Central Mall is an enclosed

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

Port Arthur, Texas Port Arthur is a city in the state of Texas, United States of America, located east of metro Houston. Part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, the city lies primarily in Jefferson County, with a small extension in Orange County. ...

, United States. Opened in 1982, it features

Dillard's Dillard's, Inc. is an American department store chain with approximately 267 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 company a ...

, J. C. Penney,

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * 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 artille ...

TJ Maxx TJ Maxx (stylized as T•J•maxx) is an American discount department store chain. It has more than 1,000 stores in the United States, making it one of the largest clothing retailers in the country. TJ Maxx is the flagship chain of the TJX Comp ...

, American Freight,

Crunch Fitness Crunch Fitness is a US-based brand of over 500 franchising, franchised and corporate owned health club, fitness clubs located in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Costa Rica, and Australia. Founded by Doug Levine in 1989, it ...

(coming soon in winter 2025), and a B&B Theatre.

History

The mall opened in 1982 with J. C. Penney,

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

, Bealls (now

Stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly Brit ...

), and The White House.

was added in 2004.

Hurricane Rita Hurricane Rita was the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Gulf of Mexico, tying with Hurricane Milton in 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, 2024, as well as being the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. Part of the ...

destroyed the roof of the Dillard's store, which reopened in 2006.

Hobby Lobby Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., formerly Hobby Lobby Creative Centers, is an American retail company. It owns a chain of arts and crafts stores with a volume of over $5 billion in 2018. The chain has 1,001 stores in 48 U.S. states. The Green family fo ...

, which replaced the former White House store, was damaged beyond repair. Hobby Lobby is also now closed. Other parts of the mall sustained roof damage as well.

Bed Bath & Beyond Bed Bath & Beyond was an American big-box retail chain specializing in housewares, furniture, and specialty items. Headquartered in Union, New Jersey, the chain operated stores in the United States and Canada, and was once counted among the ...

joined the mall in late 2006-early 2007. Steve & Barry's, added in 2005, closed in 2008. The space was previously

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, San Francisco, Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of t ...

, which closed in 2004. In 2013,

and Shoe Dept. Encore were added. The former replaced a

Luby's Luby’s Restaurant Corporation is a chain of cafeteria-style restaurants in Texas. In the past, Luby's Inc. also owned the Fuddruckers, Koo Koo Roo, and Cheeseburger in Paradise (restaurant), Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant chains. As of Apr ...

and a Gap which had closed in 2005, and the latter replaced the former Old Navy/Steve & Barry's. 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 in March 2019. On September 15, 2022, it was announced that Bed Bath & Beyond would be closing as part of a plan to close 150 stores nationwide. In February 2024, 4th Dimension Properties acquired the Central Mall and announced that they are making additions and improvements to the mall. In September 2024,

was announced that it’s coming soon into the old

and is supposed to open in winter 2025 In July 2025, it was announced that the mall had been purchased by local developer Joe Aref of ''The Joe Aref Development & Investment Group'', and his business partner Sultan Jasani. At the time of the purchase, major renovations were in progress, with the goal of revitalizing the space and attracting new visitors. While details were kept under wraps, the new owners revealed that one of the biggest changes included the introduction of six new large anchor stores, expected to open by the end of the year. In addition, they announced that

Cici's Pizza Cici Enterprises, LP, doing business as Cicis Pizza and also known as simply Cicis, is an American chain of buffet restaurants based in Coppell, Texas, specializing in pizza. The company was founded in 1985, and started franchising by 1987. In N ...

would be opening in the former Jason's Deli space, and Alltitude Trampoline Park will be taking over the old Hobby Lobby space next to Crunch Fitness. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/southeast-texas-businessmen-acquire-central-mall-announce-major-renovations-new-tenants/ar-AA1ISbsq

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Shopping malls in Texas Shopping malls established in 1982 Port Arthur, Texas