West County Center 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 ...

located in

Des Peres, Missouri Des Peres () is a city in west St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 8,373 at the 2010 census. History The first inhabitants of Des Peres were the Cahokia, the Kaskaskia, the Mitchigamea, the Moingona, and the Otoe peopl ...

, a suburb of

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. The original mall was built in 1969. The original mall closed in 2001, and a new mall on the site opened in 2002. The anchor stores are

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 ...

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 ...

, Dick's Sporting Goods, and

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, Gir ...

History

1969 mall

The original West County Center mall was constructed by May Co.'s CenterMark Properties real estate development division, and opened on February 20, 1969, at the southeast corner of I-270 and Manchester Road (Route 100) in Des Peres, Missouri. It was built on the site of the Manchester Drive-In movie theater, which many remember for the

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

sunrise services that were held there. It was and was anchored by

Famous-Barr The Famous-Barr Co. (originally Famous and Barr Co.) was a division of Macy's, Inc. (formerly Federated Department Stores). Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, in the Railway Exchange Building, it was the flagship store of The May Department S ...

and

. The mall was sold to the Australian

Westfield Group Westfield Group was an Australian shopping centre company that existed from 1960 to 2014, when it split into two independent companies: Scentre Group, which owns and operates the Australian and New Zealand Westfield shopping centre portfolio ...

in 1994 and was renamed Westfield Shoppingtown West County. In 1997,

announced their intention to open a new anchor store at the mall, as part of a complete reconstruction of the center by Westfield. The original mall closed on January 27, 2001, and was demolished, except for the JCPenney anchor store structure, which was remodeled.

2002 mall

The new Westfield Shoppingtown West County opened on September 20, 2002. The

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

230 million project added a 2-story

, a

Lord & Taylor Lord & Taylor was the oldest brick and mortar department store in the United States, in business from 1826 to 2020. The brand was purchased during former owner Le Tote's 2020 liquidation bankruptcy and relaunched by new owner, Saadia Group, as ...

, a food court, and three parking garages. It also included a 2-story Dick's Sporting Goods above the café court. In October 2007,

CBL & Associates 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 ...

acquired four out of five malls in the St. Louis area owned by Westfield. In 2009, the mall's vacant

was adapted into a new wing housing Barnes & Noble, which relocated from an older location nearby, and other retailers. The mall had one of the region's two

Apple Store The Apple Store is a chain of retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell various Apple products, including Mac personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad tablet computers, Apple Watch smartwatches, Apple TV digital me ...

s and the region’s only Lego Store. In May 2011, it was announced that

TIAA-CREF The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA, formerly TIAA-CREF), is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading provider of financial services in the academic, research ...

would receive 50% ownership of West County Center and several other CBL malls in an attempt to reduce CBL's debt.

Dove sign

The most famous part of the mall is the large

dove Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

sign that sits outside the mall next to Interstate 270. Created by Tony Amato, it has become a meeting place for thousands of people during its nearly 50-year life. The removal of the dove in early 2001 caused minor controversy among nearby churches. The dove was refurbished during the renovation, and in mid-2002, returned to its original perch. Today, it is in the parking lot outside of Nordstrom.Lang, Lynne "Under the Dove, a Collection of Memories" 2002.

Current anchors

(2006–present) *

(1969–present) *

(2002–present) * Dick's Sporting Goods (2002–present)

Former anchors

(1969-2006) (now Macy's) *

(2002-2007) (demolished in 2009 to build a new wing)

Junior anchors

* Barnes & Noble (2009–present) * H&M (2018–present)

Former junior anchors

Houlihan's Houlihan's is an American casual restaurant and bar chain with locations operating throughout the country, 60% of which are franchised. It is headquartered in Leawood within Johnson County, Kansas. The first Houlihan's opened on April 1, 1972, ...

(2002-2011) (now H&M) *

The North Face The North Face is an American outdoor recreation products company. The North Face produces outdoor clothing, footwear, and related equipment. Founded in 1968 to supply climbers, the company's logo draws inspiration from Half Dome, in Yosemite ...

(before 2012-2022) (now Fan Cave)

References

External links

Official website
{{CBL Properties Shopping malls established in 1969 CBL Properties Shopping malls in Missouri Buildings and structures in St. Louis County, Missouri Tourist attractions in St. Louis