Bannister Mall was a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that ...

in the southeast corner of

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the List of United States cities by populat ...

opened on August 6, 1980. After nearly 27 years of operation, the mall closed on May 31, 2007. It was originally anchored by

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 ...

(which became

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 ...

in 1986),

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, Gi ...

, The Jones Store, and

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 ...

History

Bannister Mall was built and opened in August 1980 at 5600 Bannister Road in

between I-435 and Hillcrest Road. The area was once the site of the Three Trails ( Santa Fe,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, and

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

) and the Santa Fe trail actually crossed the original property. The mall was one of the largest malls in the Kansas City area and in the region in a previously vital and vibrant shopping area. The mall's original anchors were Macy's, JCPenney, The Jones Store and Sears. In the early 1980s, Bannister Mall was the "place to go" with a draw over a large area that was mostly from South Kansas City, suburban

Jackson County, Missouri Jackson County is located in the western portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 717,204. making it the second-most populous county in the state (after St. Louis County). Although Independence retains ...

, and

Johnson County, Kansas Johnson County is a county in the U.S. state of Kansas, on the border with Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 609,863, making it the most populous county in Kansas. Its county seat is Olathe. Largely suburban, the county conta ...

. In 1988-1990, an area north and east of the mall called Benjamin Plaza was added to the commercial retail area. In the late 1980s, bus service from mid-town Kansas city was extended to the area, and by the mid to late 1990s with newer and more desirable developments further south and in Johnson County Kansas, the area began to wane. Also, due to consistent crime, the area around Bannister Mall earned a bad reputation. This combination led to the present blight of the area. JCPenney closed in 2000, followed by Dillard's in 2002 and The Jones Store in early 2005. In 2006, Sears closed leaving the mall anchor-less. Bannister Mall once hosted 180 stores, but by 2007 only 50 stores were open. In April 2007, it was announced that due to low population and rising costs of operation that the mall would close. At the time, only half of the mall was open, with the northern part blocked off. The failure of the mall was largely due to migration to the suburbs and a perception of the area being unsafe. The only new construction in the area is the replacement of the

Kansas City Fire Department The Kansas City Fire Department provides fire protection and emergency medical service for Kansas City, Missouri, and under contract to Village of the Oaks, Village of Oakwood Park, and Village of Oakwood. It provides fire protection only under c ...

's Fire Station 41, which once was facing Bannister Road and now is facing Hillcrest Road. The nearby

Walmart Supercenter Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

closed in January 2007, which was a day before a new Walmart opened on the site of the former Blue Ridge Mall now called

Blue Ridge Crossing Blue Ridge Crossing is a shopping center located in Kansas City, Missouri and Independence, Missouri at the intersections of I-70, US 40 Highway at Exit 11 & Sterling Avenue at Exit 10. Location The location surrounds the area from Interstate 7 ...

. The Bannister Wal-Mart was one of the company's earliest

Hypermart Hypermart USA was a demonstrator project operated by Walmart in the 1980s and 1990s, which attempted to combine groceries and general merchandise under one roof at a substantial discount. The hypermart concept was modeled after earlier efforts ...

stores, but it later changed to the Supercenter format. At the end of May 2007, Bannister Mall closed its doors.

Demolition and redevelopment

The mall was demolished in early 2009. In December 2009, the

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and the team clubhouse and ...

, who had previously planned to build a new stadium on the site, finalized plans to build their stadium in Kansas instead. Lane4 Property Group, Inc. stated that they would continue development of the Bannister Mall site, but as a retail and office project called The Trails. After much delay on August 1, 2013

Cerner Cerner Corporation is an American supplier of health information technology (HIT) services, devices, and hardware. As of February 2018, its products were in use at more than 27,000 facilities around the world. The company had more than 29,000 emp ...

Corporation, a large medical information technology firm based in the Kansas City area, announced they would redevelop the former Bannister Mall location as a major office park housing future expansion of their corporation and perhaps other business entities as well. Cerner will acquire 236 acres to meet expected future growth of the company and could eventually employ an additional 12,000 to 15,000 workers. According to Cerner officials the site will include a training center, potential future data centers, and worker amenities such as on-site daycare, a health clinic, food service, and a fitness center. The corporation may also make a portion of the land available for other business developments such as a hotel, retail stores, and restaurants. Cerner had originally expressed interest in the site in 2009, and at various other times since, however a deal could not be finalized.

References

External links

Bannister Mall starts to fall

3 Trails Village Community Improvement District's site
(the district includes the mall area)

Kansas City Star column by Mary Sanchez, May 21, 2007
"The Trails"
Lane4 Property Group's site about the redevelopment {{Shopping malls in Missouri Shopping malls in Missouri Shopping malls established in 1980 Buildings and structures in Kansas City, Missouri Economy of Kansas City, Missouri Demolished shopping malls in the United States 1980 establishments in Missouri 2007 disestablishments in Missouri Buildings and structures demolished in 2009 Demolished buildings and structures in Missouri