Richardson Square Mall (1977-2006) was an enclosed single-level shopping center located in

Richardson, Texas Richardson is a city in Dallas and Collin counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 119,469. Richardson is an inner suburb of the city of Dallas. It is home to the University ...

on Plano Road, stretching between the intersections of Belt Line Road and Spring Valley Road. The three adjacent corners of Belt Line and Plano Road were also occupied by shopping centers. The mall attached to an existing

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 ...

, which served as an anchor store and remained in business after Richardson Square Mall was demolished in June 2007. Now located in its place is an outdoor retail center that goes by the name Richardson Square.

History

The 139,000 square foot

building opened on March 6, 1974, before the mall existed, and operated as a standalone store. Richardson Square Mall opened in 1977 along Plano Road with Sears being one of the four anchors in addition to

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 ...

, Dillard's, and

Titche-Goettinger Titche-Goettinger (later known as Titche's) was a department store chain based in Dallas, Texas (United States). It was established in 1902 and was a major player in the Dallas retail market until its merger with Joske's, which was later absor ...

(which became

Joske's Joske's, founded by German immigrant Julius Joske in 1867, was a department store chain originally based in San Antonio, Texas. In December 1928, Hahn Department Stores acquired the company along with the Titche-Goettinger department store of Dal ...

in 1979). While the mall, Sears, and Montgomery Ward, were single-level, the other two anchor locations were each two stories. During its peak in the 1980s, the mall included the Richardson Square I-II-III movie theater (owned by

General Cinema General Cinema Corporation, also known as General Cinema, GCC, or General Cinema Theatres, was a chain of movie theaters in the United States. At its peak, the company operated about 1,500 screens, some of which were among the first cinemas certi ...

), a video game arcade across from it, two bookstores (

Waldenbooks Waldenbooks, operated by the Walden Book Company, Inc., was an American shopping mall-based bookstore chain, from 1995 as a subsidiary of Borders Group. The chain also ran a video game and software chain under the name Waldensoftware, as well as a ...

and B. Dalton), and two music stores (

Musicland The Musicland Group, Inc. was an entertainment company that ran Musicland, Sam Goody, Discount Records, Suncoast Motion Picture Company, On Cue, and the Media Play Superstore Chains. The Musicland Group was purchased by Best Buy in 2001 at the hei ...

and

Camelot Music Camelot Music was a mall-based American retailer of prerecorded music and accessories and was one of the largest music retailers in the United States based on store count. As of May 31, 1998, the company operated 455 stores in 37 states nationwide ...

). Food vendors were grouped in the entrance corridors at each end of the mall–by Sears ( Hot Sam Pretzels,

Bresler's Ice Cream Bresler's 33 Flavors was an American ice cream chain founded in 1927. Its founder was Polish immigrant William J. Bresler, who died in 1985. In 1954, Bresler's began a fast food hamburger chain called Henry's Hamburgers. The Bresler's chain w ...

Karmelkorn Karmelkorn was an American popcorn retailer. It was founded in 1928 in Casper, Wyoming, by Mr. and Mrs. William O'Sullivan. The O'Sullivans patented their candy-coated popcorn and trademarked the product's name and logo in 1929. Initially, they ...

) and Montgomery Ward ( Chick-fil-A,

Orange Julius Orange Julius is an American chain of fruit drink beverage stores. It has been in business since the late 1920s and is noted for a particular drink, also called an Orange Julius. The beverage is a mixture of ice, orange juice, sweetener, milk, p ...

). The mall was closed on Sundays until September 1, 1985, when the Texas blue law was repealed. In 1981, the much larger

Collin Creek Mall Collin Creek Mall was a two-level, enclosed regional mall in Plano, Texas opened in 1981 and closed for redevelopment in 2019. It was located near the intersection of US 75 (Central Expressway) and President George Bush Turnpike. Since September ...

opened in nearby Plano, but Richardson Square continued to be popular and fully occupied throughout the remainder of the 1980s. An L-shaped, free-standing strip of stores was built in 1984–85 on the outer corner of the property closest to Lloyd V. Berkner High School. In 1987, the

chain was purchased by Dillard's, and the Joske's location in the mall became a second Dillard's. Dillard's maintained both two-level stores until it closed the latter in 1995.

Decline

Stores began rapidly closing in the early 1990s. By 1993, the property was at about 60% occupancy. A new tenant during this phase was French bakery Cafe Partier. In 1998, the mall was remodeled, with many new tenants and a food court added, as well as a Barnes & Noble bookstore which occupied the space of multiple stores. The entrance corridor near

, formerly occupied by a movie theater, arcade, and several food vendors, became a Stein Mart. Shortly thereafter

filed for bankruptcy and closed its stores. The former Ward's pad was demolished and converted into a Super Target in 2002. Stein Mart,

Oshman's Oshman's Sporting Goods Inc. was a sporting goods retailer in the United States. Their headquarters were in East End, Houston, Texas.Garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. Etymology From the ...

Firewheel Town Center Firewheel Town Center is a open-air regional shopping mall in Garland, Texas. The mall is located on the northeast corner of President George Bush Turnpike and State Highway 78. The mall opened on October 7, 2005. Although "coming soon" signs ...

opened in 2005. Dillard's,

Old Navy Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of the Old Navy stores are its ...

, and Barnes & Noble all relocated to Firewheel. In 2006, it was announced that the mall would be demolished and Simon Properties would be renovating the site. Richardson Square Mall was demolished in mid 2007, except for Sears, which remained in operation as part of the subsequent Richardson Square retail center.

Richardson Square

The Richardson Square retail center includes Super Target with an internal Starbucks,

Ross Dress for Less Ross Stores, Inc., operating under the brand name Ross Dress for Less, is an American chain of discount department stores headquartered in Dublin, California. It is the largest off-price retailer in the U.S.; as of 2018, Ross operates 1,483 sto ...

Shoe Carnival Shoe Carnival Inc. is an American retailer of family footwear. The company operates 377 stores throughout the midwest, south, and southeast regions. It was founded by David Russell in 1978 and is headquartered in Evansville, Indiana. The company ...

, and a Lowe's home improvement store.

Pad site A pad site or outparcel is a freestanding parcel of commercial real estate located in the front of a larger shopping center or strip mall. Desirable because of their visibility to consumers, accessibility, and the ease of facilitating drive-thru ser ...

s sites include

Panda Express Panda Express is an American fast food restaurant chain that serves American Chinese cuisine. With over 2,200 locations, it is the largest Asian-segment restaurant chain in the United States, where it was founded, and is mainly located in North ...

, Chick-fil-A,

Whataburger Whataburger is an American regional fast food restaurant chain, headquartered and based in San Antonio, Texas, that specializes in hamburgers. The company, founded by Harmon Dobson and Paul Burton, opened its first restaurant in Corpus Chris ...

, Sonic Drive-In, and

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...

. On December 28, 2018, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of a plan to close 80 stores nationwide. The store closed on March 10, 2019. New additions to the current Richardson Square include El Pollo Loco, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and Jason's Deli. Additionally, there are two triplexes. One includes Spectrum, Blaze Pizza, and one unoccupied space. The other includes Starbucks, Jersey Mike's, and Aspen Dental.

References

External links

Photos
of Richardson Square Mall just prior to and during demolition. {{Dallas malls Demolished shopping malls in the United States Shopping malls established in 1977 Shopping malls in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Richardson, Texas 1977 establishments in Texas 2007 disestablishments in Texas Buildings and structures demolished in 2007 Demolished buildings and structures in Texas