Lynnhaven Mall is an enclosed super-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 ...

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It opened in August 1981. At of

gross leasable area In architecture, construction, and real estate, floor area, floor space, or floorspace is the area (measured as square feet or square metres) taken up by a building or part of it. The ways of defining "floor area" depend on what factors of the buil ...

, it is the largest mall in the

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...

metropolitan area of southeastern Virginia and one of the largest malls on the

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. The mall contains more than 180 stores, including

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 ...

as main

anchor store In retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are typically located at the ends of malls. Wit ...

s. Other stores and junior anchors at the mall include

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 U. ...

, Dick's Sporting Goods,

L.L. Bean L.L.Bean is an American privately-held retail company that was founded in 1912 by Leon Leonwood Bean. The company, headquartered in the place in which it was founded, in Freeport, Maine, specializes in clothing and outdoor recreation equipment. ...

XXI Forever Forever 21 is a multinational fast fashion retailer headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. Originally founded as the store Fashion 21 in Highland Park, Los Angeles in 1984,Forever 21History & Facts, n.d. Retrieved 27 April 2014 ...

, H&M, 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 ...

Dave & Busters Dave & Buster's is an American restaurant and entertainment business headquartered in Dallas. Each Dave & Buster's has a full-service restaurant and a video arcade. As of October 2022, the company has 151 locations in the United States and two ...

is also a recent addition to the mall and region. An 18 screen

AMC Theatres AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (d/b/a AMC Theatres, originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema; often referred to simply as AMC and known in some countries as AMC Cinemas or AMC Multi-Cinemas) is an American movie theater chain fou ...

complex anchors an open-air pedestrian

plaza A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

. The mall is managed by

Brookfield Properties Brookfield Properties is a North American subsidiary of commercial real estate company Brookfield Property Partners, which itself is a subsidiary of alternative asset management company Brookfield Asset Management. It is responsible for the pro ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

History

Lynnhaven Mall opened in 1981. The mall was built by Melvin Simon & Associates (now

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 ...

) of

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

, on Lynnhaven Parkway south of Interstate 264 (then State Route 44). The mall originally included six anchor stores: national chains

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 regional chains Rices Nachmans,

Thalhimers Thalhimers was a department store in the Southern United States. Based in Richmond, Virginia, the venerable chain at its peak operated dozens of stores in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and one store in Memphis, Tennessee. Thalhimer's ...

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 ...

and Leggett. Over time, all of the anchors with the exception of JCPenney were changed several times. The first to change was Rices Nachmans, which became

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 sold ...

in 1984. Miller & Rhoads closed in 1990 as part of the chain's bankruptcy, and was converted to

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 ...

that year. Hess's closed at Lynnhaven Mall on March 30, 1991, as part of a corporate decision to eliminate smaller and underperforming stores. Its location was then sold to the

Limited Brands Bath & Body Works, Inc. (formerly known as L Brands, Inc., Limited Brands, Inc. and The Limited, Inc.) is an American specialty retail company based in Columbus, Ohio. It owns Bath & Body Works, posted $11.9 billion in revenue in 2021, and was ...

, who converted the space to several of their brands, including

The Limited The Limited was an American clothing retailer that operated retail stores between the early 1960s and the late 2010s. After 2007, it became a brand, originally owned by the private equity firm Sun Capital Partners, now owned by another private equ ...

superstore which opened in early 1992. Thalhimers closed in 1992 as well, and became a second Hecht's location. The two Hecht's stores remained until 1998, when the chain built a new location between Dillard's and Montgomery Ward. Leggett was sold to

Belk Belk, Inc. is an American department store chain founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, North Carolina, with nearly 300 locations in 16 states. Belk stores and Belk.com offer apparel, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, a ...

in 1997; one year later, the store was transferred to

as part of a mutual exchange. Dillard's also acquired the former Thalhimers, placing its women's departments in one and men's departments in the other. In addition,

Lord & Taylor Lord & Taylor was the oldest brick and mortar department store in the United States, in business from 1826 to 2020. The brand was purchased during former owner Le Tote's 2020 liquidation bankruptcy and relaunched by new owner, Saadia Group, as ...

opened a new location at the mall in 1999 replacing the old Miller & Rhoads/Hecht's.

2000s

Montgomery Ward closed in 2001 with the chain's bankruptcy. Simon sold the mall to General Growth Properties (now

) of

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in 2003 for $256.6 million.

DSW Shoe Warehouse Designer Brands Inc. is an American company that sells designer and name brand shoes and fashion accessories. It owns the Designer Shoe Warehouse (DSW) store chain, and operates over 500 stores in the United States and an e-commerce website. T ...

also opened. Lord & Taylor repositioned and shuttered entirely in 2005. The Montgomery Ward space at the mall was divided among Dick's Sporting Goods,

and Steve & Barry's between 2003-2005. Dillard's expanded the former Thalhimers/Hecht's and moved into it in 2005 so as to vacate the former Leggett/Belk. That space was then demolished and rebuilt into an outdoor plaza called The Inlet anchored by an

complex. Hecht's, another nameplate of May Company, was converted to

in 2006 when Federated Department Stores (now

Macy's, Inc. Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillito' ...

) acquired the May Company and converted several May nameplates to the Macy's brand. H&M also opened in a portion of the former Hess's space when The Limited moved to a new location, and Steve & Barry's closed on January 30, 2009 with the company's

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...

and became Furniture Mart in 2010. DSW Shoe Warehouse moved out as well, and was replaced by a

Forever 21 Forever 21 is a multinational fast fashion retailer headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. Originally founded as the store Fashion 21 in Highland Park, Los Angeles in 1984,Forever 21History & Facts, n.d. Retrieved 27 April 2014 ...

. In 2012, Furniture Mart closed and moved elsewhere in the city. In its place, a newcomer to the area,

, opened on July 20, 2013. At the end of 2013, the mall's carousel, which greeted shoppers at the main entrance for 17 years, was removed to make way for a planned renovation. The renovation, announced in January 2014, added 29,000 square feet to the mall, including a new ground-level food court and an open atrium. The new food court opened October 27, 2014; the same day, the remaining mezzanine was closed for demolition.

opened a brand new store near Sephora in September 2014, marking the second Apple Store to come to the Hampton Roads area (the first being at

MacArthur Center MacArthur Center is a shopping mall in Norfolk, Virginia, in the center of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. Built by the Taubman Company, the mall is owned by Starwood Capital Group since October 2014. The mall currently features a large Dil ...

which will close in the future). At the same time as the mezzanine was being dismantled, the abandoned Miller & Rhoads/Hecht's/Lord & Taylor anchor was mostly torn down and rebuilt. The space was partitioned into two smaller sections and a public entrance. The public entrance opened in October 2015.

L. L. Bean L.L.Bean is an American privately-held retail company that was founded in 1912 by Leon Leonwood Bean. The company, headquartered in the place in which it was founded, in Freeport, Maine, specializes in clothing and outdoor recreation equipment. ...

moved into the south half of the rebuilt space and opened on June 10, 2016, and most of the north half is taken up by a Maggie McFly's restaurant (the first outside of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

) that opened in May 2017. With all but one of the connector bridges removed due to the renovations, the upper parking deck was no longer being used effectively, so it was partially demolished from March to June 2016. Only the section in front of JCPenney and its intact bridge remains. The area opened by the demolition has been leveled and reverted to open-air parking. In 2020, due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus, Lynnhaven Mall changed their hours to 12pm - 7pm. On March 30, 2020, due to the stay-at-home order issued by Virginia Governor

Ralph Northam Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

, Lynnhaven Mall closed down services that were deemed "non-essential". The services deemed essential are Dillard's, Barnes & Noble, Pet Go Round, Everclear Eyes Optometry, and Bank of America. Some services are limited to 10 patrons at a time, and Everclear Eyes Optometry are accepting emergency appointments only."Covid-19 Update"
'wwwlynnhavenmall.com'' Retrieved April 3rd, 2020 As the outbreak eased, more of the mall opened as restrictions began to be relaxed. As of May 2021, with the lifting of mandatory statewide restrictions, the mall has resumed mostly normal operation, albeit with some reduced hours, continued cleaning protocols, and encouragement of social distancing. Retailers within the mall may be more restrictive at their discretion.

References

External links

Lynnhaven Mall official website
{{Coord, 36, 48, 58.9, N, 76, 4, 15.9, W, display=title Shopping malls in Virginia Shopping malls established in 1981 Brookfield Properties Buildings and structures in Virginia Beach, Virginia 1981 establishments in Virginia