Landmark Mall

The Landmark Mall, or Landmark Regional Shopping Center, opened in 1965, and was the first mall in the Washington D.C. area to feature three anchor department stores; the Hecht Company (163,000 square ft), Sears and Roebuck (236,000 square ft), and Woodward & Lothrop (151,000 square ft). ["New Area Center to Get 3 Major Stores," by S. Oliver Goodman, "The Washington Post, Times Herald", Sep 22, 1963, pg. E8.] The mall is located in a triangle formed by Duke Street (Virginia State Route 236), Shirley Highway (I-395), and Van Dorn Street (Virginia State Route 401) in Alexandria, Virginia. The mall opening occurred on August 4, 1965, when then Lt. Gov. Mills E. Godwin, Jr. cut the ceremonial ribbon. ["Sears, Hecht Stores Open in Alexandria Almidst Music, Bargains, Traffic Jams," by Ruth Wagner and Larry Weckley, "The Washington Post, Times Herald", Aug 5, 1965, p. F1.] The mall opened with 32 stores in the 675,000 square foot center including Bond Clothes, Casual Corner, People's Drug Store, Raleigh Haberdasher, Thom McAn, and Waldenbooks. ["Sears, Hecht Open New Stores Today," "The Washington Post, Times Herald", Aug 4, 1965, p. E8.] The center also included the second location of S&W Cafeteria in the Washington D.C. suburbs.

Originally an outdoor mall, it was enclosed about 1990. Plans announced in 2008, are to revitalize the mall by converting it to an open-air "town center" shopping center. [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/23/AR2008012301340.html "Moving a Landmark Into a New Era: Plans to Convert the Historic Mall Into an Open-Air Center Are Getting Revived,"] by Daniela Deane, Jan 24, 2008, P. VA12.]

Anchors and major retailers

*Lord & Taylor
*Macy's
*Sears (original anchor)

Former anchors

*Hecht Company - Original anchor; now Macy's
*Woodward & Lothrop - Original anchor; now Lord & Taylor

References

External Links

* [http://www.landmarkmall.com/html/index18.asp Landmark Mall website]