Westfield Southcenter

infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Westfield Southcenter

---

caption = The glass façade of the atrium entrance towers convert|90|ft|m above the ground.
location = Tukwila, Washington, USA
opening_date = July 31, 1968
developer = Allied Stores
manager = The Westfield Group
owner = The Westfield Group
number_of_stores = 218
number_of_anchors = 4
floor_area = ~1,700,000 sq ft.
floors = 1-3
website = http://westfield.com/southcenter
parking = 7,143

Westfield Southcenter, formerly known as Southcenter Mall, is a shopping mall located in Tukwila, Washington, USA. It is currently anchored by JC Penney, Macy's, Nordstrom, and Sears and owned by The Westfield Group. A Rainforest Cafe is also at the mall.

Before Westfield

Opened July 31 1968, and developed by Allied Stores, Southcenter Mall was anchored by Allied's The Bon Marché, Frederick & Nelson, JCPenney and Nordstrom Best. The original marketing campaign in the late '60s and early '70s featured a very young, relatively unknown KIRO-TV "assistant" anchor, Sandy Hill (who later co-hosted Good Morning America). In fact, KIRO partnered with Southcenter in the '70s, occasionally broadcasting the noon news from a set near the Bon Marché. The advertising jingle focused on "one hundred stores and all that room...Southcenter...it's always a beautiful day!". It attempted to lure people in out of the proverbial continual rain in the Seattle area. In 1985, the mall was acquired by Jacobs, Visconsi and Jacobs Co. of Cleveland, Ohio.

Over the years, the anchor stores changed. Nordstrom truncated its name in 1973, and a Mervyn's store was added as a fifth anchor in 1984. Frederick & Nelson went bankrupt and sold its store to Sears in 1992.

Acquisition by Westfield

In early 2002, the mall was purchased by The Westfield Group. [ [http://www.thenewwestfieldsouthcenter.com/history/ Westfield Southcenter] ] At that time it was renamed "Westfield Shoppingtown Southcenter". In June 2005, "Shoppingtown" was dropped from the name. Westfield acquired full ownership of the property when it acquired the underlying leasehold in 2006.

The Bon Marché was renamed Bon-Macy's in 2003 and eventually Macy's in 2005, as part of a rebranding effort by its owner, Federated Department Stores. At the end of 2006, Mervyn's closed all of its stores in Washington and Oregon, including its Southcenter store. Westfield acquired the location and has not announced any plans for the site.

outh expansion

On May, 11, 2006, Westfield broke ground on a $240 million expansion [ [http://westfield.com/southcenter/news/index.html Westfield Southcenter News and Events] ] that was to add convert|400000|sqft|m2 and two parking garages. The first garage (named Olympic Garage, after the Olympic Mountains) was opened on November 22, 2006, in time for the Black Friday shopping rush. In January, 2007, the food court tenants began to move out in preparation for the demolition of the existing food court area. The old food court finally closed on January 28 2007, and was demolished in the following months.

On June 15, 2007, the second parking garage, (named Cascade Garage, after the Cascade Mountains) was opened. Construction continued for the next 13 months, completing in July 2008. The redevelopment added approximately 75 specialty stores, a new atrium and dining terrace with views of Mount Rainier, five new sit-down restaurants, and an AMC Theatres multiplex on top of the center. The AMC Theaters opened on July 18, showing "The Dark Knight", as well as "Space Chimps" and " Mamma Mia!". A week later, on July 25, the remainder of the expansion opened, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring a speech by Governor Christine Gregoire.

Anchors

*JCPenney (240,597 sq ft.)
*Macy's (250,407 sq ft.)
*Nordstrom (165,900 sq ft.)
*Sears (170,800 sq ft.)

References

External links

* [http://www.westfield.com/southcenter/ Westfield Southcenter Official Site]
* [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/neighbors/southcenter/ Mall is the area's main attraction]
* [http://www.thenewwestfieldsouthcenter.com/ New Official Westfield Southcenter Site describing mall expansion]
* [http://www.southcenterparkway.com/ Southcenter - Tukwila Local Area Business Directory]