Here is one of the newest Houston area indoor malls. Opened in March of 1996, this super regional mall serves the Southwest side of Houston. Anchors of the mall are Macys (previously Foley's), Dillard's Womens store, Dillard's Mens store (previously Mervyn's), JCPenney, and Dick's Sporting Goods. The mall has undergone 2 expansions adding an outdoor shopping/dining corridor, and again in 2016 adding the Dick's Sporting Goods anchor to the food court.
First Colony Mall has been a booming mall ever since opening, and 3 nearby malls have suffered as the retail in Sugarland has expanded. Westwood was the first one to fall, closing in 1998. Sharpstown was the next to fall into dead mall status prior to the renovation and conversion to PlazAmericas Mall way back when this blog was started. West Oaks was hit with the double whammy of both First Colony and Katy Mills opening in the last half of the 1990's. West Oaks has fallen into dead mall status over the last 5 years despite a plan to rejuvenate the mall with a new state of the art Edwards Cinema.
The Dillard's Mens store pictured here was originally a Mervyn's.
Dillard's Womens store
The outdoor mall extension.
Macy's/Foley's
JCPenney
Now for the inside of the mall. Despite the bland colors throughout the mall, the ceiling here really stands out. We entered the mall at Macy's.
The mall has a strange shape, the main concourse from Macy's to the Dillard's Womens store is shaped almost like the letter C.
Now we head out to the outdoor addition which features a Barnes and Noble with several other retailers and restaurants.
As you can see there is not a lot of shade out here. The outdoor outlet malls in the Houston area and the Baybrook Mall outdoor corridors do a much better job of providing shade. Houston weather is hostile most of the time alternating from blistering heat to monsoon rains, and even the occasional deep freeze. There are a good bit of vacancies out here so you would think that they would want this area to be as comfortable as possible.
Barnes and Noble has a little more shade than the rest of the retailers on the strip.
This astroturf area once had some water features and a pond. The pond had fallen into disrepair and was taken out in favor of this area. A nice touch, but once again not enough shade for the Summer months.
I am so glad we documented this property when the weather was nice.
Back to the interior mall we go.
Food court area.
The Dick's Sporting Goods addition.
A lot of natural lighting in the center of the food court.
Now we are heading towards the Dillard's locations.
Dillard's Mens store
I really like the ceiling designs here.
Dillard's Womens store
A few more center court shots here.
And we conclude the tour back where we started at the entrance to Macy's.
More to come, stay tuned.
