Somersville Towne Center

Infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Somersville Towne Center


image_width =
caption =
location = Antioch, California, United States
address = 2550 Somersville Towne Center, Antioch, CA, 94509
coordinates =
opening_date = 1966
closing_date =
developer =
manager =
owner = The Macerich Company
architect =
number_of_stores = 65
number_of_anchors = 5
floor_area = convert|501259|sqft|m2|1|abbr=on|sigfig=4
floors =
parking =
website = [http://www.somersvilletownecenter.com/ SomersvilleTowneCenter.com]
footnotes =

Somersville Towne Center is a regional shopping mall located in Antioch, California. Previously named County East Mall until 2004, the convert|501259|sqft|m2|sigfig=4 mall is managed by The Macerich Company. [cite news |title=Fictitious Business Name Filings |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-9029115_ITM |work=Contra Costa Times |date=2003-11-23 |quote=Somersville Towne Center, The Macerich Partnership L.P. (a California limited partnership), Madonna Shannon, 2556 Somersville Road] Originally opened in 1966cite news |url=http://www.byronpress.com/article.cfm?articleID=18099 |work=The Byron Press |title=Retailers ho-ho-hoping for Xmas sales |date=2007-11-09] , it is strategically positioned in one of the fastest growing areas of the San Francisco Bay area, east Contra Costa County. Along with high population growth, east Contra Costa County is also experiencing sizable household income increases. [cite news |work=Contra Costa Times |title=East Contra Costa County, Calif., Becomes Retail Development Hot Spot |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-9010532_ITM |date=2003-12-21 |first=Janet |last=Adamy]

Somersville Towne Center is the only enclosed regional mall in east Contra Costa County. The mall is anchored by Gottschalks, Macy's, Mervyn's, Sears, and Marshall's.Cite news |work=Antioch Press |title=New retailers at Somersville Towne Center |url=http://www.antiochpress.com/article.cfm?articleID=17906 |date=2007-10-19] cite news |title=Somersville center gets infusion of new tenants |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2007/10/01/story5.html?jst=s_cn_hl |work=East Bay Business Times |first=David |last=Goll |date=2007-09-28]

Anchors & majors

*Sears (convert|66500|sqft|m2|sigfig=4, opened 1966)
*Gottschalks (convert|80000|sqft|m2|sigfig=4, opened 1989)
*Mervyn's (convert|75037|sqft|m2|sigfig=4, opened 1966, closing November 2008)
*Macy's (convert|106685|sqft|m2|sigfig=4, opened June 2004)
*Marshall's (convert|27000|sqft|m2|sigfig=4, opened March 2008)
*24 Hour Fitness (convert|30939|sqft|m2|sigfig=4)

History

County East Mall was opened in 1966 as an open-air mall with Sears, Mervyns, and W. T. Grant as the original anchor tenants.cite book |title=Antioch |author=Antioch Historical Society |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |date=2005 |first=Elizabeth |last=Rimsbault |chapter=Business and Commerce |isbn=0738530298] In the mid-1970s, JCPenney replaced Grant's as the mall's third anchor. A major overhaul in the late-1980s transformed the mall into an enclosed shopping center with Gottschalks added as a fourth anchor tenant. JCPenney closed on January 25, 1997 [cite news |work=Contra Costa Times |title=JCPenney is closing at County East Mall |page=C01 |first=Ann |last=Griffith |date=1996-11-12] , and would not be replaced until abandoned convert|97000|sqft|m2|sigfig=3 building was torn down in 2003 and the larger Macy's anchor was constructed in 2004. [cite news |work=Contra Costa Times |title=JCPenney to make a comeback in Antioch |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-31287781_ITM |date=2007-06-15 |first=Simon |last=Read] Further expansion brought in Marshall's as a fifth anchor in March 2008.cite news |work=Contra Costa Times |title=Antioch multiuse complex to open April 1 |date=2008=03-22 |quote= Another national retail chain, Marshalls, opened a store at the Somersville Towne Center last week.] In August 2008, Mervyns announced it would close several underperforming stores, including the Somersville Towne Center location.Cite news |work=The Mercury News |title=Mervyns closing four Bay Area stores; two in East Bay |url=http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10191226 |date=2008-08-13 |first=George |last=Avalos] Final closing of the store is expected in early November 2008.

Renovations

A major overhaul completed in 1989 transformed County East Mall from an open air shopping mall to an enclosed shopping center.cite web |work=Big Mallrat: Guide to Northen California Malls |url=http://www.bigmallrat.com/shopping-malls/antioch/somersville-towne-center.html |title=Guide to Somersville Towne Center |accessdate=2008-08-27] The mall's most recent renovation was in 2004, including the opening of the Macy's anchor tenant in a new two-story building and a cosmetic makeover of the mall's interior.cite news |work=Oakland Tribune |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20061101/ai_n16815247/pg_2 |title=Malls throughout East Bay court shoppers; Shopping center makeovers |date=2006-11-01 |first=Blanca |last=Torres] The new construction and makeover, which included new paint, new landscaping, new flooring, and improvements to the mall's entrances, cost a reported US$20 million.cite news |work=Contra Costa Times |title=Antioch, Calif., Mall to Revamp for Macy's |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-8783810_ITM |date=2002-09-21 |first=Jane |last=Ramsey] The mall also changed names from County East Mall to Somersville Towne Center at this time.

References

External links

* [http://www.somersvilletownecenter.com/ Somersville Towne Center website]