Santa Rosa Plaza is one of two enclosed

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 ...

s in

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area ...

. Opened in 1983, it is anchored by

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 ...

and

Forever 21 Forever 21 is a multinational fast fashion retailer headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. Originally founded as the store Fashion 21 in Highland Park, Los Angeles in 1984,Forever 21History & Facts, n.d. Retrieved 27 April 2014 ...

. The mall is managed 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 Indian ...

History

The mall was built in downtown Santa Rosa in 1983 with

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 ...

, and

Mervyn's Mervyn's was an American middle-scale department store chain based in Hayward, California, and founded by Mervin G. Morris (1920–2021). It carried national brands of clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics, ...

as the original anchors, following the demolition of various downtown buildings as part of Santa Rosa's urban renewal project, including the landmark 1923 California Theater. Macy's, the first store in the development, opened in 1981 on the site of the former theater. Development was delayed for many years due to legal disputes between developers Ernest Hahn and Hugh Codding, the latter of whom owned nearby

Coddingtown Mall Coddingtown Mall is one of two enclosed shopping malls in Santa Rosa, California. Opened in 1962, the mall is anchored by JCPenney, Macy's, Nordstrom Rack, Target, and Whole Foods Market. It is fully owned and operated by Codding Enterprises. Hist ...

. Codding lost the settlement. In an interview with

Gaye LeBaron Gaye Theresa LeBaron (born 1935) is an American newspaper columnist, author, teacher, and local historian of Sonoma County, California. She wrote more than 8,000 columns for ''The Press Democrat'' from 1961 until her semi-retirement in 2001. She ...

, Hugh Codding said the construction bonds for the Santa Rosa Plaza were paid in full with property tax revenues from the plaza businesses. Mervyn's closed in 2008 when the chain filed for bankruptcy. Two years later, the first level of the location became Forever 21. In 2015,

Sears Holdings Sears Holdings Corporation was an American holding company headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It was the parent company of the chain stores Kmart and Sears and was founded after the former purchased the latter in 2005. It was the 20th-l ...

spun off 235 of its properties, including the Sears at Santa Rosa Plaza, into Seritage Growth Properties. On October 15, 2018, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of a plan to close 142 stores nationwide. The store closed on January 6, 2019. The first level is now Home Interiors Furniture.

References

External links

Official website
Buildings and structures in Santa Rosa, California Shopping malls established in 1983 Shopping malls in the San Francisco Bay Area Simon Property Group Economy of Santa Rosa, California {{US-mall-stub