Town & Country Mall

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Town & Country Mall was an upscale shopping mall in Houston, Texas, competing with the then upscale West Oaks Mall and neighboring Memorial City Mall. It was supposed to surpass the older Memorial City Mall but never did due to its location. It is part of a Houston phenomenon of the older mall surviving newer malls.

1 The New Mall: 1983–1990
2 Beginning of the End: 1991–2001
3 Closure: 2002–2005
- 3.1 Demolition
- 3.2 Remains
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] The New Mall: 1983–1990

In 1983, Town & Country Mall opened on Interstate 10 and Beltway 8 in Houston. The three-level mall debuted with anchor tenants Joske's (became Dillard's after 1987 acquisition), J.C. Penney, Marshall Field's (became Saks Fifth Avenue after Field's pulled out of Texas in 1997), and Neiman Marcus. The large, comfortable inteior attracted residents from all over the surrounding area. Many large anchors, such as Dillard's, continued to flourish in the golden years of the mall.

By the late 80s, Memorial City Mall, a nearby rival, was teetering on the brink of closure after Town & Country had taken the neighboring mall's 20-year grasp as the leading mall away. Town & Country was very popular through the 1980s, yet the 1990s saw a great depression.

[edit] Beginning of the End: 1991–2001

Town & Country had its rightful place as leader until the mid-90s, when popularity started to decrease.

The mall was losing style, the interior was small and clogged and the leasing space couldn't handle the new demand for large stores. When the Beltway 8 and Interstate 10 interchange was built in 1989,^[1] it obscured the view of the mall from the highways, giving Memorial City Mall an advantage since it was at the next Interstate 10 exit. Also, it was very hard to access the mall due to the limited amount of signage guiding people to the mall, and the clogged traffic of the Beltway 8 and Interstate 10 frontage roads. Saks Fifth Avenue replaced Marshall Field's in 1997 after Field's pulled out of Texas. By the late 90s, Town & Country was desperate for shoppers and tried to persuade them to come back by hosting model train conventions and such, but the mall never regained strength. By 2000, the mall was almost empty.

[edit] Closure: 2002–2005

In 2002, Memorial City Mall saw the time to regain its strength and started a huge renovation project. By 2004, almost all of Town & Country's large tenants had moved, and when Dillard's relocated to Memorial City in favor of large, inexpensive retail space, Town & Country saw no other option but to close. After the mall closed, J.C. Penney relocated to the former Lord & Taylor space in Memorial City Mall.

[edit] Demolition

In 2005, the demolition began. All sections of the mall, besides Neiman Marcus, which was still open, were demolished. By the end of 2005, the entire mall was gone. Neiman Marcus closed with an official closing sale in early 2006, and their building was demolished in mid-2006.

[edit] Remains

Nothing remains of the mall, except some nearby abandoned parking garages bordering the lot. The Town & Country Mall sign still stands on the Beltway 8 frontage road. The main area of the mall is now a grassy lot and will be redeveloped as CityCentre. The adjacent Town & Country Village developed with the mall is flourishing. The two movie locations, the former Loew's 3 and the former Town & Country 6 theaters, have also been demolished.