I decided to shift the Toys R Us in San Marcos article for a later time.
So, what's new at the former Southpark Mall in Shreveport Louisiana? The property operates in much the same way that it did nearly a decade ago when we last visited for the blog on this update. On this visit, we didn't walk through the interior. We did come across the following video that is the best walkthrough I have seen so far. A lot of the old mall is still around behind the newer sheetrock walls. The parking lot unfortunately needs a lot of repair work, but the mall building is in really good shape.
We will start with the former Montgomery Ward.
The inside of the store has definitely seen better days. I am glad they have not boarded up the windows so you can still see inside.
The merchandise pick-up exterior sign is now inside and out of the elements.
Random stuff piled up inside of the store.
Before we drive around the mall property, here is a look at the former Montgomery Ward auto center.
The front of the Montgomery Ward facing Jewella has some banners advertising the church.
Looking past, we see the former JCPenney, now the main worship center of the church.
The last retailer left, Burlington Coat Factory. This location is definitely an odd holdout considering that Burlington stores have been opening newer and smaller locations to replace these holdouts.
This was the lunch-time crowd on the Saturday before Christmas 2024.
The old signage is looking rough.
The former Dillard's building. Not sure what it is being used for these days, but it seems to be in good shape.
The parking lot near Dillard's seems to be an unofficial rest stop for truckers.
A faint labelscar on the upper section of the building.
A look at the full length of the mall.
The shuttered entrance to the former Dillard's.
An excellent labelscar, over two decades after closing.
The mall entrance near Dillard's and Burlington.
The former Stage store is being used as a thrift store.
The mall entrance leading directly to the JCPenney entrance.
That is all for this tour. More to come.
I remember seeing your photos from this mall a decade ago. It is always nice to see a mall with a former Montgomery Ward in it and it is interesting to see some remaining Montgomery Ward remnants. Signs like what we see here were at pretty much every Wards store and so they bring up a lot of memories of pleasant shopping trips.
ReplyDeleteA thrift store at a mall isn't something very common around here. It would be kind of neat to see that at some of our struggling malls. Hopefully the thrift store here is a bit nicer than the ones we have here in Houston. Between the thin, often over-priced offerings at Goodwill these days and the just bizarre customer service at Texas Thrift, going to the thrift stores isn't nearly as rewarding as it used to be and I don't go to them very often. I'm not sure if you heard about Texas Thrift (the one in the old FM 1960 W & Kuykendahl Kmart), but they got bought out and now they have a bizarre hybrid self-checkout system. A clerk has to scan all the items, but then they expect you to pay for it and bag it using a self-checkout. I have not seen it with my own eyes, but from what Mike from HHR and the user reviews indicate, it is hardly a smooth process and one which leads most people to wonder what is even the point of the self-checkout machines.
It is strange seeing a church steeple like that at a mall. While the Mall of the Mainland Dillard's is some kind of church these days, it really doesn't look like a church from the outside at least. It still looks like a Dillard's outside of a few signs.
Well, anyway, this mall seems to be finding some way of still being relevant to the public even if it is not as traditional retail. As worn down as the inside of that Montgomery Ward looks, it is still in far better shape than, say, Greenspoint Mall. Of course, just about any dead/dying mall will probably look favorable compared to Greenspoint so maybe that isn't any kind of high praise.
I am glad that the owners of the mall take care of the buildings to keep them from becoming blighted. The area is struggling even though there are some nearby new communities. Burlington could very well move to a new development or vacant nearby big box space but remains in place for now. A lot of the interior mall space seems to be used for church functions and events.
DeleteThrifting seems to have become a mainstream hobby, and I think that the good deals are even harder to find these days. Rural thrift stores may be the way to go these days.
Shreveport seems to be a forgotten city these days. While Dallas has gained a lot of residents, Shreveport has declined. Out of the 5 malls including the Louisiana Boardwalk, none of them are doing well. Southpark only has the Burlington and was redeveloped into what we see today. Mall St. Vincent and Pierre Bossier have continued to decline under Kohan's ownership. Pierremont lost Stein Mart, and the new gym closed off access to the mall, hurting the interior which is now mostly vacant. Then there is the newest Outlet Mall, the Louisiana Boardwalk that has emptied out. There are a couple of really good retail districts, but both of them are well away from any of the malls in the area.