Westfield Oakridge Explained

Westfield Oakridge
Coordinates:37.2525°N -121.8617°W
Address:925 Blossom Hill Road San Jose, CA 95123
Opening Date:1971 (as Oakridge Mall)
Number Of Stores:160+
Number Of Anchors:5
Floor Area:1139602square feet[1]
Parking:5,002
Floors:1 with partial upper level

Westfield Oakridge, commonly known as Oakridge, is a shopping mall in San Jose, California, located in the Blossom Valley neighborhood of South San Jose. Established in 1971, Oakridge has been redeveloped multiple times in its history, most recently in 2003, to the cost of $150 million.

History

Westfield Oakridge opened in 1971 with anchors Macy's, Bullock's, and Montgomery Ward. Bullock's closed its Northern California locations in 1983 and sold its Oakridge location to Nordstrom; which opened in the building in 1985. Nordstrom opened a new department store at the competing Valley Fair shopping center in 1987, and the two stores existed simultaneously until 1994 when Nordstrom closed its Oakridge store and sold the building to Sears.[2]

The bankruptcy of Montgomery Ward in 2001 left an empty anchor slot at Oakridge, originally meant to be occupied by The Great Indoors, a Sears-owned home furnishings concept.[3] Instead, the building sat vacant until 2003, when it was remodeled and replaced by a two-level Target store. At the same time, Macy's added 75,000 square feet to its existing footprint, bringing its total square footage to more than 220,000 square feet.[4]

Westfield began a $150 million multi-phase expansion in the Summer of 2002 and was completed in late 2003.[5] The 300,000+ square foot expansion added two new junior anchors - Linens n' Things and a Borders bookstore, as well as a 20-screen Century Theatres cinema and a large food court. A restaurant row with The Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza Kitchen, BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse, P.F. Chang's China Bistro, and Buca di Beppo fronted the new wing facing Blossom Hill Road.

The bankruptcies and eventual closures of Borders and Linens n' Things led to two new junior anchors at the center: a Nordstrom Rack opened in place of Linens n' Things,[6] [7] while Forever 21 moved from a smaller in-line space to the former Borders store. A 20,000 square-foot H&M opened in 2011, taking over one of the mall's hallways and several tenant spaces in the process.

Westfield purchased the Sears building at Oakridge and two other properties in May 2017.[8]

On January 4, 2018, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of a plan to close 103 stores nationwide. The store closed at the end of March 2018.[9] A Living Spaces furniture store took over most of the former Sears building in 2019.[10] [11] An additional anchor - a 99 Ranch Market - opened in 2022.[12]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Westfield Oakridge . Westfield Group . 2011-02-09 .
  2. Web site: Business - Nordstrom To Close California Store -- Changes In State May Force Long-Term Consolidation - Seattle Times Newspaper. community.seattletimes.nwsource.com. 17 April 2018.
  3. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/westfield-america-inc-nyse-wea-announces-first-quarter-earnings-71698487.html
  4. Web site: Oakridge Mall expands again . Simonsonb . Sharon . March 11, 2004 . www.bizjournals.com. 2020-12-23.
  5. Web site: Error 404. www.urw.com.
  6. News: Nordstrom returns to Oakridge mall . David Goll . San Jose Business Journal . March 31, 2009 .
  7. Nordstrom Reports September Sales . Nordstrom, Inc. . 2009-10-08 .
  8. Web site: Struggling Sears sells its Westfield Montgomery location. What happens now? . Goff . Karen. April 27, 2017 . www.bizjournals.com. 2020-12-23.
  9. Web site: Sears to shutter two Bay Area stores in latest round of closures . January 4, 2018 . www.bizjournals.com. 2020-12-23.
  10. Web site: Oakridge Mall in San Jose adds new merchants in shopping center refresh. 6 February 2020.
  11. Web site: San Jose's Oakridge Mall lands new gaming tenant GameWorks. 12 July 2019.
  12. Web site: 99 Ranch will open a new-concept grocery store at San Jose's Oakridge Mall. 22 April 2021.