Westfield Annapolis

Annapolis Mall (Westfield Annapolis)
Location Annapolis, Maryland, USA
Coordinates 38°59′23″N 76°32′42″W / 38.989736°N 76.545138°WCoordinates: 38°59′23″N 76°32′42″W / 38.989736°N 76.545138°W
Address 2002 Annapolis Mall, Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Opening date 1980[1]
Developer May Centers, Inc.
Management Westfield Group
Owner Westfield Group
No. of stores and services over 240[2]
No. of anchor tenants 5[2]
Total retail floor area 1,416,774 sq ft (131,622.6 m2).
No. of floors 1 with small mezzanine for Bow Tie Cinemas (Lord & Taylor, Macy*s, Nordstrom, and Forever 21 are 2 Floors) [3]
Parking 4,376
Website westfield.com/annapolis

Annapolis Mall, officially known as Westfield Annapolis, is a shopping mall owned by the Westfield Group that is located near the junction of U.S. Route 50 and Interstate 97 in Parole, near Annapolis, Maryland. Its major stores include Forever 21 (formerly Garfinckel's, then Borders Books and Music), Macy's (formerly Hecht's), Lord & Taylor, Nordstrom, Sears (formerly Montgomery Ward), JCPenney, and Bow Tie Cinema (formerly Crown Theatres).

In November 2007, the mall completed an expansion of over 240,000 square feet (22,000 m2) that includes more than 60 additional stores.[4]

History

Originally opened in 1980 by developer May Centers, Inc., the Annapolis Mall was, at that time, anchored by Hecht's, Garfinckel's, and Montgomery Ward. JCPenney joined the mall a few years later followed by Nordstrom in March 1994 and Lord & Taylor in 1998. After Montgomery Ward went bankrupt and closed in 1999, its location was eventually acquired by Sears, which moved from nearby Parole Plaza in 2002. As the result of a merger in 2006, Hecht's was re-equipped and absorbed into the larger Macy's chain.

In 1992, the original developer May Centers, Inc., was renamed CenterMark Properties and sold by May Department Stores in 1994 to a consortium led by Westfield Holdings, Ltd., a predecessor of Westfield Group. Westfield bought its partnership in CenterMark in 1995 and gained full ownership of the mall in 1997. In 1998 the center was renamed "Westfield Shoppingtown Annapolis", the unwieldy "Shoppingtown" name being dropped in 2005. Despite the name changes, the mall remains most commonly known as the Annapolis Mall.

The original mall contained fountains in the Ward's, JCPenney and center courts which were all removed in 1994. A new fountain was added to the Nordstrom wing during the first expansion, an art installation titled "Sojourner II" designed by D.C. artist Larry Kirkland. A second fountain was added to the center court in the second expansion, along with a kid's play area near JCPenney. There are two mall entrances to Macy's and three to Lord & Taylor. One must walk through Lord & Taylor to get from the "east wing" to the "west wing", which also has entrances to levels P2-3 via elevators, escalators (to P2 only), and stairs (P2-P3).

The site was at one time the location of the Annapolis terminus of the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway, and was known as the "Best Gate" station, which had three single-ended and four double-ended sidings, where rail cars could be shunted on or off of the single-track WB&A east-west railway which ran to the north-south Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and Pennsylvania Railroad lines.[5] This "Best Gate" station gave the name to the nearby Bestgate Road, which today runs along the northern perimeter of the mall.

2006 shooting

On Saturday, November 18, 2006, an off duty United States Secret Service agent was at the mall when he witnessed a fight in progress in the food court. During the attempt to break up the fight, one of the combatants pulled a gun and fired at the agent, wounding him. The agent returned fire, hitting the shooter twice. A third person was wounded in the altercation.[6][7] A Midshipman from the U.S. Naval Academy ran toward the sound of gunshots and provided first aid for the Secret Service agent. That Midshipman later received the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.[8] The mall was closed shortly after the incident, with all patrons asked to leave over the public address system.[6] The associated trial lasted until December 2007 and the shooter was sentenced to 65 years in prison.[9]

2007 expansion

After several attempts, Westfield reached an agreement in 2006 with local planning authorities to reconfigure the center and expand it by over 240,000 square feet (22,000 m2). The total project cost was projected to be over $100,000,000 and was completed on November 1, 2007. New stores include Best Buy Mobile, Pottery Barn, H&M, Lucky Brand Jeans, Ruehl No.925 (closed January 2010), Martin + Osa (closed summer 2010), Sephora, aerie, PINK, Ann Taylor Loft, ESPRIT (closed 2011), GUESS?, Metropark USA (closed August 2009), Under Armour, Quiksilver, Skechers, Vans, Levi's, Fossil, Solstice, Garage, The Buckle, American Apparel, Dockers (closed March 2010), Downtown Locker Room, Hanna Andersson, Pumpkin Patch, Lush, Cheesecake Factory, Swarovski, the LEGO Store, Adidas, Sony Style (closed 2011), Swim N'Sport, Tilly's, Austin Grill, Punk's Backyard Grill (closed 2013), Potbelly Sandwich Works, Stoney River Legendary Steaks, Crate & Barrel, Eddie Bauer, The Disney Store, Francesca's Collections, White House Black Market, Nando's Peri-Peri, and Crazy 8. The Under Armour store is the company's first full-line retail store in the country.

In July 2012, Forever 21 opened in the former Borders Books & Music space.

See also

References

  1. ↑ McCaffrey, Raymond (May 22, 2008). "Annapolis Eyes Funds for Main Street". washingtonpost.com. Washington Post. p. AA03. Retrieved 9 January 2009.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Westfield - Annapolis". westfield.com. Westfield Group. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2009.
  3. ↑ "Find it". westfield.com. Westfield Group. Retrieved 9 January 2009.
  4. ↑ "Westfield Annapolis celebrates official completion of $160 million revitalization". westfield.com. Westfield Group. November 7, 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2009.
  5. ↑ American Electric Railway Association (1906). Proceedings of the American Electric Railway Association.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Associated Press (November 19, 2006). "Secret Service agent wounded in mall shooting". msnbc.com. Microsoft. Retrieved 8 January 2009.
  7. ↑ WBAL-TV; Associated Press (December 21, 2007). "Teen Gets 65 Years In Annapolis Mall Shooting". wbaltv.com. Internet Broadcasting. Retrieved 8 January 2009.
  8. ↑ Valcourt, Derek (January 18, 2007). "Midshipman Honored As Hero In Md. Mall Shooting". WJZ TV. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  9. ↑ Fuller, Nicole (December 22, 2007). "Teen gets 65 years for mall shooting". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved January 1, 2015.

External links