Town & Country Mall

Infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Town & Country Mall


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location = Houston, Texas, USA
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opening_date = 1983
closing_date = 2005
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number_of_stores =
number_of_anchors = 4
floor_area =
floors = 3
parking =
website =
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Town & Country Mall was an upscale shopping mall in Houston, Texas, competing with the then upscale West Oaks Mall and neighboring Memorial City Mall. It was supposed to surpass the older Memorial City Mall but never did due to its location. It is part of a Houston phenomenon of the older mall surviving newer malls.

The lot has been bought out by Midway Companies in order for them to develop a new shopping, residential and business center called "CityCentre," planned to be complete by Spring 2009. CityCentre will be a mixed-use complex, with 22 penthouses, two luxury hotels, a convention center, 425,000 ft² of office space, apartments, lofts and retail shops. [ [http://www.citycentrehouston.com/ CityCentre Houston] ] [ [http://midwaycompanies.com/mixeduse-citycentre.asp CityCenter information at Midway Companies] ]

History

Beginnings (1983 – 1990)

In 1983, Town & Country Mall opened on Interstate 10 and Beltway 8 in Houston. The three-level mall debuted with anchor tenants Joske's (became Dillard's after 1987 acquisition), JCPenney, Marshall Field's (became Saks Fifth Avenue after Field's pulled out of Texas in 1997), and Neiman Marcus. The large, comfortable interior attracted residents from all over the surrounding area. Many large anchors, such as Dillard's, continued to flourish in the golden years of the mall.

The mall initially had a large food court on the third floor in the JC Penney wing, but it was soon replaced by a children's store called Twelve & Under, which offered a selection of toys and clothing in addition to a giant play structure. The only restaurant that remained in the food court area was a McDonald's. It featured booths within the inline store as well as seating out on the mall street. Numerous other restaurants were located throughout the rest of the mall.

By the late 1980s, Memorial City Mall, a nearby rival, was teetering on the brink of closure after Town & Country had taken the neighboring mall's 20-year grasp as the leading mall away. Town & Country was very popular through the 1980s, yet the 1990s saw a great depression.

Rapid decline (1991 – 2001)

Town & Country had its rightful place as leader until the mid-1990s, when its popularity started to decrease. The mall was losing style with Houston shoppers as the interior became small and clogged while leasing space that was available could not handle larger stores that were demanded by many retailers. In fact, much of the mall's third level was vacant by the middle of the 1990s.

When the Beltway 8 and Interstate 10 interchange was rebuilt in 1989, [cite book | last = Slotboom | first = Oscar F. "Erik" | title = Houston Freeways | publisher = Oscar F. Slotboom | year = 2003 | id = ISBN 0-9741605-3-9 Also available in full online: [http://www.houstonfreeways.com Houston Freeways] .] it obscured the view of the mall from the highways, giving Memorial City Mall an advantage since it was at the next Interstate 10 exit. Also, it was very hard to access the mall due to the limited amount of signage guiding people to the mall, and the clogged traffic of the Beltway 8 and Interstate 10 frontage roads. Saks Fifth Avenue replaced Marshall Field's in 1997 after Field's pulled out of Texas. That store closed in 2000 just before the JCPenney announced their closing sale. JCPenney pulled out in 2000 with the closing of several other stores nationwide. By the late 1990s, Town & Country was desperate for shoppers and tried to persuade them to come back by hosting model train conventions and such, but the mall never regained strength. By 2000, the mall was almost empty.

Closure (2002 – 2005)

In 2002, Memorial City Mall saw its opportunity to take back thousands of shoppers and started a huge renovation project. Dillard's then announced it would leave the mall and relocate to Memorial City after their lease expired in 2003. By 2004, only Neiman Marcus and a handful of national and local retailers remained, and when Dillard's relocated to Memorial City in favor of large, inexpensive retail space, Town & Country saw no other option but to close. JCPenney reopened inside the former Lord & Taylor space in Memorial City Mall after Lord & Taylor vacated the property in 2005. Late in 2004, the mall was demolished save for Neiman Marcus, which was slated to become part of a new development on the site of the former mall. However, Neiman Marcus later closed with an official closing sale in early 2006. The building has also since been demolished.

After the mall: CityCenter (2005 - present)

All that remains of Town & Country has been removed from the lot. In 2007, construction on a brand new outdoor shopping center, dubbed "CityCentre," began. In mid-2008, the last structure from the original Town & Country Mall (the mall's entrance sign on the Beltway 8 frontage road) was taken down and replaced with a CityCentre sign. As of August 2008, the new CityCentre complex is well underway, with one completed building. According to CityCentre's official website, it is slated to open in Spring 2009.

References

External links

* [http://www.deadmalls.com/malls/town_and_country_mall_tx.html DeadMalls.com article about Town & Country Mall]
* [http://www.citycentrehouston.com CityCentre] redevelopment
*PAGENAME was at coordinates coord|29.780470|-95.560423|type:landmark