Westwood Mall (Houston, Texas)

Infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Westwood Mall

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caption = The Sears at Westwood Mall, which is still open for business
location = Houston, Texas, USA
address =
coordinates =
opening_date = 1975
closing_date = 1998
developer =
manager =
owner =
architect =
number_of_stores =
number_of_anchors = 2
floor_area =
floors = 2
parking =
website =
footnotes =

Westwood Mall was a shopping mall located in the Westwood business development in Houston, Texas.

Westwood Mall opened in 1975 with anchors Joske's and Sears, along with over 60 stores. The mall was two stories, featuring a food court. The unconventional main entrance had escalators and an elevator from the first floor foyer to the second floor mall level instead of going directly to the food court that was blocked by the escalator/elevator. Unlike the front entrance, the rear entrance led directly to the food court. Joske's was converted to Dillard's in 1987.

At the time that it was built, it was located in the Alief section of unincorporated Harris County; the area was annexed by Houston shortly thereafter. The mall, which was located at the intersection of U.S. Route 59 and Bissonnet Street, always had difficulty competing with nearby and more established Sharpstown Mall. However, the area surrounding the mall was considered prime real estate and Westwood also benefited from being the closest mall to rapidly growing Fort Bend County. Additionally, many car dealerships were built around the mall to serve customers from new residential developments in the surrounding areas. Many of these dealerships are still in operation today and remain successful even after the mall's demise. Even new ones were built--a BMW dealership opened in the late 1990s.

In 1988, the mall completed a renovation that added skylights and improved the mall's overall image. At one point, Westwood considered adding Foley's as a third anchor, which would have resulted in the chain closing its store at Sharpstown Mall. However, Sharpstown Mall underwent its own renovation in 1993 which added several new features including an eight-screen movie theater, taking a bite out of Westwood's sales figures and renaming itself Sharpstown Center. Additionally, crime began to plague the area surrounding Westwood, including two incidents at the mall itself in only a two-month span. [http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1993_1140813] , "Houston Chronicle", July 12, 1993] [http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1993_1150943] , "Houston Chronicle", September 2, 1993] which still operates its store that opened before Westwood ever did, the mall is occupied by offices. The mall today operates as the Southwest Corporate Center (SWCC).

References

External links

* [http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/1998/11/02/newscolumn3.html Houston Business Journal] , Telecheck eyes old Dillard's space in Westwood Technology Center, October 30, 1998.