Landover Mall was a large shopping mall located in

Landover, Maryland Landover is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 25,998. Landover is contained between Sheriff Road and Central Avenue to the so ...

, directly across from

FedExField FedExField (originally Jack Kent Cooke Stadium) is an American football stadium located in Summerfield, Maryland, east of Washington, D.C. The stadium is the home of the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). From 2004 un ...

, off

MD 202 Maryland Route 202 (MD 202) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The highway runs from MD 725 in Upper Marlboro north to MD 450 in Bladensburg. MD 202 connects the central Prince George's County communities of Bladensburg, Cheve ...

and Interstates 95 and

495 __NOTOC__ Year 495 ( CDXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Viator without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1248 ...

. The mall was built by Sonny Abramson and Ted Lerner of

Lerner Enterprises Lerner Enterprises is a company owned by Ted Lerner and his family that develops and invests in real estate in the Washington metropolitan area. The company has developed more than 20 million square feet of real estate. History The company was f ...

, and opened in 1972. Like its neighbor, Capital Plaza Mall, it was a major attraction through its opening years in

Prince George's County ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrook ...

. The mall featured many anchors and smaller tenants; however, upon the decline and closing of its major anchors, the mall itself entered a state of decline. Finally, in 2002, the mall's doors were closed and it ultimately was demolished in 2006.

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 ...

remained open because it owned the land beneath the store. Sears later sold the land underneath its store to Lerner. In January 2014, Sears announced that it would close in March.

Architecture

The mall had three fountains, one adjacent to Hecht's, Sears, and in center court. According to an article in ''The Washington Post'' published the day of the mall's grand opening, "The water display consists of seven 3" geysers that are programmed in continuously changing programs of water height (3' to 15') for the perimeter nozzles, and the center nozzle can push the water to a height of 30' if desirable. All splash will be contained in the perimeter six geysers." The main fountain in the mall contained three circular platforms, each representing a loop within the

Capital Beltway The Capital Beltway is a Interstate Highway in the Washington metropolitan area that surrounds Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and its inner suburbs in adjacent Maryland and Virginia. It is the basis of the phrase "inside th ...

interchange at Landover Road. During the holiday season the center ring fountains would be shut off and replaced with its annual secular Holiday displays, which featured

gingerbread house Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a moist loaf cake to forms nearly as crisp as ...

fairies A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, o ...

candy canes A candy cane is a cane-shaped stick candy often associated with Christmastide, as well as Saint Nicholas Day. It is traditionally white with red stripes and flavored with peppermint, but they also come in a variety of other flavors and colors. ...

snowmen A snowman is an anthropomorphic snow sculpture of a man often built in regions with sufficient snowfall and is a common winter tradition. In many places, typical snowmen consist of three large snowballs of different sizes with some additional ...

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

sleigh ride "Sleigh Ride" is a light orchestra standard composed by Leroy Anderson. The composer had formed the original idea for the piece during a heat wave in July 1946, and he finished the work in February 1948. The original recordings were instrumental ...

doves Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

and a "Cupcake Boat Ride", but no

Santa Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...

or explicit references to Christmas.

History

Prime and downfall

In its prime, Landover Mall had three local department store anchors:

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 ...

Garfinckel's Garfinckel's was a prominent department store Chain store, chain based in Washington, D.C. that catered to a customer, clientele of wealthy consumers. Its flagship store at 14th and F in the city's F Street shopping district is listed on the Nati ...

Woodward & Lothrop Woodward & Lothrop was a department store chain headquartered in Washington, D.C. that began as the capital's first department store in 1887. Woodies, as it was often nicknamed, maintained stores in the Mid-Atlantic United States. Its flagship s ...

(Woodies), and two national chains,

and

F. W. Woolworth Company The F. W. Woolworth Company (often referred to as Woolworth's or simply Woolworth) was a retail company and one of the pioneers of the five-and-dime store. It was among the most successful American and international five-and-dime businesses, se ...

. It was the first mall in the region to have four anchors until

Fair Oaks Mall Fair Oaks Mall is a shopping mall in the Fair Oaks census-designated place (CDP) of unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, just northwest of the independent city of Fairfax. It is located at the intersection of Interstate 66 and U.S. Route 5 ...

opened in 1980. There was a six-screen theater in the basement, which had its own escalators, but it closed in 1991. In 1990, Garfinckel's filed for bankruptcy and went out of business. The former Garfinckel's anchor store was never replaced. Five years later, Woodies went out of business.

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 ...

moved into the former Woodies location but found business unprofitable. The store was converted to a JCPenney outlet location in fall 1998 and was closed altogether in early 2001. In early 2002,

closed after opening a new store at

Bowie Town Center Bowie Town Center is an outdoor shopping mall located in Bowie, Maryland that opened in November 2001. The mall is located on Emerald Way near the interchange of US Route 301 and US Route 50. Bowie Town Center has 79 stores including Macy's, S ...

in nearby

Bowie, Maryland Bowie () is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 58,329. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George's County, and the fifth most populous c ...

. Washington DC Business Journal described Landover Mall in 1998 as " dogged since the mid-1980s by perceptions -- real and imagined -- of crime, drugs and violence in nearby communities, like Palmer Park and Seat Pleasant". The article also noted that competition from

White Flint Mall White Flint Mall was a shopping mall, located along Rockville Pike, in Montgomery County, Maryland, that closed in early 2015 and demolished thereafter. Its former anchors were Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdale's, Dave & Buster's, H&M, Loews Theatr ...

and inability to replace vacated stores were factors in its poor reception.

Closure and demolition

After the closure of the main anchors to the mall,

Ted Lerner Theodore N. Lerner (born October 15, 1925) is an American real estate developer, and former managing principal owner of the Washington Nationals baseball team. He is the founder of the real estate company Lerner Enterprises, the largest private ...

decided to shut the mall down completely. The mall's doors were sealed shut with cinder blocks, although the Sears store remained open. Demolition began in 2006, and was completed in early 2007. The entire mall was demolished, and its debris was recycled. Sears was the only store that remained open after the mall's closure because it owned the land on which the building stood. However, its former entrances to the mall were sealed shut on both its levels. Sears subsequently sold the land underneath the store to Lerner. In January 2014, Sears announced that it would not renew its lease with Lerner and closed its store in March 2014.

Demolition aftermath

Sears was tentatively planning on relocating to the Ritchie Station Marketplace shopping center on Ritchie Road near

Capitol Heights, Maryland Capitol Heights is a town in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located on the border of both the Northeast & Southeast quadrants of Washington. Per the 2020 census, the population was 4,050. The town of Capitol Heights is officiall ...

. The area of the former mall and parking lot was fenced off and barricaded with cement blocks. The mall's main entrance sign was modified to eliminate its stylized cloverleaf logo shape with the remaining part of the sign and pedestal refurbished to read "Home to Future Development".

Today

In 2014, the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

announced they were looking at possibly purchasing the land for a future FBI Headquarters after the acquisition of Sears land. Political complications in 2017 undid any progress which had been made and in October 2018, Lerner put the whole site up for sale. In 2022, GSA restarted the search, with the old Landover Mall site being one of three sites under consideration.

Anchors

- closed 2002 *

- closed 1990 * Woodies - closed 1995 and became

in 1998 which closed in 2001 *

- closed 2014

References

External links

Landover Mall at deadmalls.com

{{DC Malls 1972 establishments in Maryland 2002 disestablishments in Maryland Buildings and structures demolished in 2006 Buildings and structures in Prince George's County, Maryland Demolished buildings and structures in Maryland Demolished shopping malls in the United States Shopping malls established in 1972 Shopping malls disestablished in 2002 Shopping malls in Maryland Shopping malls in the Washington metropolitan area Tourist attractions in Prince George's County, Maryland