Westfield Oakridge, commonly known as Oakridge, is a

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

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, located in the

Blossom Valley Blossom Valley is a neighborhood of San Jose, California, located in South San Jose. Geography Blossom Valley is located in South San Jose South San Jose is the southern region of San Jose, California. The name "South Side" refers to an area ...

neighborhood of

South San Jose South San Jose is the southern region of San Jose, California. The name "South Side" refers to an area bounded roughly by Hillsdale Avenue and Capitol Expressway to the North, Camden Avenue to the West, Highway 101 and Hellyer Avenue on the east ...

. Established in 1971, Oakridge has been redeveloped multiple times in its history, most recently in 2003, to the cost of $150 million. The mall features

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 ...

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...

Nordstrom Rack Nordstrom Rack is an American off-price department store chain founded in 1973. It is a sister brand to the luxury department store chain Nordstrom. As of 2021, Nordstrom Rack operates 352 stores in 41 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces ...

, and Living Spaces.

History

Westfield Oakridge opened in 1971 with anchors

Bullock's Bullock's was a chain of full-line department stores from 1907 through 1995, headquartered in Los Angeles, growing to operate across California, Arizona and Nevada. Bullock's also operated as many as seven more upscale Bullocks Wilshire specialty ...

, and

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 ...

. Bullock's closed its Northern California locations in 1983 and sold its Oakridge location to

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, a ...

; which opened in the building in 1985. Nordstrom opened a new department store at the competing Valley Fair shopping center in 1987, and the two stores existed simultaneously until 1994 when Nordstrom closed its Oakridge store and sold the building to

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 ...

. The bankruptcy of Montgomery Ward in 2001 left an empty anchor slot at Oakridge, originally meant to be occupied by The Great Indoors, a Sears-owned home furnishings concept. Instead, the building sat vacant until 2003, when it was remodeled and replaced by a two-level

store. At the same time, Macy's added 75,000 square feet to its existing footprint, bringing its total square footage to more than 220,000 square feet. Westfield began a $150 million multi-phase expansion in the Summer of 2002 and was completed in late 2003. The 300,000+ square foot expansion added two new junior anchors -

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 ...

and a

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

bookstore, as well as a 20-screen

Century Theatres Century Theatres is a movie theater chain that operates many multiplexes in the western United States, primarily in California, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. In its later years, it had expanded into the inter-mountain states, t ...

cinema and a large food court. A restaurant row with

The Cheesecake Factory The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is an American restaurant company and distributor of cheesecakes based in the United States. The company operates 219 full-service restaurants: 206 under The Cheesecake Factory brand and 13 under the Grand Lux C ...

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 ...

, BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse,

P.F. Chang's China Bistro P. F. Chang's China Bistro is an American-based, casual dining restaurant chain founded in 1993 by Paul Fleming and Philip Chiang that serves Asian fusion cuisine. Centerbridge Partners owned and operated Chang's until acquired by the private e ...

, and Buca di Beppo fronted the new wing facing Blossom Hill Road. The bankruptcies and eventual closures of Borders and Linens n' Things led to two new junior anchors at the center: a

opened in place of Linens n' Things, while Forever 21 moved from a smaller in-line space to the former Borders store. A 20,000 square-foot H&M opened in 2011, taking over one of the mall's hallways and several tenant spaces in the process. Westfield purchased the Sears building at Oakridge and two other properties in May 2017. On January 4, 2018, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of a plan to close 103 stores nationwide. The store closed end of March 2018. A Living Spaces furniture store took over most of the former Sears building in 2019. An additional anchor - a

99 Ranch Market 99 Ranch Market () is an American supermarket chain owned by Tawa Supermarket Inc., which is based in Buena Park, California. 99 Ranch has 54 stores (as of June 2021), primarily in California, with other stores in Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Ne ...

- opened in 2022.

References

External links

{{Shopping malls in California Buildings and structures in San Jose, California Shopping malls in the San Francisco Bay Area Oakridge Economy of San Jose, California Shopping malls in Santa Clara County, California Shopping malls established in 1971 1971 establishments in California