Whoops, I had this ready and didn't submit the post on January 4 when I completed the article. I hope everyone had a great new year. Posts will be a bit slow to arrive on the blog to begin the new year, but I have not abandoned the site.
Here is another new mall to the blog, sort of. For those of you who have seen my Youtube channel, I posted this mall not too long after visiting here in July of 2021. Navarro Mall opened on September 25, 1968 and was listed as approx. 151,000 square feet of retail space.
Businesses that opened with the mall included.
A&P Grocery, Austin Shoe, Bealls, Charles Shop, Ellen's, LA DOT Beauty Salon, Levine's Department Store, Navarro Mall Pharmacy, Toyland, Woolworth, and YE Old Shoppe.
Stores/Restaurants to later join the mall were Bernal's, The Clothes Horse, Filler-Up-Cafe, and Juanita's Tea Room.
The mall is located close to Downtown Corsicana.
If anyone knows what businesses were located at the mall in the later years, please comment below.
Let's take a look inside. From the looks of things, the mall was upgraded to this look in 1984 to compete with the College Park Mall. The mall name was changed to Post Oak mall briefly during this time.
It must be really slow in here for bikers to ride around the mall.
The center court here is pretty nice. This mall is roughly in a + shape. The two mall entrances face each other, and the anchor spaces face each other.
Unfortunately, the fountain was off on my visit.
The mall is really small.
The center court skylight could use some TLC.
This was the corridor leading to Bealls.
This was the corridor leading to the Supermarket.
The mall is so peaceful and would be an excellent place to relax except for one thing, no A/C in the corridors.
Looking at the former storefronts that were more than likely heavily renovated around the time College Park Mall opened.
One of the active businesses in the mall.
Here you can really see how the Burgandy ceilings stand out.
This view almost makes the mall look larger than it is.
Mirrored store entrance. A lot of the storefronts have some version of mirrors.
The former Woolworth entrance.
Another one of the active businesses in the mall.
And another one.
Inside of this vacant storefront, it looks really clean.
During my 15-minute visit to the mall, I only saw 6 other people.
The mall only had a handful of businesses still left. Retailers left this property many years ago.
You really have to admire the center court display. The shapes, colors, and skylights really make this section stand out.
Another active business in the mall.
Store side views with the mirror designs.
Looking at the condition of the mall now, was it like this when College Park Mall opened and most of the retailers left?
Inside of another vacant storefront.
The ceiling designs in the mall entryways are pretty boring in contrast to the Burgandy ceilings and skylights elsewhere at the mall.
By the looks of this mall entrance, I wonder if this was a cafeteria.
Several more images as I walk around the mall and take it all in.
Another business still open in the mall.
Here is the directory of businesses.
Now we head into the grocery store anchor Brookshire's. The store has the big Kmart style air vents, so you know this has been open for a while now. This store is located where Woolworth was originally located.
Even though the air vents are grimy, the rest of the store has an updated look.
Although the produce department still has a bit of retro charm with the lights.
And another grimy vent.
A look from the other side of the produce department.
This Brookshire's is a pretty nice little supermarket.
Now for the exterior of the mall.
From the looks of the exterior of the mall, it looks like there was a renovation out here as well at least to the entrances.
Now here are a couple of shots of the former Kmart just across the street. This store was replaced by a Super Kmart in the 90's. You can click here to see that store. The store front still has the classic Kmart style.
Looking back at the mall from the former Kmart parking lot.
A few more looks around the property.
Brookshire's looks really nice.
That is all for now!
I remember seeing the preview photos and the video of this mall back in 2021. It is great to see the full post about this mall. It certainly looks pretty neat with the 'wedding cake' ceilings and carpeting. In some ways, this mall feels a bit more like a fancy office building or something like that than a shopping mall. I suppose given the organizations operating out of the mall today, maybe it is more like a business center than a shopping mall.
ReplyDeleteHaving A&P and Woolworth as original anchors at this mall certainly gives the age away of the place, but the current design of the mall certainly looks more modern than 1968. This mall probably looked very nice and fancy in 1984 when it was renovated because it feels a bit more modern than 1984 even!
I do remember the photos of that old, tiny Kmart. Certainly Corsicana became a big town for Kmart for a brief period of time. I suppose Kmart, especially Super Kmart, may have helped ruin these malls a bit, but that original Kmart was probably small enough to keep the neighboring mall shops viable.
That Brookshire's looks really nice except for the ratty Kmart-like HVAC vents and neighboring ceiling tiles! Those are really bad. I've seen photos, and even have personal experience, seeing some ratty looking Kmart HVAC vents like that, but that Brookshire's is even worse than the worst Kmart I've seen! Now that's really saying something, but otherwise, the store looks like a nice place to shop. I like the fancy design floor pattern and the somewhat excessive wall decor which looks a bit like something from an Ollie's.
I'm glad to see that the blog is alive and well here in 2024! I'm looking forward to seeing what you'll have for us this year. As an aside, I recently found some old retail photos I took in January 2014 and I turned it into a 10 year retail retrospective post at HHR. The big topic at the time was the closure of the Mall of the Mainland, something we both covered extensively at the time. I know my photos are nothing compared to what you took of the place, but it is interesting to reflect on that monumental news story in Houston retail history. I'm also glad I found my photos of the infamous Gloria-Nikki postcard! Link: https://houstonhistoricretail.com/2024/01/10/a-look-back-at-houston-retail-in-january-2014-with-anonymous-in-houstons-photo-collection/
I would have probably spent more time at the mall if the A/C was on. It was miserable there when I went in July. It is a really neat mall and the design and colors remind me a bit of the Deauville Mall in Spring.
DeleteThe interior of the Brookshires is similar to the early 2000 designs at a lot of grocers. The original grocer was on the other side of the mall and this was the site of the Woolworth store. I wonder if the vents were a leftover from the Woolworth days.
I just checked out your post with the photos from roughly a decade ago. It is hard to believe how fast time has flown since then. We are already 3 years removed from the last full-sized Sears closing and almost 4 years since the last Texas Kmart closed. I haven't had any time to keep up with things since early January. This month should be a lot better to catch up with things. If anything, I completed a small post earlier today.
The Corsicana Super Kmart building is finally getting renovated. Academy, Hobby Lobby, and Ulta will be going into the building in the near future. Corsicana is a smaller city than Academy usually opens up in, so we will see how that store does in comparison to the others. I wonder if it will be the 100,000 square feet store size we are used to seeing. Hopefully Atwoods doesn't suffer too much once Academy opens.