticed, but we had quite a few retail signs in Houston which were blown out during the strong wind storm in February or so which brought tornadoes to Pasadena and such. The signs at the I-45 & Edgebrook Office Depot shopping center were blown out, at least some of the major ones, and they have yet to be replaced. In fact, the fabric Office Depot sign on the old ~1970 Safeway sign has been ripped off and is still hanging off the sign by a thread. It’s really shabby looking especially for a major chain retailer like Office Depot. Hopefully they can fix that sign and restore some dignity to that classic diamond-shaped Safeway sign.
That “Welcome to Northgate Mall” sign inside the mall looks like something from Northwest or Almeda Malls from the 1990s or early 2000s, but at least it’s not so outdated to mention the old Service Merchandise like was the case at this mall in 2011! At this point, Service Merchandise is starting to feel like a really distant memory, unfortunately. I’m glad that the old Albertsons has a use, but the old Stage does not look very nice.
Wow, it’s really surprising to see an old Kay-Bee Toys like that. That is certainly a relic. It’s neat, but kind of sad in a way. There are certainly some vintage storefronts at this mall. Some are clearly 1980s relics while others are clearly 1990s relics.
Hibbett Sports is a chain that appears to be growing in Houston. Like some of the other athletic shoe stores, they seem to be growing outside of malls these days. One opened up recently at the 290 & Jones Rd. shopping center in Jersey Village. WSS, which is owned by Foot Locker now, is another chain that is really popping up in old Walgreens/CVS type locations.
While the mall might not be thriving, I’m glad it is at least staying relevant here in 2023 even if it is because other retail developments in the area are failing. The mall is neat and I know you’ve had a lot of comments over the years about this place from people who used to work or shop there.
Northgate has a much better future than some of our struggling malls in Houston. I had the pleasure of visiting West Oaks and Greenspoint today for the first time in a while. With the state of those malls and Macroplaza in Pasadena, we may see 3 malls close in 2023. Greenspoint is down to less than half of the mall space, metal barricades have been put up to block off access to a two large sections of the mall. Only the corridor between the former Palais Royal and all the way to half of the food court are open now. The food court is cut in half by the barricade and Jimmy Jazz is the last store on the other side inside of the barricade. West Oaks is in dire straits with only one business open inside today. Looks like maybe 5 businesses are still open inside of that mall. There was also only one door open to access the mall. I am not sure if the Outlet at West Oaks opens their mall entrance on the weekends, but Dillard's and Crazy Boss no longer open their doors to the mall for access. The food court entrance is boarded up and the doors to the former Edwards Cinema were padlocked shut. I am hearing reports of 5 stores left at Macroplaza Mall as well, so I plan on making a trip there possibly tomorrow. I made the most of my visits today with tons of pictures for the blog.
DeleteI am going to put up the 2023 Northgate update for a comparison. This property still has a lot of life despite its old age. They have a quirky mix of local businesses that you will not find anywhere else. There is a barber shop in the old Foot Locker store at Northgate now. They still left the interior brand advertisements up, but I couldn't get a good photo since there were customers inside. I think the old Stage store is going to be difficult to replace. There are a couple of similarly sized inline stores that have been vacant since I have been documenting this mall.
I recently read that Foot Locker is going to close 400 mall stores in the future. I can see a lot of Kids Foot Locker stores closing along with regular mall stores like Almeda probably closing. I haven't been to a WSS store yet, but there is one in the old Kroger off of I-69 and Aldine Mail Rt.