Ashland Town Center

Infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Ashland Town Center


image_width =
caption =
location = Ashland, Kentucky, USA
address =
coordinates =
opening_date = 1989
closing_date =
developer = Glimcher Realty Trust
Edward J. DeBartolo
Crown American
manager =
owner = Glimcher Realty Trust
architect =
number_of_stores = 73 [cite web |url=http://www.glimcher.com/files/properties/1/mall_profile.pdf |title=Mall Profile |accessdate=2008-06-16 |work=Glimcher]
number_of_anchors = 4
floor_area = convert|441330|sqft|m2|1 (GLA) [cite web |url=http://www.icsc.org/apps/dmmdisp.php?dispid=KY0310 |title=Directory of Major Malls |accessdate=2008-06-16 |work=International Council of Shopping Centers]
floors = 1
website = http://www.ashlandtowncenter.com/
footnotes =

Ashland Town Center is an enclosed shopping mall located in the city of Ashland, Kentucky, United States. One of two malls serving the city (the other being Kyova Mall), it is located on U.S. Highway 23 near downtown Ashland. The mall features more than seventy retailers and restaurants, as well as a food court. Anchor stores comprise Belk, Goody's, and JCPenney, with a fourth anchor space previously occupied by Wal-Mart. As of mid-2008, this former Wal-Mart space is being renovated for the construction of a newer, larger JCPenney store, which opened on August, 1st, 2008

History

Ashland Town Center was developed in 1988 as a joint venture of Glimcher Realty Trust (the mall's owner), along with Edward J. Debartolo Corporation (now part of Simon Property Group) and Crown American.cite news |first=Sheila M. |last=Poole |title=Wal-Mart to be third anchor at Ashland mall |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LH&s_site=kentucky&p_multi=LH&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB73B31964E3060&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |work=Lexington Herald-Leader |page=A11 |date=1989-01-13 |accessdate=2008-06-16] The mall, which was developed on a site outside downtown Ashland, opened in 1989 with Wal-Mart, JCPenney, and Hess's, a department store chain based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, as anchor stores; Goody's was later added as a fourth anchor. The same year, a second mall in Ashland, the Cedar Knoll Galleria (now Kyova Mall), was developed on the other end of town. This mall would become a dead mall by the late 1990s. Throughout the 1990s, Ashland Town Center went largely unchanged. In 1993, the Hess's chain sold several of its locations to Alcoa, Tennessee-based Proffitt's, which in turn sold its stores to Belk in 2006.

Mid-2000s renovations

Also in 2006, the Wal-Mart anchor was vacated when Wal-Mart relocated to a new Supercenter outside the mall itself. The former Wal-Mart space was then demolished in early 2008 for a newer JCPenney store.cite web |url=http://www.herald-dispatch.com/specialsections/progress1/x762461918 |title=J.C. Penney, Cheddar's coming to Ashland mall |accessdate=2008-06-16 |last=Malloy |first=David E. |date=2008-03-01 |work=The Herald-Dispatch] Construction on this new store, one of three JCPenney prototype stores in the U.S., began soon afterward. Opened in August 2008, the store is twice the size of the former location, and the largest department store in the state of Kentucky. [cite web |url=http://www.huntingtonnews.net/local/071119-rutherford-localjcpenneystore.html |title=Concept Store: convert|104000|sqft|m2|sing=on J.C. Penney Replacing Wal-Mart at Ashland Town Center |accessdate=2008-06-16 |date=2007-11-19 |work=Huntington News Network] The existing JCPenney store was then vacted, and it will replaced with two smaller stores.

In addition to the relocation of JCPenney, Ashland Town Center is undergoing further renovations in 2008. A portion of the mall's food court will be removed for new retail space, and new handicap-accessible restrooms will be added. [cite web |url=http://www.dailyindependent.com/local/local_story_321230155.html |title=JCPenney to take former Wal-Mart space |accessdate=2008-06-16 |date=2007-11-17 |work=The Daily Independent] Additional mall tenants will also be relocated, so that more retail space can be created in the future JCPenney corridor. [cite web |url=http://www.dailyindependent.com/local/local_story_043234630.html |title=Redevelopment planned at Ashland Town Center |accessdate=2008-06-16 |date=2008-02-12 |work=The Daily Independent] A Cheddar's Casual Café has also been constructed in the parking lot.

References

External links

* [http://www.ashlandtowncenter.com/ Ashland Town Center]