Totem Lake Mall

Coordinates: 47°42′45″N 122°10′51″W / 47.712534°N 122.180736°W / 47.712534; -122.180736

Totem Lake Mall is a small shopping mall in Kirkland, Washington, United States. The center consists of an enclosed shopping mall (Lower Mall), and an adjacent strip mall (Upper Mall). Collectively, the two centers are sometimes referred to as "Totem Lake Malls". Following the redevelopment of major regional malls beginning in the 1980s, Totem Lake Mall went into steady decline, losing most of its major tenants. Multiple redevelopments for the property have been proposed but have never been carried out.

Major tenants in the Lower Mall are Cartoys, Ross Dress for Less, Sleep Country USA, Famous Footwear, Family Christian Book Center, My Home Furniture brand new in 2013, 24 Hour Fitness and the stand alone, Auto Zone and Key Bank. Often, spaces in the lower mall are leased by short-term and seasonal tenants. The Upper Mall includes Denny's Pet World, Guitar Center, Hallmark Cards, Trader Joe's, and Big 5 Sporting Goods.

The majority of these tenants are only accessible on the outside, shying away from the interior mall concept popular throughout the 1960s-1990s. Other malls in the Seattle - Tacoma area such as Northgate Mall and Lakewood Towne Center have switched to this concept as well, having tenants on the outside as well as the inside.

History

Originally called the Totem Lake Center, the mall was first proposed in early 1968^[3] and ground was broken in June 1972.^[4] The mall was the second phase of a larger Totem Lake center project including the Evergreen Hospital campus and nearby apartment complexes, all developed by Totem Lake, Inc. around the small lake of the same name, originally known as Lake Watstine. The mall was designed with an "Indian longhouse theme" by Richard C. Bouillon & Co., the same firm that designed the Lake Forest Park Center in 1964 in a chalet theme. John Graham & Company were in charge of designing the interior.^[5][6] Although the opening of the mall was originally scheduled for April 1, 1973,^[7] the first stores in the mall opened on May 2,^[8] and the rest of the lower mall opened on May 31, 1973.^[9] The mall's 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m²) Lamonts Anchor tenant/department store, the sixth in that chain, was still under construction at the time, and would not open until October 17 of that year.^[10] Other anchors at the mall included other divisions of the Pay 'n Save Corporation including Ernst Home & Nursery, Schuck's Auto Supply, still existing until recently, a Pay 'n Save Drug store and Sportsland, later acquired by Big 5 Sporting Goods. Construction of the separate Eastern portion of the mall continued into 1974, and the East Mall was opened in July 1974. Construction of the mall would lead to the annexation of the Totem Lake Neighborhood by the city of Kirkland in 1974.^[11][12] The adjacent Totem Lake Cinemas opened in 1980.

A huge snow storm in 1997 caused part of the lower mall's roof to cave in, triggering the sprinklers and flooding the entire mall in 3 inches (76 mm) of water. Because of water damage, the mall's original wood parquet flooring was replaced with ceramic tile.^[13]

Troubles

Arguably a dead mall today, the mall has been struggling financially and facing a "steady loss of tenants" since the early 2000s.^[14] The mall has been described as a "white elephant".^[15]

The first blow to the mall occurred in late 1996 when anchor Ernst Home & Nursery closed as part of the company's bankruptcy. The space eventually was divided into three stores, Ross, Famous Footwear and Cartoys, and given a remodel that contrasted greatly with the rest of the mall. This part of the mall remained occupied while the rest of the mall slowly languished.

The main mall has many vacant spaces where anchor tenants used to be, such as Lamonts (later Gottschalks). In November 2006, the Rite Aid drugstore moved out of the mall to a free standing location up the street. And CompUSA closed in May 2007. As of July 2007, the mall interior has only two major retailers: Sleep Country USA, and a Christian bookstore. The Old Country Buffet closed in September 2008 due to chapter 11 bankruptcy consolidation. The latest vacancy occurred in March 2010 when one of the mall's only original remaining tenants, Schuck's Auto Parts, acquired and renamed by O'Reilly Auto Parts, relocated off the mall property.

Label scars (where the name of a store was displayed) still clearly indicate where many former stores were, such as Gottschalks, Radio Shack, Rite Aid, Comp USA and Grab Bag (a party supply store). The Sweet Shop (a candy store), still has signs up, despite being closed for a few years. Even a partial logo from Jay Jacobs, a local boutique that closed in 1999, is visible. Although the decor of the mall was originally themed in the style of a Native American long house, the current interior decor of the mall is from the 1980s.

Sale and Redevelopment

In January 2004, the mall was sold by CalPERS to Developers Diversified Realty (DDR) for $37 million. DDR has discussed plans to tear it down and redevelop a multistory, mixed residential-retail complex.^[16][17] As of February 2008, the City of Kirkland had not received an application for design review and did not know the planned mix of tenants, although the city did receive a conceptual master plan.^[18] In February 2009, it was revealed that due to the harsh economic climate, DDR had postponed its redevelopment plans for the mall indefinitely and was searching for someone to buy the property.^[19] DDR still retains ownership of the property but has no current plans to redevelop the site.

Anchors

Lower Mall

• Cartoys
• Family Christian Book Stores
• Famous Footwear
• 24 Hour Fitness
• Ross Dress For Less (29,172 sq ft.)
• Sleep Country USA

Upper Mall

• Big 5 Sporting Goods (12,000 sq ft.)
• Guitar Center (20,216 sq ft.)
• Trader Joe's (9,500 sq ft.)
• Denny's Pet World
• Mark's Hallmark

Popular culture

Matt Harding from the Internet Phenomenon, "Where the Hell is Matt?" dance videos, states in his website FAQ:

What’s your least favorite (place)?

"The Totem Lake Shopping Center in Kirkland, Washington. It’s the most depressing place I’ve ever been. I almost didn’t make it out. I think it might be some kind of gateway to the netherworld."^[20]

References

External links

• Blog post with photos of the current state of the mall