A new name for the Sharpstown Mall

Click on the post title for a Houston Chronicle story that bring more information to what is happening at Sharpstown Mall or should I say PlazAmericas. On my last visit they had activity going on inside of the old JCPenney and the article announces the plans for that space. Read the article for more information; this plan sounds like a good fit for the property. I have material and photos that I will introduce in early 2010 including New Orleans retail of the past and an update on Northwest Mall in Houston.

Sharpstown Mall Change on the Horizon + update on Westheimer Square

Check out my update on the Westheimer Square shopping center and this update on Sharpstown Mall.




There is change in the air at Sharpstown Mall. The owners are aggressively filling the nearly empty food court with new restaurants. There are four outlets with signs advertising new restaurants coming soon and there is one new restaurant that opened next to the formerly only restaurant in the food court. There are also a couple of new tenants on the first floor since our last visit. An improved food court will help to attract new business to the mall, and this is a step in the right direction. If they can get the empty Macy's building filled or demolished; the mall will really improve. I think that it would be in Sears best interest to swap their land with Macy's and move the store from the Southwest Corporate Center to the mall. Then the corporate center could expand into the Sears site and the development would be complete. The former JCPenney site is much harder to fill and would be better off demolished since the store has been empty for over a decade. I am excited because this mall and the nearly dead Almeda Mall are potentially rebounding. I need to take a trip to the Northwest and San Jacinto Malls to see if those malls are rebounding as well.

Pictures from 10/14/2009

Sharpstown Mall Update August 28, 2009

I had not been in this mall since my last update at the beginning of the summer. The mall has lost a couple of retail tenants and opened up the new ice cream shop on the outskirts of the food court. I did not notice any new retail tenants since my last visit. Some signs have been removed from the closed stores but many still remain. The former Finger's mall entrance has been unboarded, so there may be a new tenant there soon. The directories have been updated as well. There was a good crowd here on this Friday afternoon and the upper center court was really busy with a 97.9 radio station promotion at the Foot Locker. The jewelry stores in the center court were also busy today. Nearly all of the empty store spaces now have signs advertising that the space is available. The former Circuit City store across the street is being renovated to become a large thrift store, so the area may be on the verge of a small rebound that the mall can benefit from.

All of the directories have been updated.




Palais Royal and the center court






More pictures from the former cinema.





The food court is still mostly empty, but there is a new ice cream outlet called Miigloo in the first picture.

Sharpstown update 07/01/09

On my visit today the mall had a carnival in the parking lot and many more people than my last few visits. Three new inline stores have opened up since my last visit in May. While I was in the JCPenney corridor taking pictures; an employee of the mall gave me some weird looks. Better her than mall security though.

Finally I got a clear photo of a directory and some extra pics of the JCPenney. The inside of the JCPenney has not been used since 1998, so it is in terrible condition.

Sharpstown Mall Update 05/26

Here are some exterior shots and the mall directories. Since my phone camera is not good I posted two directory photos to see the whole directory. The directories have not been updated for a very long time as indicated by Macy's and several closed food court restaurants being on the list still. (Update the directory photos have been removed and replaced by a better quality image on a more recent post).




Here are some interior shots from today.

Sharpstown Center Mall Houston Texas

(See Dec 09 & Jan 10 updates for recent updates on the ongoing redevelopment of the Sharpstown Mall into Plazamerica). The property is now rebounding and under construction.

Once a vibrant mall with Montgomery Wards, Walgreens, Foley's and Kresge's as anchors; this mall has struggled through the last decade. In April of 2009 my family and I visited this mall and took these photos. This mall lost JCPenney as an anchor in 1998, Finger furniture in 2008, Macy's in 2008, and the cinema in 2008. This was originally a one story mall that opened up in the 1960's before the southwest freeway was built. The mall had several successful years and even outlasted a second mall built two miles away called Westwood. Shortly after the mall opened a high rise called the jewelry center; it was constructed as an anchor to the mall. In the late 1970's the mall added a second floor to add to its success. In 2001 Montgomery Wards closed and was replaced by a Burlington Coat Factory. In January of 2008 Macy's and Finger Furniture announced their stores would be closing. The cinema followed suit quietly. The food court went from nearly full to only one food outlet in less than a year. Inline stores have been exiting quickly and the mall has not taken down most of the signs. Some of the closed food outlets still have their menus up as if they are only temporarily closed. Strangely there are still stores hidden in some of the areas of the mall where anchors have left. In the JCPenney corridor there are three stores still left even though the anchor has been gone since 1998. One of those stores is hidden behind a corner that you have to walk up to the closed anchor to see. The mall has several staircases that will give the shopper a workout, but navigating a baby stroller here is terrible. The Burlington and the Jewelry center seem to do well here. Outside of this mall there are two closed auto repair shops, a closed Circuit City, and a closed Big Lots which is the first Big Lots I have seen that closed. Target and Marshall's across the freeway also pulled out in 2006.