Battlefield Mall Explained

Battlefield Mall
Location:Springfield, Missouri, U.S.
Address:2825 South Glenstone Avenue
Developer:Melvin Simon & Associates
Owner:Simon Property Group
Number Of Stores:153
Number Of Anchors:5 (4 open, 1 vacant)
Floor Area:1202116square feet[1]
Floors:1 (2 in Dillard's North, J. C. Penney, and Macy's)
Publictransit: Springfield Transit Services

Battlefield Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in Springfield, Missouri. Opened in 1970, the mall features 153 stores in 1202116square feet of mall shop space. The anchor stores are JCPenney, 2 Dillard's stores, and Macy's. There is 1 vacant anchor store that was once Sears. It is managed and owned by Simon Property Group, the successor of the same company that built it.

History

Melvin Simon & Associates, now known as Simon Property Group, built and developed Battlefield Mall. Their plans had begun in 1963 with a proposed Montgomery Ward department store. By 1968, J. C. Penney and Dillard's had also been confirmed as the second and third anchor stores.[2] After two years of construction, it opened to the public on July 23, 1970. On opening day, the mall was 93 percent occupied, consisting of 685000square feet of shop space along with the three department stores.[3] Among the tenants of the mall at the time were a McCrory dime store,[4] Piccadilly Restaurants,[5] and Osco Drug.[6] After only five years in operation, the McCrory store was closed and converted to local department store Heer's, which opened there in 1975.[7]

The mall's owners announced an expansion plan in 1979, to consist of over 400000square feet of mall shops and two new anchor stores.[8] Upon opening in 1982, this expansion added about 85 stores, including a Sears department store and a new location for Dillard's. At the same time, the original location of Dillard's in the mall was sold to Famous-Barr.[9] In 2001, following the closure of Montgomery Ward, Dillard's moved some of its departments into the former Montgomery Ward location, while retaining other departments in the store built in 1982. This new store, known as Dillard's South, opened in 2002. The addition of Dillard's South allowed the chain to offer a greater variety of merchandise between the two stores.[10]

On May 30, 1998, Old Navy opened at the mall.[11] Another anchor store change ensued in 2006 when Federated Department Stores (now Macy's, Inc.) acquired Famous-Barr's parent company The May Department Stores Company, and renamed all of that company's stores to Macy's.[12]

On February 6, 2020 Sears announced after many years in business that it would be closing its Battlefield Mall location in mid April 2020 as part of a plan to close 39 stores nationwide.[13]

External links

37.1624°N -93.2647°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Do Business at Battlefield Mall, a Simon Property.. business.simon.com. 2020-05-27.
  2. News: Battlefield Mall plans announced. March 14, 1968. The Springfield News-Leader. 24. September 13, 2018.
  3. News: Battlefield Mall ready for customers. July 23, 1970. The Springfield News-Leader. 77. September 13, 2018.
  4. News: Varied lines at McCrory's. July 23, 1970. The Springfield News-Leader. 79. September 13, 2018.
  5. News: Cafeteria Spanish in decor. July 23, 1970. The Springfield News-Leader. 79. September 13, 2018.
  6. News: Osco is called Drug Store Plus. July 23, 1970. The Springfield News-Leader. 88. 13 September 2018.
  7. News: Heer's to add branch in Battlefield Mall. December 31, 1975. The Springfield News-Leader. 32. September 13, 2018.
  8. News: Chains commit to Battlefield Mall. October 16, 1979. The Springfield News-Leader. 4C. September 13, 2018.
  9. News: All mall stores expected by Thanksgiving. August 11, 1982. The Springfield News-Leader. Mall–4. September 13, 2018.
  10. News: Covering more ground: Dillard's plans grand opening for second Battlefield Mall store this month. Poneleit. Sandy Z.. March 3, 2002. The Springfield News-Leader. 10. September 13, 2002.
  11. News: Old Navy at Battlefield Mall sets grand opening for Saturday. The Springfield News-Leader.
  12. News: Famous-Barr's transition to Macy's nears its end. Tang. Didi. September 8, 2006. The Springfield News-Leader. 1B. September 13, 2018.
  13. Web site: Sears announces it will close the Springfield store in the Battlefield Mall. February 6, 2020. www.ky3.com. Gray Television. en. 2020-02-21.