Memorial City Mall

Memorial City Mall

Location	Houston, Texas, USA
Opening date	1962
Owner	MetroNational
No. of stores and services	145
No. of anchor tenants	5
Total retail floor area	1,700,000 sq ft (160,000 m2).
No. of floors	2 (top floor contains only movie theater)
Website	www.memorialcitymall.com

Memorial City Mall is a large shopping mall in Memorial, Houston, Texas, United States, at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Gessner Road, adjacent to the large Memorial Hermann medical complex. Constructed in the early 1960s, the mall has since grown to be one of the city's more popular malls, mostly due to a large renovation project that took place in the early 2000s.

History

First mall

The Memorial City Mall completed in 1966 was a very middle-market shopping venue, with the aforementioned Sears, plus Walgreen Drug, Piccadilly Cafeteria and an S.H. Kress variety / 5 and 10 store. A single-screen cinema, the Memorial Theater, was also connected with the interior mallway. It opened in June 1966. A Montgomery Ward was added, as a second anchor store, in 1972.

Town & Country rivalry

Memorial City Mall was expanded with a Foley's and Battelstein's in 1974. These were located in a new East Wing. Lord and Taylor joined the mall, as a west addition, in 1977. The mall now housed 1.3 million leasable square feet.

Town & Country Mall was dedicated in 1983. Located only a mile west of Memorial City Mall on Interstate 10 and Beltway 8, it featured more upscale stores, such as Neiman Marcus, Marshall Field and Company and Saks Fifth Avenue. Shoppers preferred Town & Country's retail mix and, for a time, it was considered the more fashion-conscious mall of the two.

Memorial City attempted to regain market share by renovating with the installation of Fame City, a multi-faceted family entertainment complex, complete with an indoor mini golf course, kiddie ride area, video game arcade, teen disco, roller skating rink and new 8-screen, Loew's multiplex cinema. These attractions opened during 1989. Moreover, the mall hosted specialty conventions for items such as model trains.

However, Fame City was not successful and the retail hub continued to decline. Frost Brothers, which had been taken over the Battelstein's store in 1980, closed 1986. Lord & Taylor was shuttered and replaced with a Mervyn's in 1989. In 1997, Neiman Marcus announced it was shutting down its Town and Country Mall location in favor of moving to Memorial City.

The younger rival suffered, as well, as the construction of the new Sam Houston Tollway made visibility and access difficult. That, in combination with the effect of the 1980s oil glut on Houston, was the beginning of the end for Town & Country Mall as it lost popularity with shoppers. The interior had become dated and available leasing space was small and crowded. T&C lost several tenants, including anchors Dillard's and JCPenney to Memorial City before closing in 2004 and was demolished shortly thereafter.

Revival

By the early 2000s, the area surrounding Memorial City Mall had returned to prosperity thanks to a USD$500 million renovation project that took place from 2001 to 2005. During the period, over 100 new retail shops were added to the complex, including five new anchor stores.

Shortly after the project started, in November 2001, the original, one-level Foley's store was replaced with a larger, 2-level store. Lord and Taylor, which had left the mall in 1989, returned with a new 2-level store in March 2002. The eight-screen movie theater was closed in 2002 after its owner, Trammell Crow Co., filed for bankruptcy in early 2001.

The old Foley's was demolished, with an extended east concourse and a new Dillard's taking its place in October 2003. Two parking garages were constructed, as well. The expansion and renovation attracted stores from other areas of the city. Target demolished the old Montgomery Ward (vacated in January 2001) and replaced it with a newly constructed Target in October 2003. With the goal of "creating a total family experience", large-scale renovation of the property continued through 2004 with the construction of a large 2,600 sq. ft. play area for children and a NHL-standard sized ice rink.

A new 16-screen Cinemark movie theater with stadium seating opened adjacent to Sears in May 2007. This project returns a movie theater to Memorial City Mall since the previous Loews Theater closed in 2002.

In 2005, Lord & Taylor departed the Houston area for good. Their store space became a JCPenney in February 2006. Mervyn's was shut down in 2006 and demolished soon after. During 2009 and 2010, a skyway was constructed across Gessner Road connecting Memorial City to a future Westin hotel being constructed at the Memorial Hermann medical center, slated to open in 2011.

Layout

Memorial City has a very spread out layout. Most large department stores have their own concourses leading out to them.

Concourses

There are three major concourses in the mall and two small ones. They are:

Large

• Target concourse
• Sears concourse
• Dillard's concourse

Small

• Macy's concourse
• JCPenney concourse

The Dillard's concourse is the longest, following a slow, curving route. The concourse is lined with very new stores, most of them clothing stores. Near the Dillard's entrance, there are exits to parking lots and, during the Christmas season, a large Christmas tree in the center. Most spaces around the mall exits still have not been filled since the wing opened due to oversupply.

Target and Sears both have similar-sized concourses, however, traffic is busier in the Target concourse.

Macy's and JCPenney have small concourses due to the limited space around them. Both have very limited retail space.

Food court

The food court at Memorial City incorporates about 13 restaurant spaces, 12 incorporated. In the main food court area there is a carousel, and seating everywhere else. Outside the five core restaurants there is seating everywhere, and also on an outside patio. There is also an escalator up to the Cinemark Movie Theater.

This is an incomplete list of restaurants:

• Berryhill Baja Grill
• Chick-Fil-A
• Extreme Pita
• La Petite Bistro
• Manchu Wok
• Marble Slab Creamery
• McDonald's
• Sbarro
• Subway
• Taco Bell

Anchors

JCPenney is in a former Lord & Taylor store that existed from 2002 to 2005. Macy's bought Foley's, and Target is on the former Montgomery Ward footprint.

• Dillard's (249,222 sq ft.)
• JCPenney (140,688 sq ft.)
• Macy's (294,653 sq ft.)
• Sears (218,454 sq ft.)
• Target (142,057 sq ft.)

Former anchors

• Mervyn's (1989–2005)
• Lord & Taylor (1977–1989; 2002–2005)
• Frost Bros. (closed 1988)
• Montgomery Ward (closed 2001)

Security

The mall is served by Terrace Security Company. Outside the mall, "security ambassadors" patrol the mall in SUVs, bicycles, Segways, and by foot. Many stores have implemented their own systems, particularly the jewelry stores near the food court. Memorial City Mall reported the lowest crime rate during the 2006 holiday season compared to similar retail facilities within the Houston area.

See also

• List of shopping malls in Greater Houston

External links

• Memorial City Mall, official website