Springdale Mall

Infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Springdale Mall


image_width =
caption =
location = Mobile, Alabama, United States
address = 3250 W. Airport Blvd.
coordinates =
opening_date = 1959
closing_date =
developer =
manager = Centro Properties
owner =
architect =
number_of_stores = 13
number_of_anchors = 9
floor_area =
floors = 1
parking =
website =
footnotes =

Springdale Mall is a shopping center located in Mobile, Alabama, United States, directly across from Bel Air Mall. Opened in 1959 as an open-air shopping center, Springdale Mall was later redeveloped as an enclosed shopping center. Facing competition from larger shopping centers in the area, Springdale was demolished in stages in the 2000s, with most of the former enclosed mall being replaced with big box stores.

Springdale is almost entirely an open-air center again, featuring Barnes & Noble, Belk, Best Buy, Burlington Coat Factory, Old Navy, Sam's Club and Staples as anchor stores. The center is managed and owned by Centro Properties.

History

Opened in November 1959 as an open-air regional shopping center, [Citation
title =Springdale Is Opened By Officials
newspaper =Mobile Register
pages =K-37
year =1999
date =December 12, 1999 ] Springdale was initially anchored by W.T. Grant, JCPenney and two supermarkets: Delchamps and National. [ Mobile, Alabama Telephone Directory - October 1959 Edition] Gayfers, a Mobile-based department store, would serve as the flagship anchor upon its completion in the summer of 1960. [Citation
last =Andrews
first =Casandra
title =Remembering Gayfers
newspaper =Mobile Register
pages =E-1
year =2003
date =July 13, 2003 ]

Competition would arrive in late 1967 in the form of Bel Air Mall, an enclosed mall which was anchored by Sears and Hammel's.

An enclosed wing was completed in 1974, adjacent to the east end of the Gayfers building; this wing was anchored by Montgomery Ward and a six-screen movie theater (later expanded to eleven screens). [Citation
last =Brantley
first =Mike
title =Best Seats in the House
newspaper =Mobile Register
pages =B-1
year =1999
date =March 13, 1999 ] In the late 1980s, Toys "R" Us co-tenanted the Montgomery Ward building. A second enclosed wing was added in 1988, leading from Gayfers to an existing McRae's store that opened four years earlier. This "west mall" featured more nationally known in-line retailers such as The Limited, Express and Victoria's Secret. After the completion of the west wing, the mall comprised two separate enclosed wings, as well as the original 1950s strip.

Barnes & Noble debuted its first South Alabama location in Springdale in the spring of 1994, followed by Old Navy, which opened its first Alabama store here, two years later, in the fall of 1996. [Citation
last =Chunn
first =Sherri
title =Old Navy Clothing opens Nov. 20
newspaper =Mobile Register
pages =B-9
year =1996
date =November 13, 1996 ]

Renovations

Springdale Mall was purchased in 1997 by CBL & Associates Properties.cite web |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1997_Sept_17/ai_19758317 |title=CBL & Associates Properties Acquires Springdale Mall |accessdate=2007-11-28 |date=1997-09-17 |work=Business Wire] In August 1998, Mercantile Stores, the owners of Gayfers and a host of regional department store nameplates, was purchased by Arkansas-based Dillard's. Although a full-line Dillard's was present across the street in Bel Air Mall, Dillard's initially maintained the former Gayfers at Springdale as a full-line Dillard's as well. [Citation
last =Tortano
first =David
title =Dillards in the Making
newspaper =Mobile Register
pages =B-7
year =1998
date =August 18, 1998 ]

Also in 1998, Montgomery Ward closed its doors at Springdale Mall; the former Montgomery Ward space was later replaced with Burlington Coat Factory. The adjacent Toys "R" Us store was also shuttered in favor of a newer store nearby. [Citation
last =Jumper
first =Kathy
title =Retail Momentum Shifts
newspaper =Mobile Register
pages =J-1
year =2004
date =July 18, 2004 ]

Throughout the late 1990s and into the 2000s, several more big box stores were added to the mall's tenant roster. The first of these, Goody's Family Clothing, was added in 1998, [cite web |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/CBL+&+Associates+Properties+Announces+New+Anchors+for+Three+Shopping...-a020592454 |title=CBL & Associates Properties Announces New Anchors for Three Shopping Centers. |accessdate=2007-11-28 |date=1999-05-14 |work=Business Wire] followed by Staples and Linens 'n Things, both of which took up portions of the east mall. The former "west mall" from McRae's to Dillard's was gutted in 2001 for a Best Buy [Citation
last =Jumper
first =Kathy
title =Best Buy store to build in mall
newspaper =Mobile Register
pages =8-B
year =2001
date =January 19, 2001 ] while Dillard's itself closed a year later. [cite web |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2002_Dec_3/ai_94841125 |title=Dillard's, Inc. Announces Three Store Closures |accessdate=2007-11-28 |date=2002-12-03 |work=Business Wire]

By 2004, the former Dillard's was demolished, as was part of the mall's eastern enclosed wing; Staples, Linens 'n Things, Springdale Cinema and one in-line tenant space were all retained, as was the mall corridor leading to the theater entry. On the site formerly occupied by Dillard's, a Sam's Club was constructed in 2005. The same year, McRae's was acquired by Belk.

In 2008, Springdale Plaza would lose both the Goody's Family Clothing and Linen 'n Things anchors.

References

* [http://www.deadmalls.com/malls/springdale_mall.html Springdale Mall History]

External links

* [http://www.centroprop.com/PropertyProfile_short.asp?ProjectID=PALSPRNG1 Leasing information]