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That used to be a department store?!

Posted: 04 Nov 2009 01:07
by TenPoundHammer
Have you ever seen a department or discount store converted to some especially weird use?

Here're some oddballs:

This former Zayre and Builder's Square in Portage, Michigan is now an auto mall and a medical supply center. Here is the same building as a Zayre in 1965.

I have also found at least three department stores that were converted to full-fledged shopping malls (click the first two for late-90s SiteRide listings):

*Clearmeadow Mall in Clearmeadow, NY: a former Great Western->Woolco that was cut up for a small mall anchored by a Stop & Shop and Service Merchandise, now gutted for a Walmart. It looks like some of its inline tenants included Gap (!) and G&G.

*Bay Harbour Mall in Cedarhurst, NY: Lower level was a small mall made from a former Korvette's. It was anchored by Marshalls and Service Merch, with Burlington Coat on the upper level. Actually had some decent tenants such as KB Toys, RadioShack and Payless. One hallway was kept for access to Burlington, while the rest was replaced with Best Buy, Modell's and some expansion for Marshalls. Service Merch became Bed Bath & Beyond.

*Roseville Towne Centre in Roseville, MI was also a small mall converted from a Korvette's store. It, too, had Marshalls and Service Merch as the anchors. When SM pulled out, Marshalls moved to the former SM building, and the mall (including the old Marshalls) was gutted for strip retail.

Re: That used to be a department store?!

Posted: 04 Nov 2009 12:56
by Jeff
The old WT Grant store in Eastland Center (2 levels, quite large), was gutted and the upper level transformed to mall shops. It was weird cause it had two small "wings" that led from the center court of the mall to the newly built Mervyns department store. The center stores were small eateries while the larger (but still smaller than the main mall) stores were on the sides. The lower level was vacant for years before being transformed to an Office Depot (still there today). When they de-malled Eastland, they only gutted the mall and made big box stores out of it. Today this area is part of Babies R Us and a vacant anchor (formerly Levitz)

Hawthorne Plaza's (in Hawthorne California) Montgomery Ward store became a Hawthorne School District Admin Office and a police training facility, while the rest of the mall is still vacant (including the former JCPenney and Broadway anchors).

The May Company in Arcadia, CA closed in 1992 when Robinsons and May Company merged (this store "moved" to the Westfield Santa Anita a 1/2 mile east, that Robinsons store was expanded). It was closed for a slight period before Vons moved their headquarters from El Monte to the store.

Indian Hill Mall in Pomona California had a ZODYS store for an anchor on the west end and a Sears on the East End. The ZODYS closed in 1986 and became a GIANT store by Ralphs Grocery. It closed after a couple of years. In the late 90's, this space was gutted and a new elementary school was built out of the ZODYS. The Sears closed in the 80's after moving to Montclair Plaza. It's been an indoor swap meet ever since. And the mall closed a couple years ago. The west half is a college and the east half is still vacant.

Re: That used to be a department store?!

Posted: 06 Nov 2009 12:15
by Super S
In Boise, idaho, the former Kmart on Americana Blvd. was purchased by the U.S. Postal Service, either for a new postal facility or as a vehicle garage, i don't know exactly what they used it for. I did not go by there during my trips to Boise this year and have no idea what is there now.

Re: That used to be a department store?!

Posted: 06 Nov 2009 23:32
by TenPoundHammer
A few more, all from Kmart:

*Hastings, Nebraska: now a school. From what I can tell, this Kmart moved in 1991 to the town's mall, replacing a former super-sized Woolworth. (The mall is now vacant save for Kmart and Bath & Body Works.)

*Camillus, New York: Bus garage. This was an anchor to the Camillus Mall.

*4101 N. Tryon, Charlotte, NC: Charter school. No idea when it closed.

*2540 E. Abram, Arlington, TX: Dance hall, closed 1991 as Kmart. That's a lot of dancing!

Re: That used to be a department store?!

Posted: 07 Nov 2009 02:32
by javelin
The old Sears in Victorville, CA was used as a thrift store for several years before becoming a church. For years they still had the roll-up doors from the old auto department which have now been covered up.

When JCPenney closed their Treasury stores, the location in Buena Park became a racquetball club. It was torn down a few years ago for a Target in nearly the same spot. I was told by someone on this board there used to be a Treasury on Central in Montclair which might be the building a thrift store now occupies behind the gas station.

Just up the 60 Fwy in Ontario is a former Fedco which is now a police station.

Re: That used to be a department store?!

Posted: 07 Nov 2009 18:40
by catnapped
TenPoundHammer wrote:
*Clearmeadow Mall in Clearmeadow, NY: a former Great Western->Woolco that was cut up for a small mall anchored by a Stop & Shop and Service Merchandise, now gutted for a Walmart. It looks like some of its inline tenants included Gap (!) and G&G.
Great Eastern :)

It indeed was a dinky indoor "mall" which had a Service Mechandise in the back. There was also a chain called Austin Drugs (CVS bought them out during the 90s) which took part of the Woolco space in front, as well as a supermarket alongside (Foodtown -> Edwards -> Stop & Shop). I did some poking around Nassau county's tax assessment site and found out the structure was built in 1970 and the Great Eastern -> Woolco space itself was close to 175,000 SF (and you thought only Walmart built huge stores)

Re: That used to be a department store?!

Posted: 07 Nov 2009 21:22
by Paper or Plastic
The old K-mart on Auburn Blvd in Citrus Heights / Sacramento became a storage place, including the parking lot !

Re: That used to be a department store?!

Posted: 08 Nov 2009 12:48
by TenPoundHammer
catnapped wrote:It indeed was a dinky indoor "mall" which had a Service Mechandise in the back. There was also a chain called Austin Drugs (CVS bought them out during the 90s) which took part of the Woolco space in front, as well as a supermarket alongside (Foodtown -> Edwards -> Stop & Shop). I did some poking around Nassau county's tax assessment site and found out the structure was built in 1970 and the Great Eastern -> Woolco space itself was close to 175,000 SF (and you thought only Walmart built huge stores)
Looking at the current floorplan, it seems Stop & Shop ate up the former CVS, as well as the GNC and barber shop in front. I superimposed it over the old floorplan from Siteride.

Any idea what else was inside the mall? It looks like it was entirely empty in 1999 save for Service Merch. There was also a B. Dalton in the parking lot; was it built as one?

Re: That used to be a department store?!

Posted: 08 Nov 2009 16:47
by catnapped
TenPoundHammer wrote: Any idea what else was inside the mall? It looks like it was entirely empty in 1999 save for Service Merch. There was also a B. Dalton in the parking lot; was it built as one?
They were almost all boutique clothing stores inside (been 14+ years since I moved off LI so I have to go by memory). There was a tiny arcade as well (we're talking maybe a half dozen video games). #s 1&2 on that floorplan diagram was originally a pizza shop, they must've split it up when that left. B Dalton was there in that out building as long as I can remember.

I uploaded the tax roll document here:http://memweb.newsguy.com/~catnap72/clearmeadow.pdf A lot of it is scribble so some parts of it are hard to read

Re: That used to be a department store?!

Posted: 08 Nov 2009 17:05
by MikeRa
Out here in Philadelphia, we have a Shop Rite that's in a former Department Store building all by itself. This store opened as Snellenberg's, and in the 1960's, Snellenberg's was taken over by Lit Brothers. Lit's closed in April of 1977.

Re: That used to be a department store?!

Posted: 08 Nov 2009 20:44
by TenPoundHammer
Until the early 1990s, East Tawas, Michigan had a department store called Hennigar's. I'm amazed that a two-story department store lasted even one day in a town with a population of about 6000 (between East Tawas and Tawas City). It was cut up into a sort of micro-mall consisting of four stores on the lower level and a couple more on the upper level; not a terribly uncommon procedure for a bigger town, but certainly unusual in a town as small as Tawas! They also did this to a former Ben Franklin and a former A&P-turned-furniture store here in Oscoda, although not as successfully.

Also, another mall carved out of a former store: Manhattan Mall in Manhattan, formerly a Gimbels.

Re: That used to be a department store?!

Posted: 09 Nov 2009 18:42
by umtrr-author
I don't think I can come up with anything more exotic around here than the conversion of a former Caldor (nee Hills, previously Gold Circle IIRC) into office space. I would imagine that's relatively common.

Re: That used to be a department store?!

Posted: 09 Nov 2009 19:35
by catnapped
umtrr-author wrote:I don't think I can come up with anything more exotic around here than the conversion of a former Caldor (nee Hills, previously Gold Circle IIRC) into office space. I would imagine that's relatively common.
There was one in Delaware...New Castle Mall I think...just a small enclosed strip center thing with Jamesway attached at the end. They converted the entire thing into office space.

Re: That used to be a department store?!

Posted: 15 Nov 2009 11:28
by Dave
I've seen more than a couple converted into call centers.

Re: That used to be a department store?!

Posted: 23 Nov 2009 17:06
by TenPoundHammer
How about a whole mall converted to a call center? I've found at least one former enclosed Belz property that was converted to one. (Shops at River Rock, née Outlets Ltd. Mall, in Murfreesboro, TN.)