Town Center Corte Madera is an upscale shopping center located in
Corte Madera, California
Corte Madera (; Spanish for "Chop Wood") is an incorporated town in Marin County, California. Corte Madera is located south of San Rafael, at an elevation of 39 feet (12 m). The population was 10,222 at the 2020 census. The town was named after ...
. It is located off
U.S. Route 101
U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...
on Tamalpais Drive. It is anchored by a
Safeway
Safeway is an American supermarket chain founded by Marion Barton Skaggs in April 1915 in American Falls, Idaho. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and features a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, d ...
supermarket and
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. ...
. It is located across the freeway from
The Village at Corte Madera and the two shopping centers provide much of the city of Corte Madera's income from retail sales tax. The Town Center is owned by 770 Tamalpais Drive, Inc. The owner of that corporation is
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...
.
History
![Town Center at Corte Madera 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Town_Center_at_Corte_Madera_1.jpg)
The Town Center is a successor to the Corte Madera Center (CMC), which opened in 1958 next to Littleman's Supermarket (later Cala Foods) which opened in 1952 and closed in 1985 and was located where P.F. Chang's is. Louis Thomas, a men's apparel and formalwear shop, opened in 1958 and is the oldest surviving tenant. In 1985 CMC was largely redeveloped, significantly remodeled, and renamed the Town Center Corte Madera. Anchor tenant Montgomery Ward had closed. J.C. Penney added a second story, and then closed in 2000. There was a
The Good Guys!
The Good Guys was an American chain of consumer electronics retail stores with 71 stores in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. The company was headquartered in Brisbane, California in the Dakin Building in the early 1990s and subsequen ...
, but it was bought out by
CompUSA, and the location was closed. It now houses a
P. F. Chang's China Bistro.
There was substantial local controversy in 2005 and 2006 when it was announced that a
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. ...
chain book store would be moving into the space vacated by
Marshall's
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. Mar ...
, as the Book Passage was nearby, one of
Marin County
Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is acros ...
's largest independent book stores, that opened in 1976. Though many Barnes & Noble stores have closed, it remains open at the Town Center. Book Passage also remains open in Corte Madera.
Anchors and major tenants
As of 2007, the Town Center Corte Madera and Madison Marquette Realty Services identified the largest tenants:
Stores
*
Safeway
Safeway is an American supermarket chain founded by Marion Barton Skaggs in April 1915 in American Falls, Idaho. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and features a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, d ...
*
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. ...
*
The Container Store
The Container Store Group, Inc. is an American specialty retail chain company that operates The Container Store, which offers storage and organization products, and custom closets.
The company has made ''Fortunes list of " 100 Best Companie ...
*
Rite Aid
*
Ann Taylor Loft
Ann Inc. is an American group of specialty apparel retail chain stores for women. The company headquartered in New York City and currently operates as a subsidiary of Ascena Retail Group. The stores offer classic-styled suits, separates, dre ...
*
Bombay Company
The Bombay Company is an American furniture and home accessories retailer owned (since 2011) by Hermes-Otto International USA LLC. At one time a chain of over 500 stores headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, Bombay Company was relaunched in 2012 as a ...
*
Pier One Imports
Pier 1 Imports, Inc. is an online retailer and former Fort Worth, Texas-based retail chain specializing in imported home furnishings and decor, particularly furniture, table-top items, decorative accessories, and seasonal decor. It was publi ...
*
REI
Rei or REI may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Rei, a story arc of the anime ''Higurashi When They Cry''
*Rei, a shapeshifting godlike dragon in the Australian webcomic series ''Vainglorious''
*Rei I, II and III, episodes of ''Neon Genesis Eva ...
Louis Thomas
Restaurants
*
California Pizza Kitchen
California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) is an American casual dining restaurant chain that specializes in California-style pizza. The restaurant was started in 1985 by attorneys Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax in Beverly Hills, California, United States. ...
*
Il Fornaio
*
P. F. Chang's China Bistro
References
{{Shopping malls in California
Shopping malls in Marin County, California
Corte Madera, California
Shopping malls established in 1958