Here is another vintage small-town Texas Mall currently owned by Culpepper Realty. I was not able to find the original developer online, if anyone has their name please comment below.
The River Hills Mall opened in November 1978 in Kerrville Texas, about an hour Northwest of San Antonio. Kmart, Bealls, and JCPenney were the original anchors of the mall. Fitness First Sports, which is still in business at a different location was the second inline tenant at the mall. The mall merchants filed to become an association on March 13, 1979. The mall has been a local hotspot for years since opening but suffered the first major blow in 2002.
Kmart closed on May 19, 2002 along with 32 other Kmart stores in Texas. To see what the Big Kmart store looked like click here. Belk took over the Kmart space and had their grand opening on March 10, 2004 and is still going strong. Bealls closed their store in 2020 along with the bankruptcy of the company. In November 2019, a news article ran a story about this store becoming a Gordman's. As we will see below, the store was never converted. There is a Facebook page for the store with the last post being on September 27, 2020. Bealls was used as a Spirit Halloween in 2021. JCPenney is the last remaining original anchor and even expanded into a portion of the mall.
Mall management has done a great job keeping this mall going. As we have seen over the years, many similar small-town malls have fallen. This mall is doing quite well and has bounced back from the Covid recession of 2020 around the time we visited. The mall was super clean, and the fountain was in good working order.
Lots of great information past and present can be found on this October 2021 Kerrville Podcast interview of Debbie Robinson marketing director of the mall for 29 years, click here. Unfortunately, the ownership of the mall may be looking to turn the mall into an outdoor center in the future. Doing this would be a huge loss in my opinion for Kerrville. I hope they will keep the mall as it stands today.
The Loopnet listing for store spaces along with some great photos of the property can be found here.
Now onto our visit of the store.
Now for some views of the exterior. The exterior is a mix of old and newer style designs.
The Belk store looks very nice and modern.
The former Kmart entrance to the mall.
This arcade will be shown in much better detail later on in the post. It is a real treat to see this old school arcade.
The look of this mall is really something special. This is the court in front of Belk.
Looking from the center court towards JCPenney.
The center court in front of Bealls. Burke's Outlet and JCPenney take up a lot of retail space in this section of the mall.
The center court looking towards Belk. This amazing fountain is still running strong. The Rio Ranch Cafe to the left is a nice little food and snack outlet.
Vintage GNC, it was closed on the day we went. The store is still in business.
A unique JCPenney mall entrance.
Hibbett Sports on the right and the JCPenney mall corridor extension to the left.
The extension mall entrance was closed on our visit. Keep in mind that this was 6 months into the Covid restrictions. This entrance has more than likely reopened.
The view of the JCPenney section of the mall. Vintage 1978 look to the fullest.
Murals have been added to portions of the Burke's Outlet walls to keep this section of the mall lively. Burke's Outlet has taken up a huge section of this mall corridor.
One of the empty store spaces at the center court.
Looking to the fountain from the same spot as we were at above.
The center corridor leading to the mall entrance.
Another mural on this side of the Burke's Outlet wall.
The community board of the mall.
A closer look at the above board shows the Kmart anchor along with the mall walker path. This sign has been here for quite some time since the Kmart closed in 2002.
More vintage storefronts in the center corridor.
The center court mall entrance.
The center court is stunning, you rarely see this kind of
Here is how the interior of the Bealls looked on my visit. Spirit Halloween briefly occupied this spot in 2021.
The old school Clarie's just to the left of the former Bealls.
The Belk wing had the most vacancies on my visit. As of late 2021 most of the mall is leased so this area probably looks much more lively now.
Looking from the Belk corridor towards the center court and JCPenney.
Maurices
Factory Connection, several small-town Texas malls have this store.
A view of the Belk entrance blocked by this lively tree. You have to wonder why most mall managers took plants out of malls. Malls were intended to be air-conditioned sidewalks, not for lines of kiosks.
More of the Belk/former Kmart corridor.
Belk blends in very well with the retro aesthetic of the mall.
The Belk court appears to have a gate at one of the mall entrances. I guess there were some after-hours businesses here that were open after the mall closed at night. Maybe the arcade stays open late.
A really cool vintage storefront in front of Belk. Wood panels, mirrors, and cutout windows. I wonder if this was a restaurant.
Looking from Belk into the mall corridor.
Now for a look inside of the vintage JCPenney store.
This is the section of the store that appears to be an addition. Housewares, bedding, and kitchen stuff is located here.
This JCPenney store has a Sephora, this may be the first small town store I have seen with a Sephora. This is where the JCPenney extension opens up into the main store.
Vintage ceiling air vents.
The mirrored jewelry counter is a giveaway to the age of this store.
A look towards the store extension.
Back to the mall corridor we go.
Now we are back to the Belk mall entrance by the arcade.
Level-Up arcade formally known as the Fun Games arcade. This arcade has been in the mall 30+ years!
We had a fun time in the arcade, we were the only ones inside at the time. This was the cherry on top for this awesome mall experience.
The arcade had some vintage games along with newer arcade machines such as these Mario Kart ones. There were 50+ machines in the arcade.
The view from the Belk parking lot is really nice. These homes on the hill have awesome views of the city.
A view of the mall from a downtown parking garage.
More to come, stay tuned!
