Independence Mall (North Carolina)
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Independence Mall (formerly Westfield Shoppingtown Independence or Westfield Independence) is the only enclosed shopping mall in
Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is the ...
. It opened in 1979 with anchor stores Belk-Beery (now Belk),
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 ...
, and
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 ...
. A later expansion added a new wing and
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 ...
store to the center after
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; ...
purchased the mall. The mall is located on Oleander Drive ( U.S. 76) and Independence Blvd east of downtown Wilmington. The mall has a food court and no longer features a carousel.


History

Independence Mall was developed by a partnership between Philadelphia-based Strouse, Greenberg & Co. and Wilmington-based The Oleander Co. It opened in 1979 with anchor stores Belk-Beery (now Belk),
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 ...
, and
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 ...
. A notable feature of the mall was the mosaic murals depicting Wilmington landmarks and landscapes, designed by artist and retired savings-and-loan executive Samuel D. Bissette.


New owners and expansion

In 1997, the mall was sold to Westfield America, Inc., a precursor to
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; ...
, Westfield's management would oversee a major expansion, which would add a fourth arm to the mall, anchored by a new Dillard's store and including a 400-seat food court. The name of the mall was changed to Westfield Shoppingtown Independence in 1998. In 2005, the Shoppingtown name was dropped, however the signs still have the Shoppingtown name in it. In 2000, Independence Mall Cinemas, a three-screen theater complex operated by
Carmike Cinemas Carmike Cinemas was a motion picture exhibitor headquartered in Columbus, Georgia. As of March 2016, the company had 276 theaters with 2,954 screens in 41 states, and was the fourth largest movie theater chain in the United States. The company b ...
, which opened in 1979, was demolished to make way for the new Dillard's wing, which the new store opened on March 16, 2001, while the new wing opened on March 21, 2001. On May 9, 2006, Westfield sold the mall to
Centro Properties Group Vicinity Centres , previously known as Federation Centres and Centro Properties Group, is an Australian Real Estate Investment Trust specialising in ownership and management of Australian shopping centres. As at December 2021, it had stakes i ...
which its joint venture subsidiary Centro Watt (now
Brixmor Property Group Brixmor Property Group is a publicly traded Real Estate Investment Trust that primarily invests in shopping malls. They own and operate over 400 open-air shopping centers totaling over 73 million square feet of retail space. Brixmor Property Gr ...
) managed the property, and then the name of the mall returned to Independence Mall. In 2012, It was announced that the carousel in the center court would be removed after eight years of operation.


Financial Issues and Redevelopment

In October 2014, a $110 million loan on Independence Mall went into default after payments were overdue for more than a month. As of July 2016, a
foreclosure auction Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mortg ...
date had been set for later that month, however the date has continuously been moved in efforts to continue discussions with the loan borrower, Centro Independence LLC. A property appraisal done in December 2015 valued the mall at only $61 million. On June 27, 2017, Rouse Properties (now part of
Brookfield Properties Brookfield Properties is a North American subsidiary of commercial real estate company Brookfield Property Partners, which itself is a subsidiary of alternative asset management company Brookfield Asset Management. It is responsible for the pro ...
) purchased the mall for $45 million and announced the redevelopment of the mall into a modern open-air shopping center and change the mall's name to The Collection at Independence. On April 6, 2018, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of a plan to close 24 stores nationwide. The store closed in June 2018. In August 2019, the final plans for the redevelopment of the mall has been approved by the city of Wilmington, and shortly after, the remaining tenants at the former Sears wing have been relocated to the 3 remaining anchor wings, and as a result, the Sears space along with a nearby mall entrance that also used to house Ruby Tuesday, Leland-based San Felipe Mexican Restaurant, and Nikki's Sushi (relocating to Dillard's wing), has been blocked off to make way for the demolition and redevelopment. The current name of the mall will be retained. On October 2, 2020,
Five Below 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awar ...
held their grand opening in part of the former Sears space. On October 14, 2020, sporting goods retailer,
Dick's Sporting Goods Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized as "DICK'S Sporting Goods") is an American sporting goods retail company, based in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. The company was established by Richard "Dick" Stack in 1948, and has approximately 854 stores an ...
announced they would also be opening their brand-new store in part of the former Sears property on October 17, 2020. Relocating from its existing nearby location in College Rd that used to be occupied by
Best Products Best Products Company, Inc., or simply Best, was a chain of American catalog showroom retail stores founded by Sydney and Frances Lewis in 1957 and formerly headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. The company was in existence for four decades befor ...
until its liquidation in 1997.
Blaze Pizza Blaze Pizza is a Pasadena, California-based fast-casual dining restaurant chain that serves pizza. Founded in 2011 by Elise and Rick Wetzel of Wetzel's Pretzels, Blaze Pizza was modeled after Chipotle's made-to-order approach to serving custo ...
,
Rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...
, &
T-Mobile T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG in the Czech Republic (T-Mobile Czech Republic), Poland (T-Mobile Polska), the United States (T-Mobile ...
will open. On March 25, 2022, a
Dave's Hot Chicken Dave's Hot Chicken is an American fast casual restaurant chain specializing in Nashville-style hot chicken. Founded in Los Angeles, California with a single restaurant in 2017, the chain has expanded to over 100 locations in 4 countries in 202 ...
restaurant opened right next to the mall.


Anchors

*
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, ...
() *
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 ...
() *
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 ...
() *
Five Below 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awar ...
(opened October 2, 2020) *
Dick's Sporting Goods Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized as "DICK'S Sporting Goods") is an American sporting goods retail company, based in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. The company was established by Richard "Dick" Stack in 1948, and has approximately 854 stores an ...
(opened October 17, 2020)


Former Anchors

*
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 ...
() ''(closed June 2018)''


References


External links

* {{Brookfield Properties Brookfield Properties Shopping malls in North Carolina Buildings and structures in Wilmington, North Carolina Shopping malls established in 1979 Tourist attractions in New Hanover County, North Carolina 1979 establishments in North Carolina