Coddingtown Mall is one of two 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 ...

s in

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area ...

. Opened in 1962, the mall is anchored 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 ...

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 ...

Nordstrom Rack Nordstrom Rack is an American off-price department store chain founded in 1973. It is a sister brand to the luxury department store chain Nordstrom. As of 2021, Nordstrom Rack operates 352 stores in 41 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces ...

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

, and

Whole Foods Market Whole Foods Market IP, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon, is an upscale American multinational supermarket chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from hydrogenated fats and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. A US ...

. It is fully owned and operated by Codding Enterprises.

History

Founding

Coddingtown Mall was built in 1962 by Hugh Codding. Originally an open-air mall, it was enclosed in 1979. The expansion also added Liberty House, which was converted to

in 1984. In 1996, Macy's moved to a spot previously occupied by The Emporium. As a result,

Gottschalks Gottschalks (former NYSE ticker symbol GOT) was a middle-tier American department store that operated 58 department stores and three specialty apparel stores in six western states (California, Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Nevada); some ...

moved into the former Liberty House/Macy's building. Codding sold a 50% share of the mall to

Simon Property Group Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/lifestyle centers. It is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States and is headquartered in Indian ...

in 2005. After the sale to Simon, many merchants criticized Simon for failing to bring chain stores to the mall. A

Ralphs Ralphs is an American supermarket chain in Southern California. The largest subsidiary of Cincinnati-based Kroger, it is the oldest such chain west of the Mississippi River. Kroger also operates stores under the Food 4 Less and Foods Co. names ...

supermarket in the mall was demolished in 2008 for a

, whose opening was ultimately delayed until 2010, and Gottschalks closed in 2009.

Modern history

In November 2012, the former Gottschalks building was demolished to make way for a

store, which opened in 2014. Mall officials announced in 2015 that a new building for

would replace the section housing merchants including

Bank of the West Bank of the West is an American financial institution headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States. It is a subsidiary of the French international banking group BNP Paribas and has more than 600 branches and offices in the Midwes ...

and

Baskin-Robbins Baskin-Robbins is an American multinational chain of ice cream and cake speciality shops owned by Inspire Brands. Based in Canton, Massachusetts, Baskin-Robbins was founded in 1945 by Burt Baskin (1913–1967) and Irv Robbins (1917–2008) in ...

, several of which were moved to new units. Nordstrom Rack opened in 2016. In December 2017, the mall returned to fully local ownership after the Codding family business repurchased the 50% stake in the shopping center previously owned by mall giant Simon Property Group. On March 11, 2019, a woman was shot and killed in her car outside the Crunch Fitness gym. The shooter, her husband, then drove to his home and killed himself.

In popular culture

In 1997, the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

-based band Primus released the song "Coddingtown" as part of the ''

Brown Album ''Brown Album'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Primus. It was released on July 8, 1997, by Prawn Song and Interscope Records. It was the band's first album with new drummer Brain, who replaced former drummer Tim Alexander. The ...

''. According to the song, "you can get it all down there from tennis balls to glue".

References

{{Shopping malls in California 1962 establishments in California Buildings and structures in Santa Rosa, California Shopping malls in the San Francisco Bay Area Shopping malls established in 1962 Simon Property Group Economy of Santa Rosa, California