Chesterfield Towne Center
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Chesterfield Towne Center is an enclosed
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 ...
located in the Richmond, Virginia metropolitan area in unincorporated
Chesterfield County, Virginia Chesterfield County is located just south of Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county's borders are primarily defined by the James River to the north and the Appomattox River to the south. Its county seat is Chesterfield Court H ...
. It opened in 1975 and features five anchor stores: At Home,
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 ...
,
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 ...
, and a combination
TJ Maxx TJ Maxx (stylized as T•J•maxx) is an American department store chain, selling at prices generally lower than other major similar stores. It has more than 1,000 stores in the United States, making it one of the largest clothing retailers in ...
/
HomeGoods HomeGoods is a chain of home furnishing stores headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts. It was founded as a small chain in 1992, and grew to include hundreds of locations throughout the United States. HomeGoods sells furniture, linens, cooking ...
, with one vacant anchor last occupied by
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 ...
.


History

Chesterfield Mall, as the center was originally known, opened in 1975. Its sole anchor was
Miller & Rhoads Miller & Rhoads was a Virginia-based department store chain. Throughout its 105-year lifespan, the store played an active role in the Richmond, Virginia community, along with its friendly cross-street rival Thalhimers. The Richmond flagship locat ...
. During the mall's initial years, traffic was sluggish, leading some to refer to it as the "Chesterfield Morgue." In 1987, the mall underwent a major renovation and expansion, adding the
Hess's Hess's was a department store chain based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company started in 1897 with one store, originally known as Hess Brothers, and grew to nearly 80 stores by its peak in the late 1980s. The chain's stores were closed or sol ...
and Leggett-Belk anchors, a food court, a 9 screen movie theater, and the long corridor parallel to Mall Drive. The mall was renamed "Chesterfield Towne Center." It began using a diamond and palm theme, and focused on attracting a more upscale customer. In 1990, Miller & Rhoads rebranded as
Hecht's Hecht's, also known as Hecht Brothers, Hecht Bros. and the Hecht Company, was a large chain of department stores that operated mainly in the mid-Atlantic and southern region of the United States. The firm originated in Baltimore, Maryland. By 20 ...
. In 1993, Hess's sold its store to
Proffitt's Proffitt's was a department store chain based in Alcoa, Tennessee. On March 8, 2006, the Proffitt's and McRae's stores were converted into Belk stores. Belk acquired the two chains in July 2005 from Saks, Inc. History Beginnings Jeweler D ...
. Three years later, the store was sold again to Dillard's. In 1994, The
Macerich Macerich ( ) is a real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers. It is the third-largest owner and operator of shopping centers in the United States. As of December 31, 2020, the company owned interests in 52 properties comprisi ...
Partnership acquired Chesterfield Towne Center. In 1997,
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 ...
opened a store at the mall, followed by
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 ...
in 2001, as retailers began to abandon nearby
Cloverleaf Mall Stonebridge Shopping Center, formerly Cloverleaf Mall, is a shopping mall located in Chesterfield County, Virginia on U.S. Route 60 just west of State Route 150. The mall opened in 1972 and featured two anchor stores, J. C. Penney, and Sears. A ...
. Meanwhile, the Leggett-Belk store was traded to Dillard’s, which kept it open as a second location at the mall. Hecht's also completed an addition during this period. Soon, Chesterfield Towne Center was the largest mall in Richmond. In September 2006, the Hecht's store rebranded as Macy's. May 2008, both of the Dillard's stores closed. A Barnes & Noble bookstore filled the space left vacant by the mall's theater complex in June 2008, relocating from a freestanding store across Huguenot Road. The mall also reworked its food court facade to show off the bookstore and a Red Robin, and renovated the North Entrance. In November 2010, the former Leggett/Belk/Dillard's was replaced with Garden Ridge, and the former Hess's/Dillard's became a combination
TJ Maxx TJ Maxx (stylized as T•J•maxx) is an American department store chain, selling at prices generally lower than other major similar stores. It has more than 1,000 stores in the United States, making it one of the largest clothing retailers in ...
/
HomeGoods HomeGoods is a chain of home furnishing stores headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts. It was founded as a small chain in 1992, and grew to include hundreds of locations throughout the United States. HomeGoods sells furniture, linens, cooking ...
store in 2011. These openings began a series of store openings and renovations in 2011, including renovations to
American Eagle Outfitters American Eagle Outfitters, Inc., also known as American Eagle, is an American lifestyle, clothing, and accessories retailer headquartered at SouthSide Works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1977 by brothers Jerry and Mark Silverma ...
and
Old Navy Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of the Old Navy stores are its ...
, and a new Rue 21 store. In December 2013, Macerich sold the mall to Rouse Properties. Many predicted the demise of Chesterfield Towne Center when competitors Stony Point Fashion Park and
Short Pump Town Center Short Pump Town Center is an open-air shopping mall located in the Short Pump census-designated place (CDP) of unincorporated Henrico County, Virginia on West Broad Street ( U.S. Route 250), approximately west of I-64, exit 178A/B. This area of ...
opened in 2003. Ten years later, experts noted that Chesterfield had beaten the odds and held its own against the new competition. 2013 sales were down only 3% from 2003 levels. In 2015, H&M took over the place of Coldwater Creek, a non-anchor store. Garden Ridge changed its name to At Home. On November 7, 2019, Sears announced that it would be closing this location as part of a plan to close 96 stores nationwide. This store closed in February 2020. On June 23, 2020, a fight broke out at the mall between two men, one opening fire, sending the other to the hospital where he later died.


Notes


References


External links

* {{Brookfield Properties 1975 establishments in Virginia Brookfield Properties Shopping malls in Virginia Shopping malls established in 1975 Shopping malls in Richmond, Virginia Buildings and structures in Chesterfield County, Virginia Tourist attractions in Chesterfield County, Virginia