Rio Grande Mall June 2019 update Cuidad Juarez Chihuahua Mexico

Here is a short update from a mall that we visited about a year ago. This is one of the older malls in the city, but it is full and super busy. 

Here is the link to my first post at this mall (Click here)

On this visit, the Fabricas de Francia store was shutting down to make way for a conversion to become a Suburbia store. The renovation was going on behind closed off sections of the store, so I am not sure if the store ever closed during the transition. Suburbia is the discount version of Liverpool. All remaining Fabricas de Francia stores were converted to either Liverpool or Suburbia locations in 2019. Suburbia opened September 5, 2019 at 11am.

Here is the interior of the second floor. A lot of the store had been blocked off with work already beginning to remodel the store. This has to be the first time I have seen a store actively converted while still in business. The remaining inventory of the store had been consolidated mostly on the first floor. A few holdouts from the video game, music, movies, sporting goods, motorcycles, Children's clothing, toys, and housewares were still left.

A peak into the closed off area of the store.

As you can see, the second floor did not have much left.

Down to the first level. These older light fixtures are still in place after the conversion.

More Men's clothing.

The old school fixtures on the ceiling show the age of this store.

The electronics department was mostly closeout items and display models.

This staircase was closed off.

The remaining furniture was also moved downstairs.

This construction blanket had been placed around some of the interior walls. Work was going on behind the blanket.

Back up to the second floor for a better look around. You can see the temporary walls blocking off a huge portion of the store. Work was going on behind those walls.

Another look over the wall into the closed off area. Fixtures were being moved around by employees.

Here is what I could see of the former electronics and furniture departments.

Back to the first floor with a better view of some of the old school ceiling fixtures and designs.

This is what the mall entrance looks like now (click here)

Now for a few photos inside of the mall. We will start with Sounds, a store similar to FYE.

Sounds is part FYE, Radio Shack, and also features instruments, video games, and electronics as well. This is the kind of store that I would love to see here in the United States. 

The S mart, is difficult to photograph, but here is most of the store logo. 

Old school neon signage in the S mart.

Mall corridor shot.

The food court is directly across from the entrance to S mart. It was very tricky to get good photos in this section of the mall. The S mart deli is to the left, food court to the right.

Last but not least, the very detailed skylight near Fabricas de Francia.

Galerias Tec Mall. Juarez Mexico

Here is another mall from my visits to Mexico. This is the Gallerias Tec Mall in Juarez Mexico. This 'T' shaped mall is slightly larger than most malls in the Juarez area. There are no traditional department stores anchoring the mall, but there is a good mix of retail and specialty businesses here. The 2-level mall has a Gala Furniture store, a Fanatic casino, an S-Mart grocery store, and a 12-screen Cinemax movie cinema. There is very little information about the mall with the exception of their Facebook page. The mall looks fairly new, maybe built within the last 10 years or less. The front entrance of the mall also has some stores with exterior only entrances including GNC.

While the mall is doing well, there are several vacancies on the second floor. This mall is in direct competition with the Plaza Juarez Mall. Plaza Juarez is only about 5 minutes away and has much more to offer shoppers. 

I did not get too many photos of the first level. Security was not only walking around mainly the first floor, but many store fronts also had security at the door. Otherwise, enjoy this look into one of the quieter Juarez Malls.

The entrance to the Cinemex 12 screen cinema.

This is the end of the bottom of the 'T' of the mall.

The corridor near the food court has lots of vacancies on the second level.

The food court.

A look at the Gala furniture anchor. This is the only store that is truly an anchor. The furniture store is open to the mall on both floors. 

A good view of the center court of the mall with the second floor food court in the far distance.

More shops on the second floor.

The S-mart is pictured on the first level in the next 2 photos.

As you can see from this photo, the customer traffic on the first floor is much heavier than the second floor.

In this quiet corner of the mall, is one of the best video game stores I came across in Juarez. This video game store had a good variety of anything you can think of, from classics to the latest video games.

Looking from the quiet corner of the second floor to the other side where the Gala furniture store is located.

More views from the same section of the second floor.

The main mall entrance where no true anchor caps off this end of the mall. There is a casino on the first floor, but access is limited.

Center court.

Here is a view of the mall from the main entrance. As you can see from the 2 photos, the mall is not very big. The back of the mall, the bottom of the 'T' is about as long as this area of the mall.

Here is one of the most creative ways I have seen a blank storefront covered up. This is near the food court on the upper floor.