Westfield Annapolis 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 ...

, owned by

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE (previously Unibail-Rodamco SE) is a French commercial real estate company headquartered in Paris, France. Its history originates with the formation of two separate shopping centre operators, Unibail (founded in Fran ...

and is located near the junction of

U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlanti ...

and

Interstate 97 Interstate 97 (I-97) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs entirely within Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The Interstate runs from U.S. Route 50 (US 50)/US 301 in Parole near Annapolis north to I-695 and I-895 in Brookly ...

Parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

, near

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. As of 2022, the mall features the traditional tenants

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

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 prominent specialty stores

Free People Free People is an American bohemian apparel and lifestyle retail company that sells women’s clothing, accessories, shoes, intimates, and swimwear. It also has a beauty and wellness category, which includes products such as cosmetics, skin, an ...

Intimissimi Intimissimi is an Italian clothing label founded in 1996, which specializes in bras, briefs, lingerie, vests, and pyjamas for women and men. Intimissimi clothing was sold through Victoria's Secret's in a third-party partnership arrangement. I ...

Janie & Jack Janie and Jack is a children's clothing brand founded in 2002 in San Francisco, California. Their current product range includes clothing for newborns up to 24 months old, as well as boys and girls up to age 18. As of 2021, the brand currently op ...

, and

Crate & Barrel Euromarket Designs Inc., doing business as Crate & Barrel (stylized as Crate&Barrel), is an international furniture and home décor retail store headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois. They employ 8200 employees across over 100 stores in the Uni ...

History

The site was at one time the location of the Annapolis terminus of the

Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway The Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway (WB&A) was an American railroad of central Maryland and Washington, D.C., built in the 19th and 20th century. The WB&A absorbed two older railroads, the Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad and ...

, and was known as the "Best Gate" station, which had three single-ended and four double-ended sidings, where rail cars could be shunted on or off of the single-track WB&A east–west railway which ran to the north–south

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

and

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

lines. This "Best Gate" station gave the name to the nearby Bestgate Road, which today runs along the northern perimeter of the mall. A free-standing, single-level

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 ...

store occupied the site during the 1970s. Following the construction and opening of a single-level mall on the site in 1980, Montgomery Ward became an anchor. Additional anchor stores included Washington, D.C.-based

Garfinckel's Garfinckel's was a prominent department store Chain store, chain based in Washington, D.C. that catered to a customer, clientele of wealthy consumers. Its flagship store at 14th and F in the city's F Street shopping district is listed on the Nati ...

and

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 ...

, both with two levels. The mall was expanded in 1983 with the addition of a single-level

. Garfinckel's closed in 1990 after the company went bankrupt. The mall was expanded again in 1994 with the addition of a two-level

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, and ...

store as well as an expanded food court. In 1998 a two-level

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 ...

store opened which was followed by the opening of an 11-screen movie theater. The Montgomery Ward store closed in 2001 and in 2002 was replaced with a

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 ...

store. Hecht's became

in September 2006. Another large addition to the mall was completed in 2007, which included an expansion of the existing JCPenney store. The former Garfinckel's space once housed a two-level

Borders Books and Music A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

store which operated during the mid-2000s until its closure in 2011. A two-level

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 ...

store now occupies the space. Nordstrom added on in 1994. The late 2010s saw multiple classic chain anchors retreat from brick and mortar after being disrupted by digital retailers in recent years. In August, 2017 it was announced Lord & Taylor would shutter. Westfield announced its space would be reconstructed into additional stores including

The Container Store The Container Store Group, Inc. is an American specialty retail chain company that operates The Container Store, which offers storage and organization products, and custom closets. The company has made ''Fortunes list of "100 Best Companies ...

In April 2018, Anne Arundel County Public Library opened a temporary branch called "Discoveries: the Library at the Mall", in Westfield Annapolis. It moved to a permanent location in the former American Eagle and Charlotte Russe stores in February 2020. Since July 2021, the library includes a Community Pantry where staff distribute diapers, baby supplies, hygiene items and menstrual supplies weekly. On May 7, 2020, Nordstrom, which maintains several additional outposts, announced it would shutter during a wave of secondary store closures. The

SPCA A Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is a common name for non-profit animal welfare organizations around the world. The oldest SPCA organization is the RSPCA, which was founded in England in 1824. SPCA organizations operate i ...

Anne Arundel County Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, whi ...

, which opened an

animal shelter An animal shelter or pound is a place where stray, lost, abandoned or surrendered animals – mostly dogs and cats – are housed. The word "pound" has its origins in the animal pounds of agricultural communities, where stray livestock would ...

called "Paws at the Mall" at Westfield Annapolis in September 2020, says it is the only such shelter in the U.S. that is located within a mall. On April 12, 2022,

AMC Theatres AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (d/b/a AMC Theatres, originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema; often referred to simply as AMC and known in some countries as AMC Cinemas or AMC Multi-Cinemas) is an American movie theater chain fou ...

announced the acquisition of seven

Bow Tie Cinemas Bow Tie Cinemas is an American movie theater chain, with 38 locations in Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia. As of 2013, it is the eighth-largest movie theater chain in the United States and is the oldest, havin ...

locations, including their location at Westfield Annapolis. The theater reopened as AMC Annapolis Mall 11 on the weekend of April 21, 2022.

2006 shooting

On Saturday, November 18, 2006, an off duty

United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...

agent was at the mall when he witnessed a fight in progress in the food court. During the attempt to break up the fight, one of the combatants pulled a gun and fired at the agent, wounding him. The agent returned fire, hitting the shooter twice. A third person was wounded in the altercation. A Midshipman from the U.S. Naval Academy ran toward the sound of gunshots and provided first aid for the Secret Service agent. That Midshipman later received the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal. The mall was closed shortly after the incident, with all patrons asked to leave over the public address system. The associated trial lasted until December 2007 and the shooter was sentenced to 65 years in prison.

Current anchors

(since 1983) *

(since 2022) *

(since 2006) *

(since 2009) *

(since 2013) *

(since 2021)

Former anchors

(1980–2001) *

(1980–2006) *

(1980–1990) *

(1994–2020) *

(1998–2020) *

(2001–2011) *

(2002–2020) *

(1998–2022)

References

External links

Official Westfield Annapolis Website
{{WestfieldUnitedStates 1980 establishments in Maryland Buildings and structures in Annapolis, Maryland Shopping malls established in 1980 Shopping malls in Maryland Tourist attractions in Annapolis, Maryland