Now we continue on with the San Jacinto Mall's final year. We all knew that the plan was to eventually close the remaining portion of the mall, but a date had not yet been announced for the closure. A decent number of tenants were still operating inside of the mall and a few stores moved over to stay open.
April 2019
Former Service Merchandise
We should have saved this sign when we had the chance.
Mervyn's literally began falling apart prior to demolition. That section of the wall fell down and was barricaded off.
For a nearly 15-year vacant building, it didn't look too bad inside.
For some odd reason, the bricks that fell off of the building were moved inside of the vacant store. Maybe it was to keep people from using them to break windows.
Better views of the new hole in the structure.
This Mervyn's store was very small in comparison to their two-level stores found in most malls in the Houston area. A few of these smaller stores are still being used by Burlington.
Looking into the mall from the other side of Mervyn's.
Much like the water fountain we saw inside of the mall, algae buildup could be found in many spots outside of the mall.
A look at the nearby Mervyn's court mall entrance. This was shut down at about the same time as the Sears wing was closed off.
A peek inside of the closed off wing.
Here are a few retro signs at the old delivery entrances.
Ashley Furniture had recently vacated the former Marshalls space.
Like they were never there.
The mall fountain.
Inside of the former Sears.
Demolition remediation had begun.
As nightfall begins, we see the neon light up on the I-10 sign. As of October 2024, this sign is still standing.
Another Sears view.
The Sears sign was already beginning to fade.
The Sears court mall entrance.
A peek inside.
The Sears anchor was an imposing structure that really stood out.
The JCPenney anchor on the other hand was very small in comparison.
The Montgomery Ward court mall entrance.
A peek inside of the former Montgomery Ward court. As much as I tried to find a way into this area of the mall after it closed, it never happened.
The vacant Montgomery Ward pad. The hole in the mall had been sealed off with plywood to keep the structure intact until the rest of the structure was to be demolished.
Now for the empty space that was the Bealls.
I am glad that we did this walkthrough, because the access to the areas we just walked through was fenced off a short time later.
A look at the past with this Foleys era delivery container at the loading dock.
Now let's look into what remains inside of the mall.
The Hallmark/Coaches Gifts had recently closed.
Here is where the mall now ends. Just outside of the food court. Foot Locker was still in business.
Journey's and a few jewelry stores still open.
Just past the cut-off section of the mall is where the soon to begin 2019 demolition would end.
The food court.
Premiere Cinemas, still holding on.
The dead-end Montgomery Wards wing never had the upgraded lighting that other parts of the mall had.
The former Electronics Boutique.
Footaction was one of the stores that moved over into the remaining portion of the mall.
Champs sports still going strong.
Power Play still going, but not for much longer.
Your Secrets had also moved over from the other side of the mall.
The circled areas were closed off and or demolished.
The neon signage here could be seen from far away as you approached the mall.
May 2019
At this point it was apparent that the mall was not going to last much longer. Maintenace issues were beginning to pile up throughout the remaining parts of the mall.
Let's take a look inside of the retro 1980's JCPenney.
New holes were appearing in the ceilings from water damage and neglect.
The wood covering was placed here after the 2008 Hurricane. We have mentioned this area before.
Power Play was now closed.
Sadly, this was the permanent closure of Power Play, they never opened back up.
Several spots were like this in the Macy's corridor.
Ole!
Even more of the Mervyn's wall had fallen down at this point.
It didn't really matter that the store was falling down at this point, because the bulldozers were on the way in about a couple of months
July 13, 2019.
Demolition of the Sears, Service Merchandise, Marshall's, Mervyn's and the mall corridors up to the food court begins.
The former Marshall's/Ashley Furniture building was now gone.
Last look into the former Mervyn's/Service Merchandise wing of the mall.
Premiere Cinema called it quits.
A new banner inside of the food court to show what the plan for the mall property was going to be.
The dead-end corridor of the mall had now been completely walled off.
Without the Cinema, this whole side of the food court was now dark.
Pretty good placement of this Do Something sign, right next to messed up spots of flooring.
The nail place is now gone too.
The mall is getting darker as more and more places close, and the signs fall into disrepair.
July 26, 2019, continued demolition. They are moving fast!
This is all that was left of the Sears.
The Sears/Marshalls mall corridor.
Mervyn's is now gone, and they were moving towards the Service Merchandise building.
Our last look at the former Service Merchandise anchor before the demolition started.
Back to the other side of the Sears. Not much was left on the other side of this remaining wall.
August 11, 2019, more demolition.
The Sears auto center bays are the last portion of the building left.
Now they are getting into the former Service Merchandise.
We can actually see inside of the Service Merchandise now.
A wide look at what remains. Some of the Sears wing and second entrance to JCPenney mall corridor is left.
The whole Mervyn's/Service Merchandise wing is gone now. You can almost see the second entrance to JCPenney in this zoomed in look.
Last look at the Service Merchandise sign before it was trashed.
Montgomery Ward/Bealls side of the mall fenced off as well.
September 2019.
The first area of the 2019 demolition is completely wiped out, with only debris and the foundation left.
Here goes the Montgomery Ward/Bealls side of the mall as well. The old fountain in front of the Montgomery Ward is now open to the elements.
Want to see a little closer to the action?
I had to get closer to the old Montgomery Wards fountain while it was still here.
I missed any chance at getting into this corridor while it was still standing, but not all was lost.
Random pile of bricks near the back of Macy's.
Now let's look at the remaining section of the open mall. Her is he inside of the Coach House gifts.
Now there was nothing left on the other side of this wall.
Former Sam Goody.
Former Electronics Boutique again.
You can kind of make out the labelscar.
Another look inside of the Electronics Boutique.
A lot of the food court seating was now gone near the old cinema. Probably moved out to save some cleaning.
Former Chik Fil A.
Second floor of the food court (play and party area) had closed a long time ago.
A couple of holdouts were still left in the food court.
Power Play had been emptied out now. I really want to get one of their old Skee Ball machines. Does anyone know where their old machine went to? I hope they were able to save the games for future generations.
Ole!
All of these years documenting the mall, and this is my first photo inside of the Casa Ole.
The food court still looking great despite the lack of businesses.
Still a bit of life left in the food court.
Champs
Great American Cookies
Bath and Body Works. Did you really think they wouldn't be one of the last left standing.
Another look inside of the Power Play.
Suitology, a long-standing business inside of the mall. They moved down Garth Road and they are still open in 2024.
This candy kiosk was in the Sears wing. Who knows when the last time they refilled it was.
A vacant storefront near Macy's.
Strange how this machine was moved from the other side of the mall, but not refilled.
Inside of another old store.
The machine around the other side was full though.
Another old odd storefront.
Inside of the above old store.
Another random storefront.
December 15, 2019.
Now we knew that the mall corridor would be closing on January 5th, 2020.
Jewelzz Corner and Your Secrets moved into new locations after the mall closed. I am not sure if any of the other businesses listed here moved. Suitology had already moved out.
The directory.
December 20, 2019
The mall was getting darker as they were getting closer to shutting it down. They did decorate part of the mall for the Christmas season one last time.
Bath and Body Works with Santa.
Footaction still hanging on.
Another area of the mall that I had not documented yet. The hallway leading to the mall management office and bathrooms.
The staircase had been walled off to prevent access to the second floor.
Former Wendy's.
The Cajun Cafe was the last food court option standing.
Old storefront near JCPenney.
Popped open the door to get a look at the mall guts near JCPenney.
More of the floor is popping up.
The market tile work in front of the food court entrance.
January 3rd, 2020.
Truly a farewell visit, but I still managed to come in on January 5th for the last day. San Jacinto Mall was best seen at night. Spent almost two hours just taking in the sights, looking through the last remaining stores, taking photos, and taking videos.
Journey's was packing up.
Bath and Body Works pulled the plug a few days before the mall closed.
Footaction looked normal and still had a decent stock left.
Santa was gone, but his house was still standing.
JCPenney did not have their mall entrance open.
More of the former Electronics Boutique.
This spooky section of the mall was really cool to see. It was also pretty cold since the end was just a weak drywall and plywood cover.
As the night progressed, only a few places were staying open until the designated mall closing time.
The dark Power Play.
Lots of fun memories were made in this arcade over the years.
No food available tonight.
Foot Locker had left a few months ago.
Found some of the mall fixtures inside of this vacant store.
Macy's was open just like a normal business day.
This place had been closed for several months, but all of the equipment stayed behind.
More of the Macy's corridor.
Another new hole.
The massage place was still open.
Moving boxes were placed at this entrance of Footaction.
Now for the spooky side of the mall. Had to use a flash here because the lights were off.
Champs was open like a normal business day as well.
I wonder how many people used this popcorn to-go entrance at the old cinema.
A bit more of the food court as we wrap up this tour.
Another Do something ad. The owners of the mall could have used this advice years ago.
Last nighttime look into the mall.
January 5th, 2020. Official final day of business.
Grass is taking over the demolished areas of the mall. This was the loading dock for the Service Merchandise.
Service Merchandise lot.
Back to where we ended our last visit at the food court entrance. Only a couple of stores were still doing business on the final day, but there were a decent amount of people walking around taking one last look.
I was able to get a peek into the cut off section of the mall that was walled off.
As you can see, the doors were opened up just enough to see inside.
The spooky cut-off Montgomery Ward corridor.
Footaction was closed for good.
Macy's was open just like a normal day.
One last look at the Power Play. Thankfully the Power Play and several mall signs were saved by Yesterdays 92. Many of you will know his Tears for a Mall video linked here.
Yesterdays - Sonic 1992's Game Room and Museum | Facebook, here you can find a lot of the stuff he saved and added to his video game room.
Champs was closed and packing up.
This jewelry store and the Jewelzz kiosk were the final two inline businesses still open.
Last look inside.
This is not the final chapter of the San Jacinto Mall. Macy's and JCPenney continued to stay open once the interior mall closed, but not for much longer. More to come on this story, along with an update on the redevelopment that has finally started on the site.
Although San Jacinto Mall was hardly a 'home' mall for me, many of these photos are bringing back a lot of memories of stores I used to shop at elsewhere in the Houston area. It is great seeing a Service Merchandise logo like that which isn't all faded. It would have been great if you could have liberated that sign, but oh well. The Waldenbooks sign was fairing less well, but it is still interesting to see it.
ReplyDeleteThe faded Foley's logo on the truck is an interesting sight. I saw your comment in the other post about the Almeda Mall Macy's and I wouldn't be surprised if it does close. When Macy's lets a store go, they really let it go and I'm sure that was the case here at San Jacinto just like it was at Pasadena, West Oaks, and Greenspoint (and likely downtown and Sharpstown as well, though I didn't visit those stores in the era just before they closed). Almeda Mall did well through the Fox Properties ownership, but it's been in the hands of various owners who obviously aren't trying very hard to run the mall as a top property. The mall still draws a lot of traffic when I pass by it on I-45, so there is hope, but Macy's closing will be a big blow.
The photo of the puckered parquet floor in the mall reminds me of some old Foley's locations that had broken parquet floors. Granted, this is far worse than even the ugly sights at some of the old Foley's (I remember your photo of cardboard filling in for wood pieces at West Oaks). This mall was up there with Greenspoint in terms of decay when the mall closed, though I suspect Greenspoint is probably even worse off. Northwest Mall and the Mall of the Mainland were two malls I visited a lot during their last days/years and neither was as rotten looking as this mall was. Granted, MotM was a decade newer and closed a handful of years before this mall, but NW Mall was older.
While I know a lot of people think of two-story Mervyn's stores when they think of Mervyn's, the one near me in Willowchase was a single-story store which probably wasn't much different than the one here. I remember visiting double-story Mervyn's at places like Memorial City Mall and Baybrook Mall and being kind of surprised at how big and 'mall-like' their Mervyn's were compared to what I was used to.
Sears being a compelling place to work, shop, and invest. Well, that was certainly true in 1981, though certainly much less so during the Eddie Lampert years!
I know this is a bit off topic, but have you visited one of the new Barnes & Noble locations yet? I don't think the Town & Country one has re-opened yet, but I think West U and Conroe have opened. That might be an interesting topic for the blog as I hear the stores are pretty nice even if they are smaller than what we're used to from B&N.
This week, I had a little bit of free time to get this older article and finally finish up my Cortana Mall article and video. Putting together videos is not really my thing, but I will eventually publish the footage from my trips.
DeleteThis is not the final chapter of my San Jacinto Mall coverage. Coverage of the mall after the interior closed, the Macy's closing, and the final site demolition are in the backlog. I might pass by once the new development opens, but it is not something that I am particularly interested in. Nothing will replace what was lost, it was a 1980's time-capsule. Neon lights, signage from stores long-gone, and a relatively un-changed design from when the mall opened. Sure, it was old and needed some TLC, but there was nothing like it.
Deerbrook, The Esplanade, Oakwood, Baybrook, North Star, and Memorial City were the two-level Mervyn's that I was familiar with. Pasadena, Ingram Park, South Park (San Antonio), and San Jacinto were the only one-level Mervyn's that I was familiar with. I never went to Willowbrook or any of the other stand-alone Mervyn's stores that I recall. A lot of the small city malls that I have been to North Shore Square (closed), Alexandria, and Midway have converted Burlington stores that were Mervyn's.
Sears has to be a really depressing place to work these days. With the exception of the Miami Kmart, the island Kmart's are probably good places to work since they are still busy. Everywhere else, they are probably just waiting for Fast Eddie to pull the plug. It is really sad to be in a dying business.
I have read a few articles about the new Barnes and Noble locations. Haven't been to one yet. The Deerbrook Mall location is the only one that I visit from time to time. Seems like they still have a decent amount of customer traffic in that store. Barnes and Noble management are doing a good job of keeping the business relevant. Unlike Best Buy that is just adding anything they can to their oversized stores. In the area that music and movies was previously located, they have lawnmowers, weed eaters, blowers, electronic cat litter pods, stacks of boxed TV's, and other random stuff.