Jamestown Mall was a one-level shopping mall 18.4 miles (29.7 km) northwest of downtown St. Louis, Missouri, between Jamestown Mall Drive, Lindbergh Boulevard, and Old Jamestown Road in Florissant, a suburb of St. Louis. The mall had five anchors which once housed Dillard's, JCPenney, Macy's, Nova Cinemas, and Sears.
History[]
On October 10, 1973, Jamestown Mall officially opened to the public with one anchor tenant which was Sears. Other original tenants included Aladdin's Castle, Baskin Robbins, Camelot Music, Davy Jones Locker, Forum Cafeteria, Orange Bowl, Pass Pets, The Limited, and Walgreens. In February 1974, a second anchor was added to the mall which was Stix Baer & Fuller. In July 1974, General Cinema opened a two-screen movie theater inside of the mall. In 1984, Stix Baer & Fuller was converted into Dillard's.
In 1994, the Jamestown Mall went through a major expansion which added a third anchor which was Famous-Barr. During the same year, the two-screen General Cinema theater would close down and be replaced by a food court. In April 1995, a fourth anchor was added which was JCPenney. In November 1998, a fifth anchor was added which was a brand new fourteen-screen Wehrenberg Theatres. In 1999, JCPenney was converted into JCPenney Outlet.
Decline[]
The mall began to see major decline in 2003 when the Richard E. Jacobs Group sold the mall to Carlyle Development Group. Also around this time, St. Louis Mills opened in Hazelwood which caused major competition with Jamestown Mall. In April 2006, Dillard's closed. In September 2006, Famous-Barr was converted into Macy's.
In 2008, Carlyle announced ambitious redevelopment plans for the mall, intending to convert the former Dillard's into offices and close its retail wing. In January 2009, Sears closed, prompting St. Louis County to commission researchers from the Urban Land Institute to assess the mall's viability. The study revealed that the center overlapped with existing retailers, making it nonviable as a shopping mall.
Despite these findings, the initial redevelopment plans faced a setback in 2009 when the developers lost financial support from the county following an unsuccessful attempt to auction the former Dillard's store. Subsequent plans in 2010 aimed to demolish everything except the JCPenney Outlet and Macy's stores, envisioning a mixed-use center. In January 2010, Wehrenberg Theatres closed but was quickly replaced by Nova Cinemas.
In June 2011, Central Sales Liquidation opened in the former Dillard's space. Also in 2011, JCPenney Outlet would close and rebrand into JC's 5 Star Outlet. In June 2013, Nova Cinemas closed. In December 2013, JC's 5 Star Outlet closed. In 2009, amid financial challenges, Kohan Retail Investment Group purchased the mall for $3.3 million.
In late 2011, Kohan Retail Investment Group lost ownership of Jamestown Mall due to foreclosure but retained some ownership in late 2012. The mall had previously declared bankruptcy in August 2011. Subsequently, Carlyle reclaimed ownership of the mall. In late 2012, gas service to the mall was shut off but later restored.
In March 2014, Macy's, the last remaining mall anchor, closed down. On July 1, 2014, Jamestown Mall was permanently closed. Among the last remaining tenants were Foot Locker and LensCrafters. The mall had then quickly became abandoned with future plans continuously getting cancelled or delayed.
In September 2023, Jamestown Mall would finally get demolished, after sitting abandoned and empty for nine years.
Gallery[]
