Post Oak Mall

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Post Oak Mall
Facts and statistics
Location	College Station, TX, US
Coordinates	30°37′28″N 96°18′12″W / 30.6245, -96.3034Coordinates: 30°37′28″N 96°18′12″W / 30.6245, -96.3034
Address	1500 Harvey Road
Opening date	February 17, 1982
Management	Jack Love[1]
Owner	CBL & Associates Properties
No. of stores and services	125
No. of anchor tenants	7[2]
Total retail floor area	776,898 square feet (72,176.2 m²)[2]
Parking	5228[2]
No. of floors	1
Website	postoakmall.com

Post Oak Mall is a regional shopping mall located in College Station, Texas that opened on February 17, 1982.^[3] It is one of several malls owned by CBL & Associates Properties. It is currently managed by Jack Love, who took over the position on July 1, 2002.^[4]

It was the first mall in the city, and is the largest mall in the Brazos Valley. The 82-acre mall currently is home to 125 stores, including 7 anchor stores, a small food court, two restaurants, a bank, and a night club. The mall's opening helped create the impetus for growing economic and commercial developments for College Station. In the twenty-five years since it opened, Post Oak has undergone two renovations, as well as multiple expansions, to reach its current state of size with 125 stores, including six anchor stores.^[3] It is the largest tax payer in College Station, and the second largest in the Brazos Valley, even though the anchor stores are free-standing units that are privately owned and taxed separate from the mall proper.^[1] Over 75 percent of retail sales in the Brazos Valley coming from sales at the mall's stores.^[3]

According to Joan Ghani, the marketing director of the mall, the mall sees eleven million visitors walk through its door annually.^[5] While the large college population from Texas A&M boosts the mall's revenue, the average mall shopper is in their 30s and come from both within the Brazos County and the twelve surrounding counties.^[1]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Beginnings 1.2 2004 fire 1.3 Renovations 2 Stores 2.1 Anchors 2.2 Food court 3 References 4 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Beginnings

In the early 1980s, the demand for shopping opportunities and other businesses was growing with the populations of the side-by-side cities of Bryan and College Station. Plans began for the opening of a large regional mall in the area, with the first choice of location being in Bryan near the intersection of Earl Rudder Freeway and Briarcrest Drive. However, the owner of the land refused to sell. With the city unable to procure the land, the mall project was shift to College Station, and construction began at its current location at the intersection of Earl Rudder Freeway and Harvey Road.^[6]

Post Oak Mall opened its doors on February 17, 1982.^[3] Among the mall's first stores were the area's first Foley's and Dillard's department stores. Sears rounded out the first three anchor stores, moving into the mall from its smaller Bryan location. Three years later, the mall completed its first expansion and JCPenney, relocating from its Manor East Mall location in Bryan, became the fourth anchor store in the mall.^[6]

[edit] 2004 fire

On February 1, 2004, a short in an electrical box sparked a small fire at the Journey's shoe store. The sprinklers helped contain the flames, but eight stores and six kiosks in the area of the store suffered from smoke damage, as well as water damage after water from the sprinklers flowed out of the store and into the middle of the mall walkway. The affected stores had to be closed for two days while repairs were made.^[7]

[edit] Renovations

In 2006, Anuncio installed its first mall-based digital signage network, which is comprised of a series of twenty plasma screen televisions around the main concourse and in the food court that display six-second sound-free advertisements. Post Oak Mall was the first of four CBL-owned malls to receive this network, with four other CBL malls to follow. The advertising displays were activated on September 1, 2006.^[5]

David Gwin, the economic development director for College Station, is working with the mall on a possible $8.5 million renovation project to give the mall a further boost, but details on what the renovation would entail are currently unknown.^[8]

[edit] Stores

While the bulk of Post Oak Mall's 125 stores are clothing and accessory shops, it is also home to several hair salons and cosmetic stores, two video game stores, two optical shops, a Dallas Cowboys Pro Shop, a full-service branch of First National Bank of Bryan, and a puppy store. In addition to seven food vendors in the central food court, the mall houses full-size Casa Olé and Chuck E. Cheese's restaurants, and kiosk versions of Auntie Anne's and Dippin' Dots. There is also a small indoor children's play area located in the food court, a night club, and recruitment centers for the Air Force, US Army, Navy, and US Marines.^[9] The mall once housed a three screen Carmike movie theater, but it was closed in 2000.^[10] The empty space was replaced with a full-service restaurant and an entertainment section.^[11]

KB Toys was another of the mall's first occupants, and it was one of only four toy stores in the Brazos County after the other two toy stores once in the mall closed. Though KB Toys managed to stay profitable despite the opening of a Toys R Us beside the mall in 1994, it was forced to close its doors in January 2003 after being unable to come to an agreement with the mall over the lease renewal terms. The space once occupied by the KB Toys was leased to clothing store Wet Seal, and the mall has not actively pursued any other toy stores to replace it.^[12]

A local staple, The Curiosity Shop, moved into the mall in 1985. After being a featured store for twenty years, it left in August 2002 to move to a larger location.^[4]

[edit] Anchors

With the exception of Bealls and Steve & Barry's, the mall's current anchor stores are not owned by the mall, but are free-standing units that are privately owned.^[1] The first three anchor stores when the mall opened in 1982 were Sears, Dillard's, and Foley's. In 1985, JCPenney moved into the mall from its Bryan Manor East Mall location.^[6] Later, Bealls, which already had a store in Bryan's Manor East Mall, opened a second location in Post Oak.^[6] Wilson's also joined the mall. In 1985, the H.J. Wilson Company was taken over by Service Merchandise, then in 1999, Service Merchandise went bankrupt.^[13] The empty anchor location became a second Dillard's location, housing their specialty Mens & Housewares store.^[14]

After May Department Stores, the parent company of Foley's, merged with Federated Department Stores, the Foley's location was temporarily closed while it was converted to a Macy's department store. The new Macy's officially opened on September 9, 2006.^[15] Steve & Barry's University Sportswear became the mall's sixth anchor store, and its first without an exterior exist, with the opening of its 30,000 square foot location on August 5, 2005.^[12]

[edit] Food court

Post Oak's has a relatively small food court, housing only seven food stall vendors. In addition to the more "traditional" mall offerings, including several fast-food chain locations, a Chinese fast food stall, and a pizza stall, the food court houses the locally operated Taste of the Tropics, a maker of pure fruit smoothies, and Smoothies Ice Cream & Yogurt, which sells the regional Blue Bell ice cream brand along with other drinks and smoothie options. The stalls arranged on the edges in a semi-round area, with seating and the children's playground in the center, and openings to the mall concourse on both ends.

A McDonald's was located in the mall for fifteen years, but left in 2002 as part of regional owner Ron Blatchley's over all renovation plans. It was quickly replaced by Sonic, becoming the seventh Sonic in Brazos Valley, and the only one that does not have either a drive-in nor drive through option.^[16]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official site