Springdale Mall

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Springdale Mall
Facts and statistics
Location Mobile, Alabama, United States
Address 3250 W. Airport Blvd.
Opening date 1959
Management Centro Properties
No. of stores and services 13
No. of anchor tenants 9
No. of floors 1

Springdale Mall is a shopping center located in Mobile, Alabama, United States, directly across from Bel Air Mall. Opened in 1959 as an open-air shopping center, Springdale Mall was later redeveloped as an enclosed shopping center. Facing competition from larger shopping centers in the area, Springdale was demolished in stages in the 2000s, with most of the former enclosed mall being replaced with big box stores.

Springdale is almost entirely an open-air center again, featuring Barnes & Noble, Belk, Best Buy, Burlington Coat Factory, Goody's Family Clothing, Linens 'n Things, Old Navy, Sam's Club and Staples as anchor stores. The center is currently managed and owned by Centro Properties.

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[edit] History

Opened in November 1959 as an open-air regional shopping center,[1] Springdale was initially anchored by W.T. Grant, JCPenney and two supermarkets: Delchamps and National.[2] Gayfers, a Mobile-based department store, would serve as the flagship anchor upon its completion in the summer of 1960.[3]

Competition would arrive in late 1967 in the form of Bel Air Mall, an enclosed mall which was anchored by Sears and Hammel's.

An enclosed wing was completed in 1974, adjacent to the east end of the Gayfers building; this wing was anchored by Montgomery Ward and a six-screen movie theater (later expanded to eleven screens).[4] In the late 1980s, Toys "R" Us co-tenanted the Montgomery Ward building. A second enclosed wing was added in 1988, leading from Gayfers to an existing McRae's store that opened four years earlier. This "west mall" featured more nationally known in-line retailers such as The Limited, Express and Victoria's Secret. After the completion of the west wing, the mall comprised two separate enclosed wings, as well as the original 1950s strip.

Barnes & Noble debuted its first South Alabama location in Springdale in the spring of 1994, followed by Old Navy, which opened its first Alabama store here, two years later, in the fall of 1996.[5]

[edit] Renovations

Springdale Mall was purchased in 1997 by CBL & Associates Properties.[6] In August 1998, Mercantile Stores, the owners of Gayfers and a host of regional department store nameplates, was purchased by Arkansas-based Dillard's. Although a full-line Dillard's was present across the street in Bel Air Mall, Dillard's initially maintained the former Gayfers at Springdale as a full-line Dillard's as well.[7]

Also in 1998, Montgomery Ward closed its doors at Springdale Mall; the former Montgomery Ward space was later replaced with Burlington Coat Factory. The adjacent Toys "R" Us store was also shuttered in favor of a newer store nearby.[8]

Throughout the late 1990s and into the 2000s, several more big box stores were added to the mall's tenant roster. The first of these, Goody's Family Clothing, was added in 1998,[9] followed by Staples and Linens 'n Things, both of which took up portions of the east mall. The former "west mall" from McRae's to Dillard's was gutted in 2001 for a Best Buy[10] while Dillard's itself closed a year later.[11]

By 2004, the former Dillard's was demolished, as was part of the mall's eastern enclosed wing; Staples, Linens 'n Things, the movie theater and one adjacent store were all retained, as was a small portion of hallway leading to the theater entry. On the site formerly occupied by Dillard's, a Sam's Club was constructed in 2005. The same year, McRae's was acquired by Belk.

[edit] References

  1. ^ “Springdale Is Opened By Officials”, Mobile Register: K-37, December 12, 1999 
  2. ^ Mobile, Alabama Telephone Directory - October 1959 Edition
  3. ^ Andrews, Casandra (July 13, 2003), “Remembering Gayfers”, Mobile Register: E-1 
  4. ^ Brantley, Mike (March 13, 1999), “Best Seats in the House”, Mobile Register: B-1 
  5. ^ Chunn, Sherri (November 13, 1996), “Old Navy Clothing opens Nov. 20”, Mobile Register: B-9 
  6. ^ CBL & Associates Properties Acquires Springdale Mall. Business Wire (1997-09-17). Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
  7. ^ Tortano, David (August 18, 1998), “Dillards in the Making”, Mobile Register: B-7 
  8. ^ Jumper, Kathy (July 18, 2004), “Retail Momentum Shifts”, Mobile Register: J-1 
  9. ^ CBL & Associates Properties Announces New Anchors for Three Shopping Centers.. Business Wire (1999-05-14). Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
  10. ^ Jumper, Kathy (January 19, 2001), “Best Buy store to build in mall”, Mobile Register: 8-B 
  11. ^ Dillard's, Inc. Announces Three Store Closures. Business Wire (2002-12-03). Retrieved on 2007-11-28.

[edit] External links