Virginia Center Commons (VCC) was an enclosed shopping mall located in

Glen Allen, Virginia Glen Allen is a census-designated place (CDP) in Henrico County, Virginia, United States. The population was 16,187 as of the 2020 Census, up from 14,774 at the 2010 census. Areas outside the CDP which use a "Glen Allen" mailing address include r ...

, near the state capital of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

. Built in 1991,

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 ...

owned the mall until 2014 when it was split off to

Washington Prime Group Washington Prime Group Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers. The company is organized in Indiana with its headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. From January 2015 to September 2016, the company had the name WP ...

. In January 2017, the mall was sold again to

Kohan Retail Investment Group Kohan Retail Investment Group is a shopping mall investment company based in Great Neck, New York. They primarily purchase endangered/troubled shopping malls. History Kohan bought Northland Mall from Developers Diversified Realty for $1.8 milli ...

History

When VCC first opened, it siphoned off a significant amount of business from 3 other area malls: Azalea Mall, Fairfield Commons (formerly Eastgate Mall) and Willow Lawn. In the case of Azalea Mall, it took enough business away to relegate that mall to "

dead mall A dead mall (also known as a ghost mall, zombie mall, or abandoned mall) is a shopping mall with a high vacancy rate or a low consumer traffic level, or that is deteriorating in some manner. Many malls in North America are considered "dead ...

" status and Azalea Mall was subsequently closed and demolished. It took the Sears anchor away from Fairfield Commons and sent it almost to the same point. That mall closed in 2015 for redevelopment into a smaller open-air mall. It also took the JCPenney anchor away from Willow Lawn and led Willow Lawn to eventually reposition itself as more of a community shopping center than a regional shopping destination. In January 2021, demolition began on the former Macy's and Sears anchors to make room for an indoor sportsplex. The JCPenney building was also acquired in January 2021, and it, alongside the rest of the mall (excluding the American Family Fitness anchor), is planned to be razed and replaced with a mixed-use development anchored by the mentioned sportsplex and a hotel owned by Shamin Hotels. The mall closed permanently on October 31, 2022, after remaining tenants had their leases terminated by the mall's licensor in preparation for the redevelopment.

Stores

Among the mall's original anchor stores were

Proffitt's Proffitt's was a department store chain based in Alcoa, Tennessee. On March 8, 2006, the Proffitt's and McRae's stores were converted into Belk stores. Belk acquired the two chains in July 2005 from Saks, Inc. History Beginnings Jeweler Dav ...

and Leggett, a division of

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, ...

. These stores both 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 1997 and 1998, respectively. In 2011, Dillard's closed the former Proffitt's store, which became a

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 it ...

, and downgraded the former Leggett to an outlet store before closing it later in 2011. The former Leggett is now occupied by American Family Fitness. As part of a nationwide closing of 36 stores, Macy's has closed its former Hecht's store at Virginia Center Commons in spring 2016. On November 8, 2018, it was announced that Sears will be closing their location at Virginia Center Commons in early 2019 as part of a plan to close 40 underperforming stores. Virginia Center Commons was sold for $8.3 million in early 2020 to VCC Partners LLC and Shamin VCC LLC.

References

External links

* {{Shopping malls in Virginia Shopping malls in Richmond, Virginia Defunct shopping malls in the United States Demolished shopping malls in the United States Buildings and structures in Henrico County, Virginia Tourist attractions in Henrico County, Virginia Shopping malls established in 1991 Shopping malls disestablished in 2022 1991 establishments in Virginia 2022 disestablishments in Virginia