Entrance into the mall |
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| Location | Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States |
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| Opening date | March 29, 2006 |
| Developer | David Hocker & Associates MBC Holdings |
| Management | David Hocker & Associates MBC Holdings |
| Owner | David Hocker & Associates MBC Holdings |
| No. of stores and services | 100+ |
| No. of anchor tenants | 3 main anchors 4 junior anchors |
| Total retail floor area | 750,000 square feet (69,677.3 m2) |
| Parking | 5,000 spaces |
| No. of floors | 1 (2 in Dillard's) |
| Website | http://www.mallatturtlecreek.com |
The Mall at Turtle Creek is an enclosed shopping mall located in Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States. It is notable for being the only enclosed mall to open in the United States in the year 2006.[1] Currently, the mall features JCPenney, Dillard's and Target as its main anchor stores, with Barnes & Noble and Bed Bath & Beyond as junior anchors. The mall also features more than 70 inline stores, as well as a food court. All four bus routes of the Jonesboro Economical Transit system serve the mall.
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The idea of a new mall in the city of Jonesboro had been debated among the citizens of Jonesboro for almost two decades. The Indian Mall was built in 1967 and was "the place to shop" in Northeast Arkansas for almost four decades. The population of Jonesboro around the time of the Indian Mall's initial opening was around 26,000 people but by 1998 the population had more than doubled and reached more than 55,000.[2] As Jonesboro's population boomed the need for retail space and shopping needs also grew. The Indian Mall became too small and old for the shoppers of Jonesboro and they frequently visited larger metropolitan areas within reach such as Memphis and Little Rock for shopping trips. The Warmack family, who owned Indian Mall, proposed a new mall site in Jonesboro entitled "The Southern Hills Mall." The mall was to be located on Southwest Drive in Jonesboro and include over one million square feet of shopping space. However, due to building permits, bonds, and other political failures, construction never began.[3]
MBC Holdings and David Hocker & Associates stepped up and purchased seventy-five acres of land at the intersection of Stadium Boulevared and Highland Drive and revealed their plans to develop a mall there called "The Mall at Turtle Creek." [4] The new mall would cost over $100 million dollars to create and would bring in millions of dollars of revenue and tax money for the city and state. The area was quickly cleared and development of the new mall ensued in early 2002. After three years of construction, Target and J.C. Penney both opened their stores in late 2005. Dillard's opened their store early in 2006 followed by a complete mall opening in March 2006.[5]
The Mall at Turtle Creek has a gross area of 750,000 sq ft (70,000 m2). with 230,000 of that gof retail space.[6]
The mall is somewhat symmetric in shape. It takes the form of a rectangle and stretches over a 73-acre (300,000 m2) plot. The developers wanted to give the mall a "Main Street" look. The 100 stores are arranged along two sides of the mall facing each other with a pedestrian walkway on each side and various vendors occupying the mid-aisles. The three main anchor stores are Dillard's, Target and J.C. Penney. Dillard's is located at the east of the mall while Target is located at the west end. J.C. Penney is found at the southwest end of the mall. Along with the three main anchors, the mall includes four junior anchors in Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath & Beyond (all along the south end). After opening, The Mall at Turtle Creek became the fifth largest mall in Arkansas in terms of square footage.[7]