Jamestown Mall, a former enclosed shopping mall in Florissant, Missouri, opened its doors in 1973 with anchor stores such as Stix Bear & Fuller, JCPenney, Famous-Barr, and Sears. However, since the early 2000s, the mall had been struggling with increasing vacancy rates. Eventually, in July 2014, the mall was forced to close its doors due to its declining financial state.
Since then, plans have been in motion to redevelop the mall into an open-air center. While the redevelopment process has been slow, the revitalization project aims to breathe new life into the area and attract shoppers with a modern shopping experience. With this redevelopment, Jamestown Mall has the potential to become a thriving shopping and entertainment destination for the Florissant community once again.
History[]
In 1972, construction commenced on Jamestown Mall in Florissant, Missouri. The mall was built and owned by the Richard E. Jacobs Group, alongside its sister mall, Chesterfield Mall. Its anchor stores at that time were Sears and Stix Baer & Fuller, a local chain based in nearby St. Louis. The mall's initial roster of stores and services included Forum Cafeteria, Walgreen Drug, Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream, Camelot Music, Davy Jones Locker, The Limited, Orange Bowl snack bar, Pass Pets, and an Aladdin's Castle video arcade.
On July 12, 1974, a theater owned by the General Cinema Corporation opened at Jamestown Mall. The featured movies for the grand opening were "For Pete’s Sake," starring Barbra Streisand, and "Herbie Rides Again," starring Helen Hayes.
The Stix store underwent a transformation in 1984 when it became Dillard's after Dillard's acquired the chain. Two years later, in 1994, an expansion was added to the mall, which included Famous-Barr. Another expansion in 1996 created the JCPenney wing.
The Famous-Barr chain announced plans for a new store in Jamestown Mall in April 1992, which would anchor a major expansion. After several delays, construction finally got underway in late 1993. The 2-level, 164,500-square-foot Famous-Barr held its grand opening on July 30, 1994, replacing a circa-1955 operation at Jennings' Northland Center.
Famous-Barr at Jamestown Mall was joined by a 2-level J.C. Penney, which welcomed its first shoppers on April 29, 1995. The new anchors - and a twenty-three store East Wing - increased the gross leasable area of Jamestown Mall to approximately 1,010,400 square feet.
In 1999, J.C. Penney demoted their full-line operation to an Outlet Store. The mall's Famous-Barr underwent changes in September 2006 when it was "Macy-ated."
During the 1990s, the mall's movie theater was relocated from its original location, which now houses the food court, to the front of the mall. The cinema was owned and operated by Wehrenberg Theatres.
Jacobs Group sold the mall to Carlyle Development Group in 2003. At that time, the complex was approximately 30 percent vacant. In April 2006, Dillard's Inc. announced the closure of the Jamestown Mall store.
Carlyle announced redevelopment plans in 2008. Under these plans, the former Dillard's would be converted into offices, and its wing would be closed to retail. It was then sold to Jones Lang Lasalle in 2008 for $4 million. In early 2009, the Sears store closed. During 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 concluded that the center was no longer viable as a shopping mall due to overlapping with existing retailers in the area.
However, these plans were canceled in 2009 when the mall developers lost financial support from the county after an unsuccessful attempt to auction the former Dillard's store. Kohan purchased the Mall in 2009 for $3.3 million. Subsequent plans in 2010 called for the demolition of everything except the JCPenney and Macy's store, with the rest of the complex to be redeveloped as a mixed-use center.
In June 2011, a furniture store called Central States Liquidation opened in the former Dillard's space. The JCPenney Outlet store, which was later renamed JC's 5 Star Outlet, closed its doors in late 2013.
In late 2011, Kohan 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. Subsequently, the mall faced closure, and this was officially announced in November 2013 due to the heat being shut off. The situation worsened with the closure of the Macy's store, which was announced in January 2014, leaving the mall without any anchor stores. Tenants were given 30 days to vacate the mall in May. Jamestown Mall ultimately closed its doors on July 1, 2014. Among the last remaining tenants were Foot Locker and LensCrafters.
In December 2017, Carlyle sold the mall to the St. Louis Port Authority with the intention of demolishing the mall and embarking on a complete redevelopment of the site. However, those plans never materialized as expected. The Port Authority permitted scrappers to access the site with the assumption that demolition would take place, but it never did. Consequently, the mall began to deteriorate rapidly as a resn made in the days since it started.
In June 2020 Firefighters entered the building and discovered large piles of furniture on fire, with heavy smoke emanating from Dillard's and Macy's inside the mall.
In October 2021, a portion of the shuttered Jamestown Mall in north St. Louis County faced a new challenge as burst pipes flooded the first floor of the Sears building. It remains unclear when the water and fire suppression lines at the Sears building broke, and the extent of the water release is still unknown.
In April 2022, St. Louis County approved a $6 million demolition plan for the mall. However, the plans once again fell through.
In April 2023, a fire broke out in front of the entrance to Dillard's inside Jamestown Mall, resulting in a hole being left in the roof of the building. The fire caused significant damage to the surrounding area, with 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. Since the demolition began, very little progress has been made, with only one section of the mall theater wall having been taken down. According to the mall demolition schedule, it is set to be fully demolished by the end of 2024.
Former anchors[]
- Sears (1973-2008)
- Stix, Baer & Fuller (1973-1984), which was later replaced by Dillard's in 1984
- Dillard's (1984-2006), which was later replaced by Central States Liquidation in 2011
- Famous-Barr (1994-2006), which was later replaced by Macy's
- JCPenney (1996-2013), which operated as an outlet store from 1998-2013
- Macy's (2006-2014)
- Central States Liquidation (2011-2013)
Gallery[]
