The Crossroads Mall was an indoor shopping mall from 1963 until 2004, in Boulder, Colorado.

History

Development

Crossroads Mall opened on March 14, 1963 with 394,000 leasable square feet for retail stores, surrounded by open-air parking. Anchor stores included J. C. Penney and

Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a world-pioneering mail-order business and later also a leading department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001. The curren ...

, as well as a Randall Shop, the small-format version of

The Denver Dry Goods Company The Denver Dry Goods Company, also known as "The Denver", is a defunct department store which was established in Denver, Colorado, USA, in 1879 by Michael J. McNamara and L.H. Flanders as M.J. McNamara & Company and later The McNamara Dry Goods C ...

. In March 1976, Denver Dry Goods expanded the 10,000 square foot Randall Shop into a 60,000 square foot full-line "the Denver". In August 1979,

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 ...

acquired Crossroads Mall for $12 million. A 1983 remodeling and expansion doubled the size of the mall and included the addition of a food court and another anchor store,

May D&F May-Daniels & Fisher (commonly known, and doing business as "May-D&F," in later years without the hyphen) was a Denver, Colorado department store created in 1957 when the original May Company operations in Colorado, founded by David May in 1877 ...

(later renamed

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 ...

and, still later,

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 March 1986, Mervyn's was added as an additional anchor. In October 1987, "the Denver" closed and was replaced by Sears. In 1990, May D&F expanded, bringing the size of the mall to . A small

parking ramp A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...

was also added adjacent to May D&F on the east side of the mall.

Decline

The years just before and after 2000 saw increasing competition for Crossroads Mall from new retail developments in Superior, Broomfield, and

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

. In September 1997, Montgomery Ward closed its store at Crossroads Mall; aside from a short stint as Gart Sports, this space would remain vacant until demolition. In October 1997, the vacancy rate at Crossroads was 19%. In January 1998, Mervyn's closed. Sears took advantage of the opportunity and moved into the larger anchor space. From 1997 to 2002, various Crossroads reconstruction ideas were floated and then rejected. Fast-track construction of a Dillard's store was proposed, but vetoed by

. In October 1999, Macerich began a 13-month renovation project by closing the southern half of the mall and tearing down some interior walls. In July 2000, Macerich put its renovation plans on hold, stopped the project, and announced that it was looking for a buyer for Crossroads.

Flatiron Crossing Mall Flatiron or flat iron may refer to various things, often in the shape of a wedge: Objects *Clothes iron *Hair iron Places * Flatiron Building, New York City, at the intersection of 5th & Broadway **Flatiron District, New York City, named after ...

, in Broomfield, opened in August 2000. In April 2001, J. C. Penney closed its store at Crossroads Mall. In June 2002, the owner of Flatiron Crossing Mall (

Westcor Westcor was a subsidiary of The Macerich Company and a large developer of shopping malls in the Southwestern region of the United States. It was founded in 1964 by entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic val ...

) was acquired by the owner of Crossroads Mall (Macerich).

Demolition

On January 23, 2003, the Sears store at Crossroads Mall closed. Plans were submitted to the city to tear down Crossroads Mall and create a new retail district, dubbed "Twenty Ninth Street". The plans were for about 50-60 shops and a movie theatre. The city agreed, and Macerich/Westcor sprung into action. On January 8, 2004, the closing of Crossroads Mall was announced. The mall closed in February 2004, with the exception of

, the only store to survive from Crossroads to the new Twenty Ninth Street. Except for the Mervyn's building,

and its adjacent parking structure, Crossroads Mall was demolished, and on October 13, 2006, the Twenty Ninth Street retail district opened on the site of the defunct Crossroads.

The New Twenty Ninth Street retail district

The new Twenty Ninth Street retail district opened on October 13, 2006. Unlike the indoor design of the Crossroads Mall, the new Twenty Ninth Street retail district is an outdoor shopping neighborhood.

References

History source
{{Shopping malls in Colorado Demolished shopping malls in the United States Shopping malls in Colorado Buildings and structures in Boulder, Colorado Shopping malls established in 1963 Shopping malls disestablished in 2004 1963 establishments in Colorado 2004 disestablishments in Colorado Demolished buildings and structures in Colorado Buildings and structures demolished in 2004