Plazamericas update Aug 03, 2010

This is the first of the permanent road entrance signs to the mall.



The entrance to the food court; this is the first mall entrance to get the new signage. All of the entrances have been repainted and are awaiting the new signage.



Updated Aug 11
The Houston Trade Center; is being advertised as a marketplace with retail, jewelry, and food outlets similar to the popular Harwin district nearby. If this building is redeveloped the mall will have a much better image from Highway 59. If this anchor is redeveloped; it would be an amazing feat for a mall that was on life support less than two years ago. How many other malls have been able to fill their empty anchor spots in this recession?




We may soon see this former entrance to Macy's reopened.



The new playground is open; my kids had a blast here.




The Clarewood Mercado now has the new dollar store and grocery open. This large area on the second level will be used to host large parties and possibly small concerts solving the mystery.




The second Mercado is under construction; you can see the drywall piles in the first photo.





Center Court



The new Soccer Y Mas



The new Sheik



Foot Locker New location



On the way to Burlingtons first level.


Here are some of the redevelopment opportunities within the mall.

Palais Royal



The line of closed stores leading to Burlington Coat Factory on the second level.




There are still many storefronts to fill, but management has been aggressively marketing the mall.



Bath and Body Works




Stores just outside of the closed Macy's on the second level.

Riverwalk Marketplace New Orleans Louisiana

The Riverwalk Marketplace is located on the Mississippi River in downtown New Orleans off of Convention Center Blvd. The directory shows how the floor plan is laid out. This mall is essentially three floors that are connected by escalators and elevators. The mall is mostly filled with tourist shops and collectible stores. There are a few national chains that remain here including the GAP, but the mall has lost several of the higher end or corporate chain stores that were here before Hurricane Katrina. The Riverwalk Marketplace has been a success story for over 20 years surviving two disasters. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 which did not flood the mall, but shut the mall down for months because there was no power. In 1996 the Bright Freight disaster demolished a huge area of the riverside of the mall. The Riverwalk Mall is still a great place to go and see the river without having to deal with the hot, humid climate of New Orleans. The mall has a new owner, so the property may be on the verge of an update since the mall has not changed in many years. I am pretty sure that this mall opened in 1986. This is one of four malls that opened in New Orleans in the 1980's. Canal Place is small and remains a high end upper class mall with Saks Fifth Avenue. Jackson Brewery only has a handful of shops and food court tenants left and looks to be in trouble. The New Orleans Center did not reopen after Hurricane Katrina and has since been mostly demolished to make way for an entertainment area to compliment New Orleans Saints games. The Riverwalk Marketplace has slipped a bit since the Hurricane but continues to be successful. I have many memories of this mall over the years, and some of the stores like the train shop that used to be there that had a train track over the store.



This is one of the murals throughout the mall about the history of the Mississippi river.



This is the best picture I could get of the lower level of the mall. The lower level is dark and cavernous like the bottom of a ship. Ironically this was the part of the mall that was most severely damaged when a ship lost control in the Mississippi River and hit the mall in December 1996. For more information on this event see this website at http://www.virtualpet.com/bright/news.htm. Check out the multimedia page for pictures of the damage to the mall. This part of the mall has some vacancies, but there is a daiquiri shop and cafe du monde on the river side of the mall.



This is the levee market level in the middle of the mall. This part of the mall has several vacancies as well.






This store is located at the entrance to the food court; not many malls have a Mardi Gras store.



The food court has a few Louisiana outlets and some chain restaurants. I found the prices here to be higher than most food courts. At the end of the food court a Louisiana food and beverage museum occupies a former mini-anchor that I do not recall the name of.



The upper level retail features high ceilings and a view of the river to the south of the mall. There are a few vacancies here, but not too many. There is a Fudgery chocolate shop here that does public shows to promote their products.

Clearview Mall Metairie Louisiana

Clearview Mall has been around since the late 1960's. Sears (2 levels) and Maison Blanche (3 levels) and a small K&B drugstore were the anchors until 1998 when Dillard's bought out Mercantile Stores and they rebranded the store as a Dillard's. Dillard's was closed a few years later and replaced on two of the three levels by Target. K&B closed in 1998 as well when Rite-Aid took over and renamed the entire K&B brand. There was also an A&G cafeteria on the south side of the mall. Clearview Mall is very small, and has survived by adding some big box retail to compliment their small lineup of stores. There is also an AMC movie theater that was added above the mall. Clearview Mall is much more quiet than Lakeside and The Esplanade Malls and that may be the reason this small mall has survived. The only way this mall could be expanded would be to add a second floor. Even though this mall is just down Veterans from the powerful Lakeside Mall; the two anchors are different from Lakeside which has JCPenney, Dillard's, and Macy's. My mother worked here when I was young, so I spent a good deal of time here.

Sorry about the blurriness of the mallmap. I have a new camera phone now, so my next round of articles will be much better.



A couple views of the Sears.




Bed Bath and Beyond and the main mall entrance.



Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, and the main mall entrance.



Target has a mall entrance but you have to turn right here to get to it.



A look at the food court; this was added on in early 2000. There is an escalator to the AMC theaters in front of the food court. This area was the former A&G cafeteria.



Some shots from the interior of the mall. The Bed Bath and Beyond has their entrance in the middle of the mall, but they have taken up some store space in the Sears wing too.

Quick Update Esplanade Mall Kenner Louisiana June 2010

This is an entrance to the Esplanade Mall in Kenner Louisiana. This is a two story mall anchored by Macy's, Dillard's Men, and Dillard's women. Mervyn's was an anchor but they closed several years ago. Not much has changed since my last visit in 2008, but there are several new vacancies. The mall is very much alive and well, but even some of the main parts of the mall have empty stores now.



This former Mervyn's is rumored to be torn down and replaced by a Target. It has been vacant since the beginning of 2006 when Mervyn's left Louisiana. The mall needs to be as aggressive as possible to get this spot filled. The former Mervyn's is aging, and some of the sidewalks appear to be sinking around the building (which is common in the New Orleans area, but a hazard).



Macy's reopened a couple of years ago, but eliminated their third floor. I also found it odd that Macy's put a new sign up and left their old signs intact.

Lake Forest Plaza Revisited June 2010

The beat up Mall sign is the only reminder of the mall that was here. All along I-10 in New Orleans East from Morrison to the I-510 interchange there are empty shopping centers and even a former Six Flags amusement park that have been sitting for five years. With an estimated population of 40,000 in the New Orleans East area many wonder why corporations are not coming back to New Orleans East.



The Lowe's is the only business open; a grocery store or Target here could make a killing.



The Grand Cinema is still vacant; this should have come back by now.



Looking at the site of where the mall was; when will the developers get this site back into commerce. There is no big box retail except for Lowe's and Home Depot that had reopened along I-10.