Jamestown Mall

Jamestown Mall was an enclosed shopping mall in Florissant, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Opened in 1973, the mall formerly included Dillard's, JCPenney, Macy's, and Sears as its anchor stores. The mall had become increasingly vacant since the beginning of the 2000s. It closed in July 2014 [1] and has been slated for redevelopment as an open-air center.

Jamestown Mall
Jamestown Mall in 2012
LocationFlorissant, Missouri, U.S.
Coordinates38°49′12″N 90°14′50″W
Address175 Jamestown Mall
Opening date1973 (1973)
Closing dateJuly 1, 2014 (2014-07-01)
DeveloperRichard E. Jacobs Group
OwnerSt. Louis County Port Authority
No. of stores and services100+
No. of anchor tenants4
Total retail floor area1,250,000 sq ft (116,000 m2)
No. of floors1 (2 in former Macy's, 4 in former Dillard's)

History

Construction began on the mall in 1972. Its anchor stores at the time were Sears and Stix Baer & Fuller, a local chain based in nearby St. Louis.[2] The Stix store was converted to Dillard's in 1984 after Dillard's acquired the chain. Famous-Barr (now Macy's) was added as a third anchor in 1994,[3] and two years later, JCPenney relocated to the mall from an existing store in Florissant.[4] A movie theater was also added in the 1990s.

Jacobs Group sold the mall to Carlyle Development Group in 2003.[5] At the time, the complex was approximately 30 percent vacant.[6] In April 2006, Dillard's Inc. announced the closure of the Jamestown Mall store.[7]

Carlyle announced redevelopment plans in 2008. Under these plans, the former Dillard's would be converted to offices, and its wing would be closed to retail.[8] The Sears store closed early in 2009.[9][10] The same year, St. Louis County hired researchers from the Urban Land Institute to analyze the mall's viability as a retail center. The study found that the center was no longer viable as a shopping mall because it overlapped with existing retailers in the area.[11] These plans were canceled in 2009 when the mall developers lost financial support from the county following an attempt to auction the former Dillard's store.[12] Further plans in 2010 called for the demolition of everything except the JCPenney and Macy's stores, with the rest of the complex to be re-developed as a mixed-use center.[13] In June 2011, a furniture store called Central States Liquidation opened in the former Dillard's.[14] The JCPenney Outlet store, which was renamed JC's 5 Star Outlet, closed in late 2013.[15]

In late 2012, gas service to the mall was shut off but later restored.[16] The mall's closure was announced in November 2013 due to the heat being shut off.[17] The closure of the Macy's store was announced in January 2014, leaving the mall with no anchors.[18] Jamestown Mall finally closed its doors on July 1, 2014.

In April 2022, St. Louis county approved a $6 million demolition plan to demolish the mall.[19]

In April 2023, a fire broke out in front of the entrance to Dillard's inside Jamestown Mall, which resulted in a hole being left in the roof of the building. The fire caused significant damage to the surrounding area, and there were reports of smoke and water damage inside the mall as well. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident. In September 2023, it was announced that Jamestown Mall would be demolished on September 26, 2023.

Jamestown Mall, 2016
Jamestown Mall, 2016

References
  1. Giegerich, Steve. "Jamestown Mall quietly closes its doors, planning for a rebirth of the site begins". stltoday.com.
  2. "New stores and shopping centers". CSA Supermarkets. 48: E–54. October 1972.
  3. "May Co. boosts expansion spending". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. May 22, 1993. Retrieved January 23, 2011 – via NewsBank.
  4. "Penney becomes 4th anchor at Jamestown". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. April 29, 1995. Retrieved January 23, 2011 – via NewsBank.
  5. "Jamestown Mall is acquired by N.Y.-based Carlyle Development". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. June 4, 2003. Retrieved January 23, 2011 – via NewsBank.
  6. "Mall might get makeover". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. January 25, 2004. Retrieved January 23, 2011 – via NewsBank.
  7. Appleson, Gail (April 4, 2006). "Dillard's will close in Jamestown Mall". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved January 23, 2011 – via NewsBank.
  8. Volkmann, Kelsey (July 28, 2008). "Jamestown Mall to undergo $120M transformation". St. Louis Business Journal. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
  9. Appleson, Gail (October 22, 2008). "Sears will close store at Jamestown Mall". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved January 23, 2011 – via NewsBank.
  10. "Sears closing at Jamestown Mall", St. Louis Business Journal, October 21, 2008.
  11. Volkmann, Kelsey (September 28, 2009). "Experts: Jamestown Mall should be razed". St. Louis Business Journal. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
  12. Hempel, Paul; Denise Holland (March 22, 2009). "Jamestown Mall takes another hit". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
  13. Gillerman, Margaret (September 22, 2010). "Planners seek new vitality for Jamestown Mall". Stltoday.com. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
  14. "Used furniture store opens at Jamestown Mall : NOCO ~ the online magazine of North St. Louis County". Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  15. Brown, Lisa. "JC's 5 Star Outlet closing Jamestown Mall store". stltoday.com.
  16. Kumar, Kavita. "Jamestown Mall reaches an agreement to have heat restored". stltoday.com.
  17. "Jamestown Mall closes due to no heat". ksdk.com. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  18. "Macy's to close Jamestown Mall location". ksdk.com. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  19. St. Louis County approves $6 million to demolish Jamestown Mall, retrieved February 12, 2023
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