Acadiana Mall (French: Centre commerciale de l’Acadian) is an enclosed regional

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

in the city of

Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette (, ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the most populous city and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth largest incorporated municipality by population and the 234th- ...

, located at the intersection of Johnston Street (

U.S. Route 167 U.S. Route 167 runs for from Ash Flat, Arkansas at U.S. Route 62/US Route 412 to Abbeville, Louisiana at Louisiana Highway 14. It goes through the cities of Little Rock, Arkansas, Alexandria, Louisiana, and Lafayette, Louisiana. Some of the high ...

) and Ambassador Caffery Parkway ( Louisiana Highway 3073). It opened in 1979 and was developed by Robert B. Aikens & Associates, but is now owned by

Namdar Realty Group Namdar Realty Group is an American shopping mall investment company based in Great Neck, New York. They primarily purchase shopping malls with partner Mason Asset Management. Namdar and Mason are both family owned, and as of 2021, own over 400 pr ...

. Currently, Acadiana Mall houses three department store anchors (

Dillard's Dillard's, Inc. is an upscale American department store chain with approximately 282 stores in 29 states and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Currently, the largest number of stores are located in Texas with 57 and Florida with 42. The ...

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...

and

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

). In 2015,

Sears Holdings Sears Holdings Corporation was an American holding company headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It was the parent company of the chain stores Kmart and Sears and was founded after the former purchased the latter in 2005. It was the 20th-l ...

spun off 235 of its properties, including the

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

at Acadiana Mall, into Seritage Growth Properties. Sears closed in September 2017 leaving its site vacant. On June 4, 2020, it was announced that JCPenney would be closing as part of a plan to close 154 stores nationwide. However this store was removed from the closing list on July 13, 2020. JCPenney built in 1990 on the site of a closed

Selber Brothers Aaron Rosenbaum Selber Jr. (December 13, 1927 – August 13, 2013) was an American businessman, the last president of the former Selber Bros. department store chain, and a philanthropist from Shreveport, the largest city in the northern portio ...

, while Dillard's was formerly

D. H. Holmes D. H. Holmes was a New Orleans department store and later a New Orleans-based chain of department stores. The company was founded in 1842 by Daniel Henry Holmes, after whom it is named.Maison Blanche Maison Blanche (''White House'' in French) was a department store in New Orleans, Louisiana, and later also a chain of department stores. It was founded in 1897 by Isidore Newman, an immigrant from Germany. Maison Blanche is perhaps best remem ...

, and was sold to Parsian in 1998. Parisian became

Foley's Foley's was a chain of department stores owned by May Department Stores and headquartered in Downtown Houston, Texas. On August 30, 2005, the division was dissolved and operation of the stores was assumed by Federated's Macy's West and Macy's Sout ...

in 2001 before converting again to Macy's in 2006. The mall received a minor facelift in the early 1990s and a major renovation in 2004, bringing in a more contemporary look. On February 21, 2013, the mall changed its name back to Acadiana Mall.

Hurricane Katrina

In 2005, in the aftermath of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

, the mall became the assembly-point and staging area for what became known as the

Cajun Navy The Cajun Navy are informal ''ad hoc'' volunteer groups comprising private boat owners who assist in search and rescue efforts in the United States as well as offer disaster relief assistance. These groups were formed in the aftermath of Hurrica ...

, which was credited with rescuing thousands of flood victims.

References

External links

Acadiana Mall
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acadiana Mall Shopping malls in Louisiana Shopping malls established in 1979 Buildings and structures in Lafayette, Louisiana Tourist attractions in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana Economy of Lafayette, Louisiana Namdar Realty Group