Springdale Mall is a shopping center located in
Mobile, Alabama,
United States
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 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
, directly across from
Bel Air Mall
The Shoppes at Bel Air, formerly Bel Air Mall, is a super-regional shopping mall, located in Mobile, Alabama, United States. The mall has a gross leasable area of . It is the oldest continuously operating enclosed super-regional mall in Alabama ...
. Opened in 1959 as an open-air shopping center, Springdale Mall was later redeveloped as an enclosed shopping center. Facing competition from larger shopping centers in the area, Springdale was demolished in stages in the 2000s, with most of the former enclosed mall being replaced with
big-box store
A big-box store (also hyperstore, supercenter, superstore, or megastore) is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The te ...
s.
Springdale is almost entirely an open-air center again, featuring
Bed Bath & Beyond
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. is an American chain of domestic merchandise retail stores. The chain operates many stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.
Bed Bath & Beyond was founded in 1971. It is counted among the Fortune 5 ...
,
Big Lots
Big Lots Stores, Inc. (stylized as Big Lots!) is an American retail company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio with over 1,400 stores in 47 states.
History
The Big Lots chain traces its history back to 1967 when Consolidated Stores Corporation ...
,
Burke's Outlet
Bealls Inc. is an American retail corporation with headquarters located in Bradenton, Florida, since its founding in 1915, the family-owned corporation now operates more than 650 stores under the names of Bealls, Bealls Outlet, Burkes Outlet, an ...
,
Burlington Coat Factory
Burlington, formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory, is an American national off-price department store retailer, and a division of Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation with more than 1,000 stores in 40 states and Puerto Rico, with i ...
,
Cost Plus World Market
World Market, formerly Cost Plus World Market until 2021, is an American chain of specialty/import retail stores, selling home furniture, decor, curtains, rugs, gifts, apparel, coffee, wine, craft beer, and international food products. The bran ...
,
Marshalls
Marshalls is an American chain of off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store, covering 42 states and Puerto Rico, and 61 stores in Canada. M ...
,
Michaels
Michaels Stores, Inc., more commonly known as Michaels, is a privately held chain of 1,252 American and Canadian arts and crafts stores, as of January 2021. It is one of North America's largest providers of arts, crafts, framing, floral and wall ...
,
Sam's Club
Sam's West, Inc. (doing business as Sam's Club) is an American chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned and operated by Walmart Inc., founded in 1983 and named after Walmart founder Sam Walton as Sam’s Wholesale Club. , Sam's C ...
, and Shoe Station as
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 ...
s. The center is managed and owned by Brixmor.
History
Opened in November 1959 as an open-air regional shopping center, Springdale was initially anchored by
W.T. Grant
W. T. Grant or Grants was a United States-based chain of mass-merchandise stores founded by William Thomas Grant that operated from 1906 until 1976. The stores were generally of the variety store format located in downtowns.
History
In 1906 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, Girl ...
and two supermarkets:
Delchamps and National.
Gayfers
Gayfer's was a regional department store chain in the southern United States. Based in Mobile, Alabama, the chain of stores operated from 1879 until 1998 when it was taken over by Dillard's.
History
C.J. Gayfer migrated to Mobile, Alabama, fr ...
, a Mobile-based department store, would serve as the flagship anchor upon its completion in the summer of 1960.
Competition would arrive in late 1967 in the form of
Bel Air Mall
The Shoppes at Bel Air, formerly Bel Air Mall, is a super-regional shopping mall, located in Mobile, Alabama, United States. The mall has a gross leasable area of . It is the oldest continuously operating enclosed super-regional mall in Alabama ...
, an enclosed mall which was anchored 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 ...
and Hammel's. JCPenney relocated to Bel Air Mall in 1974.
An enclosed wing was completed in 1974, adjacent to the east end of the Gayfers building; this wing was anchored by
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 ...
and a six-screen movie theater (later expanded to eleven screens). Lionel Playworld would open a 34,500 square foot toy superstore at the west end of the open air Springdale Plaza in November 1980. Texas-based Solo Stores would arrive in fall 1984. In October 1988,
Toys "R" Us
Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1957; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters loca ...
co-tenanted the Montgomery Ward building with a 45,000 square foot space. A second enclosed wing was added November 1989, leading from Gayfers to an existing
McRae's
McRae's was a mid-range regional department store chain founded and based in Jackson, Mississippi, with locations in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida. The nameplate was in existence for more than a century.
History
Samuel P. McRae fo ...
store that opened August 1984. This "west mall" featured more nationally known in-line retailers such as
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 ...
, Express and
Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer known for high visibility marketing and branding, starting with a popular catalog and followed by an annual fashion show with supermodels dubbed Angels. As the largest r ...
. During this same late 1980s time frame, Gayfers expanded to more than on three levels, becoming one of the largest department store buildings in the Gulf Coast region. After the completion of the west wing, the mall comprised two separate enclosed wings, as well as the original, remodeled 1950s open-air wing.
Springdale Mall both inside and out was featured in a motorcycle chase sequence in the 1994 film
Raw Justice.
Barnes & Noble debuted its first South Alabama location in Springdale in the spring of 1994, followed by
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 ...
, which opened its first Alabama store here, two years later, in the fall of 1996.
Renovations
Springdale Mall was purchased in 1997 by
CBL & Associates Properties
CBL Properties (previously CBL & Associates, Inc., then CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.) is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers, primarily in the Southeastern and Midwestern United States. The company is ...
.
In August 1998,
Mercantile Stores
Mercantile Stores Company Inc. until 1998, was a traditional department store retailer operating 102 fashion apparel stores and 16 home fashion stores in 17 states. The stores were operated under 13 different nameplates and varied in size, with t ...
, the owners of Gayfers and a host of regional department store nameplates, was purchased by Arkansas-based
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 ...
. Although a full-line Dillard's was present across the street in Bel Air Mall, Dillard's initially maintained the former Gayfers at Springdale as a full-line Dillard's as well.
Also in 1998, Montgomery Ward closed its doors at Springdale Mall; the former Montgomery Ward space was later replaced with Burlington Coat Factory. The adjacent Toys "R" Us store was also shuttered in favor of a newer store nearby.
Throughout the late 1990s and into the 2000s, several more
big-box store
A big-box store (also hyperstore, supercenter, superstore, or megastore) is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The te ...
s were added to the mall's tenant roster. The first of these, Goody's Family Clothing, was added in 1998, followed by Staples and Linens 'n Things, both of which took up portions of the east mall. The former "west mall" from McRae's to Dillard's was gutted in 2001 for a
Best Buy
Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebra ...
while Dillard's itself closed a year later.
By 2004, the former Dillard's was demolished, as was part of the mall's original enclosed wing;
Staples,
Linens 'n Things
Linens 'n Things was a Clifton, New Jersey-based big-box retailer specializing in home textiles, housewares, and decorative home accessories. The chain operated 571 stores in 47 U.S. states and six Canadian provinces, and had 7,300 employees as o ...
, Springdale Cinema and one in-line tenant space were all retained, as was the mall corridor leading to the theater entry. The year 2005 was a time of transition, as on the site formerly occupied by Dillard's, a
Sam's Club
Sam's West, Inc. (doing business as Sam's Club) is an American chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned and operated by Walmart Inc., founded in 1983 and named after Walmart founder Sam Walton as Sam’s Wholesale Club. , Sam's C ...
wholesale warehouse was constructed,
McRae's
McRae's was a mid-range regional department store chain founded and based in Jackson, Mississippi, with locations in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida. The nameplate was in existence for more than a century.
History
Samuel P. McRae fo ...
was acquired by
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, ...
, and the Springdale Cinema was shuttered.
In 2008, Springdale Plaza would lose both the
Goody's Family Clothing
Goody's Family Clothing Inc. was an American chain of department stores, owned and operated by Stage Stores and headquartered in Houston, TX. It specialized in retailing on-trend apparel, accessories, cosmetics, footwear, and housewares.
It w ...
and
Linens 'n Things
Linens 'n Things was a Clifton, New Jersey-based big-box retailer specializing in home textiles, housewares, and decorative home accessories. The chain operated 571 stores in 47 U.S. states and six Canadian provinces, and had 7,300 employees as o ...
anchors, as those chains succumbed to bankruptcy. Man Style, the only remaining store inside the enclosed east wing, moved to an outparcel on the property around this time as well. The enclosed wing is inaccessible to the public.
Barnes & Noble closed its Springdale Plaza location at the end of June 2010, after not being able to reach an agreement on the terms of its lease. Soon after,
FYE closed their Springdale location, while still maintaining a store in
Bel Air Mall
The Shoppes at Bel Air, formerly Bel Air Mall, is a super-regional shopping mall, located in Mobile, Alabama, United States. The mall has a gross leasable area of . It is the oldest continuously operating enclosed super-regional mall in Alabama ...
across the street.
Discount retailer
Big Lots
Big Lots Stores, Inc. (stylized as Big Lots!) is an American retail company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio with over 1,400 stores in 47 states.
History
The Big Lots chain traces its history back to 1967 when Consolidated Stores Corporation ...
renovated the former Linens 'n Things location and opened in November 2010.
Fashion retailer
Marshalls
Marshalls is an American chain of off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store, covering 42 states and Puerto Rico, and 61 stores in Canada. M ...
opened in the renovated Goody's space Fall of 2010. This new store, a relocation from the nearby Mobile Festival Centre
power center, is nearly in size.
Arts & crafts retailer
Michaels
Michaels Stores, Inc., more commonly known as Michaels, is a privately held chain of 1,252 American and Canadian arts and crafts stores, as of January 2021. It is one of North America's largest providers of arts, crafts, framing, floral and wall ...
relocated into the former Barnes & Noble space in September 2011. Like Marshalls, they also vacated their former location at the Mobile Festival Centre. The renovated location is oriented towards Airport Blvd. Right next door, beauty retailer
Ulta moved into the former FYE space in order to open a new store in the fall of 2011.
Vacancies and redevelopment
With the ongoing renovation of
Bel Air Mall
The Shoppes at Bel Air, formerly Bel Air Mall, is a super-regional shopping mall, located in Mobile, Alabama, United States. The mall has a gross leasable area of . It is the oldest continuously operating enclosed super-regional mall in Alabama ...
into The Shoppes of Bel Air,
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 ...
left the mall in September 2015 and was replaced by a Belk flagship store a year later.
The Springdale location of Belk closed before the opening of the Belk Flagship. This was redeveloped into smaller stores in 2018.
In addition, Best Buy constructed a new store at the brand new McGowin Park shopping center nearby and moved out of Springdale in January 2016. Old Navy also constructed a new location in McGowin Park as well and moved out in March 2016.
Staples Inc. closed its Mobile location on mid-January 2017 and remains vacant.
In Spring 2018, it was announced that the whole two-level McRae's/Belk space will be renovated to make room for
Bed Bath & Beyond
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. is an American chain of domestic merchandise retail stores. The chain operates many stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.
Bed Bath & Beyond was founded in 1971. It is counted among the Fortune 5 ...
,
Cost Plus World Market
World Market, formerly Cost Plus World Market until 2021, is an American chain of specialty/import retail stores, selling home furniture, decor, curtains, rugs, gifts, apparel, coffee, wine, craft beer, and international food products. The bran ...
, and Shoe Station which is set to move from its founding building near The Shoppes of Bel Air; leaving the upper floor vacant. Bed Bath & Beyond (which moved from Festival Centre) and Cost Plus World Market opened in November 2018.
Burke's Outlet
Bealls Inc. is an American retail corporation with headquarters located in Bradenton, Florida, since its founding in 1915, the family-owned corporation now operates more than 650 stores under the names of Bealls, Bealls Outlet, Burkes Outlet, an ...
renovated the former Old Navy location and opened on September 27, 2018.
Burlington Coat Factory
Burlington, formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory, is an American national off-price department store retailer, and a division of Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation with more than 1,000 stores in 40 states and Puerto Rico, with i ...
relocated into the former Best Buy space as
Burlington in Spring 2019, leaving Big Lots the last surviving store in the vacant mall portion of this shopping center.
See also
*
Bel Air Mall
The Shoppes at Bel Air, formerly Bel Air Mall, is a super-regional shopping mall, located in Mobile, Alabama, United States. The mall has a gross leasable area of . It is the oldest continuously operating enclosed super-regional mall in Alabama ...
*
Cordova Mall
Cordova Mall, located in Pensacola, Florida, is the largest shopping center on the northwest Gulf Coast of Florida.
Opened in 1971 and renovated twice, in 1987 and 2008/2009, Cordova Mall comprises of commercial property, with two major and six j ...
*
Pelican Place at Craft Farms
References
Springdale Mall History
External links
YouTube Video of Springdale Mall chase from the 1994 movie "Raw Justice"
{{Shopping malls in Alabama
Buildings and structures in Mobile, Alabama
Shopping malls in Alabama
Shopping malls established in 1959