Chesapeake Square is a regional mall in

Chesapeake, Virginia Chesapeake is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,422, it is the second-most populous independent city in Virginia, tenth-largest in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 90th ...

, in the

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James, Nansemond and Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point where the Chesapeake Bay flows into the Atlantic ...

metropolitan area. The mall has approximately 70 stores, three anchors ( Burlington,

Cinemark Theatres Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (stylized as CineMark from 1998 to 2022 and CINEMARK since 2022) is an American movie theater chain that started operations in 1984 and since then it has operated theaters with hundreds of locations throughout the Ameri ...

, and

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, fi ...

), several eateries at the mall's food court including one restaurant: Big Woody's (located at the mall's main entry).

History

The mall opened in October 1989 in former forest and swamp land of the Western Branch section of Chesapeake. Later, the business district grew with two other shopping centers including the adjacent "Chesapeake Center" as well as "The Crossroads at Chesapeake Square" across the street. The mall was developed by the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation. The mall's anchors at the time of its opening in 1989 were

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 ...

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 ...

, Hess's, and Leggett.

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 curr ...

opened in 1992. When it closed in 2001, its building was expanded for use by Target.

Hecht's Hecht's, also known as Hecht Brothers, Hecht Bros. and the Hecht Company, was a large chain of department stores that operated mainly in the mid-Atlantic and southern region of the United States. The firm originated in Baltimore, Maryland. By 20 ...

opened as an anchor in 1999. It became

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 ...

, along with all other Hecht's stores, in 2006. On July 27, 2009,

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 ...

announced that it would close its two Chesapeake Square locations, along with four other undisclosed locations, laying off or transferring 45 employees. In September 2009, the Men's building (originally Leggett until 1996, later

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, a ...

until 1998) closed. On September 23, the Women's building, (originally Hess's until 1993, later

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 D ...

until 1997), closed as well.

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 i ...

replaced Dillard's Men's on September 24, 2010. On November 12, 2010, a Cinemark movie theater moved to the former Dillard's Women/Hess's anchor space. The theater has stadium seating with twelve screens, including an Extreme Digital (XD) auditorium and opened at December 16, 2011. In December 2017, the old Cinemark building was demolished. Sears announced the closure of its Chesapeake Square store in late 2014. The mall was previously owned by

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 In ...

, until it spun off numerous properties 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 2014. Jones Lang LaSalle owned and managed the property until

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous ci ...

-based Kotarides acquired the mall for $12.9 million in February 2018. In September 2015,

was announced to close by early 2016. This left JCPenney as the last original anchor. In October 2021, it was announced that JCPenney would be leaving the mall by 2022 leaving no original anchors left at the mall. On December 9, 2022, Pete Kortarides, President of Virginia Beach-based Kortarides Development, said demolition of the former Macy's, JCPenney and Sears buildings could began as next year to be replaced by unnamed retailers.

References

{{Shopping malls in Virginia Shopping malls in Virginia Shopping malls established in 1989 Buildings and structures in Chesapeake, Virginia 1989 establishments in Virginia