Meridian Mall

For the mall in Dunedin, New Zealand, see Meridian Mall, Dunedin.

Meridian Mall

Meridian Mall entrance sign along Grand River Avenue
Location	Meridian Charter Township (Okemos), Michigan, United States
Opening date	1969
Management	CBL & Associates Properties
Owner	CBL & Associates Properties
No. of stores and services	125
No. of anchor tenants	5
Total retail floor area	978,128 sq ft (90,871 m2).
No. of floors	1 (2 in Younkers Women's and Dick's)

Meridian Mall is a super-regional shopping mall located in Meridian Township, a suburb of Lansing, Michigan, United States. The mall is near Michigan State University. It opened in 1969, the same year that its main competitor, Lansing Mall, opened on the other end of the Lansing metropolitan area. Meridian Mall features about 125 stores plus a food court. Anchor stores include JCPenney, Macy's and two Younkers stores, with other major tenants including Schuler Books & Music, Bed Bath & Beyond, Dick's Sporting Goods and Old Navy. Meridian Mall is owned and managed by CBL & Associates Properties.

History

Meridian Mall opened in 1969.^[1] The mall was built at the northwest corner of Grand River Avenue (M-43) and Marsh Road in Meridian Charter Township. Originally, the mall was a straight line of stores with an anchor store on either end: discount chain Woolco at the east, and local chain Knapp's at the west, with a G.C. Murphy dime store in the middle.^[2] Meridian Mall also included a four-screen movie theater near center court, and a supermarket near Woolco. Two years later, a second set of theatres (known as the Meridian 4 East) opened in the former supermarket space, and the older theater complex in the mall was re-named Meridian 4 West. A third movie theater was eventually opened in the parking lot as well. Other retail stores soon began opening along Grand River Avenue near the mall, including Kmart (which closed in 1995 and was replaced with Best Buy) and Meijer.

Knapp's closed all of its stores in 1980, and its store at Meridian Mall was sold to JCPenney, which had also acquired Knapp's at Lansing Mall on the other end of Lansing. A new wing was added to the south end of Meridian Mall in 1982, bringing in local chain Hudson's as a third anchor.^[3] Woolco closed later that same year, and its space was eventually divided among a Service Merchandise catalog showroom, a new food court, and additional retail space. In 1987, the mall was expanded again, with a new northern wing ending in a Mervyns department store. The 1980s also brought further expansion to the retail around the mall, with a strip mall anchored by Target opening on the other side of Marsh Road.

1990s and 2000s

Meridian Mall side entrance from west end of building

On August 27, 1998, CBL & Associates Properties acquired Meridian Mall from Samuels & Associates.^[4][5] Service Merchandise declared bankruptcy a year later. The former Service Merchandise was demolished for a two-story Jacobson's department store in 2000, replacing an existing Jacobson's in nearby East Lansing which was closed and converted to a Barnes & Noble bookstore.^[5][6] Around 2000, the Meridian 4 West theaters closed and was converted to mall space, while the East theater complex remained open for a longer time.^[7][8]

Bed Bath & Beyond, Steve & Barry's and Old Navy were added to the mall in the early 2000s, while MC Sports was closed. The former MC Sports was soon demolished for a new wing angling off the center court. This wing featured a new food court with new restaurants such as A&W and Blimpie, as well as a Galyan's sporting goods store, which opened in August 2001.^[1] At the time, this was the chain's closest location to a college campus (specifically, Michigan State University).^[1] Schuler Books & Music subsequently replaced the mall's former food court, having moved from a smaller store nearby.^[1] Also in 2001, Hudson's was renamed Marshall Field's by parent company Target Corporation.

Jacobson's declared bankruptcy in 2002 and closed.^[9] A year after closing, the former Jacobson's was converted to Younkers,^[1] which had also opened at Lansing Mall that same year. Due to space limitations in the old Jacobson's space, Younkers operated its men's and children's departments in a separate storefront adjacent to the former Jacobson's, and as a result, the mall's offices and Steve & Barry's were both relocated.

The mall's second theater complex, Meridian 4 East, closed in 2003 and was converted to retail space.^[10] Also, in 2004, Dick's Sporting Goods acquired and renamed all of the Galyan's stores. Two more changes came to the mall's anchors in 2006; first, in early 2006, Mervyns closed all of its Michigan stores, and later the same year, Marshall Field's was one of several chains to be acquired and renamed by Macy's.

Younkers announced in 2007 that it would add a second store in the former Mervyns space. The second store, opened in September 2008, comprised the men's, children's and home goods departments, while the women's departments were retained at the existing Younkers.^[11]

2010 and Beyond

The former Meridian Mall Outer 6 AMC movie theater, known as the Meridian Mall 6 since the closing of the East theaters, closed its doors on September 5, 2011.^[12]

Transportation

Meridian Mall serves as a hub for the Capital Area Transportation Authority (CATA). It is the eastern terminus of CATA's Route 1 (running along Grand River Avenue and Michigan Avenue to downtown Lansing), Route 22 (to MSU via Haslett), and Route 23 (to MSU via Okemos). It is also served by the CATA Rural Service.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Whittington, Jane (2002-11-01). "Meridian Mall Evolves, Expands". Greater Lansing Business Monthly. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5316/is_200211/ai_n21321032. Retrieved 2008-09-29. 
2. ^ The Michigan Assessor. 17. 1976. p. 5. http://books.google.com/books?id=RfHlAAAAMAAJ&q=%22meridian+mall%22+woolco&dq=%22meridian+mall%22+woolco&cd=2. 
3. ^ "Hudson's to open second outlet in Lansing area in July 1982". The Toledo Blade. 1981-06-09. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Z30UAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KQMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5514,4132764&dq=meridian-mall. Retrieved 2009-09-23. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ CBL & Associates Properties Acquires Two Malls in Michigan and Wisconsin
5. ^ ^{a b} "Improvements to Meridian Mall boast new stores, better floors". The State News. http://www.statenews.com/article.phtml?pk=6010. 
6. ^ Jacobson’s reopens doors
7. ^ http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/28062
8. ^ http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20110903/NEWS01/109030319/Meridian-Mall-theater-close-doors-Tuesday
9. ^ Last hurrah at Jacobson's lures bargain hunters
10. ^ http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/28062
11. ^ Prater, Kathryn (2007-11-08). "Younkers to split its Okemos store". Lansing State Journal. http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071108/NEWS01/711080362/1001/news06. Retrieved 2007-11-13. 
12. ^ http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20110903/NEWS01/109030319/Meridian-Mall-theater-close-doors-Tuesday

External links

• Meridian Mall web site

Coordinates: 42°43′30″N 84°25′08″W / 42.724885°N 84.418774°W / 42.724885; -84.418774