Jamestown Mall was an enclosed shopping mall in Florissant, Missouri. Opened in 1973, the mall formerly included Dillard's, JCPenney, Macy's, and Sears as its anchor stores. The mall had become increasingly vacant since the beginning of the 2000s. It closed in July 2014 [1]and has been slated for redevelopment as an open-air center.
Construction began on the mall in 1972. Its anchor stores at the time were Sears and Stix Baer & Fuller, a local chain based in nearby St. Louis.[2] The Stix store was converted to Dillard's in 1984 after Dillard's acquired the chain. Famous-Barr (now Macy's) was added as a third anchor in 1994,[3] and two years later, JCPenney relocated to the mall from an existing store in Florissant.[4] A movie theater was also added in the 1990s.
Jacobs Group sold the mall to Carlyle Development Group in 2003.[5] At the time, the complex was approximately 30 percent vacant.[6] In April 2006, Dillard's Inc. announced the closure of the Jamestown Mall store,[7] and Sears closed two years later.[8]
Carlyle announced redevelopment plans in 2008. Under these plans, the former Dillard's would be converted to offices, and its wing would be closed to retail.[9] A year later, St. Louis County hired researchers from the Urban Land Institute to analyze the mall's viability as a retail center. The study found that the center was no longer viable as a shopping mall because it overlapped with existing retailers in the area.[10] These plans were canceled in 2009 when the mall developers lost financial support from the county following an attempt to auction the former Dillard's store.[11] Further plans in 2010 called for the demolition of everything except the JCPenney and Macy's stores, with the rest of the complex to be re-developed as a mixed-use center.[12] In June 2011, a furniture store called Central States Liquidation opened in the former Dillard's.[13] The JCPenney Outlet store, which was renamed JC's 5 Star Outlet, closed in late 2013.[14]
In late 2012, gas service to the mall was shut off but later restored.[15] The mall was closed in November 2013 due to the heat being shut off.[16] The closure of the Macy's store was announced in January 2014.[17] Jamestown Mall finally closed it doors on July 1, 2014. Wiki Source.
While driving around St.Louis to go get a Stake & Shake (Best burger fast food joint) My friend decided to take me past the mall, i was told we would be going there at some point on my trip but could not promise we would get access.
So on my last day and after 2 jars of moonshine the night before we headed over to the mall. It took us almost 2hrs to walk round the building trying every door and vent we could but with zero success. We got to the last fire exit before heading round the front an low an behold the door was open (Score).
We stepped foot into what was a store room and was very small and tight, a quick turn round the corner and boom we hit the main court yard. It took me a few minutes to register that i was standing in an abandoned mall it was so vast that i did not know where to start. We must of spent about 3 hrs in what was described as about a quarter of the mall, sadly they had sealed the main retail area the cinema up so was a bit sad not to see that. Here are the few images i got, if you ever get a chance to explore in the USA id highly recommend doing a mall.
On a side note Missouri is awash with abandoned places not only in its cities and towns but also has the last part of Route 66 which i got the pleasure of driving down.
Construction began on the mall in 1972. Its anchor stores at the time were Sears and Stix Baer & Fuller, a local chain based in nearby St. Louis.[2] The Stix store was converted to Dillard's in 1984 after Dillard's acquired the chain. Famous-Barr (now Macy's) was added as a third anchor in 1994,[3] and two years later, JCPenney relocated to the mall from an existing store in Florissant.[4] A movie theater was also added in the 1990s.
Jacobs Group sold the mall to Carlyle Development Group in 2003.[5] At the time, the complex was approximately 30 percent vacant.[6] In April 2006, Dillard's Inc. announced the closure of the Jamestown Mall store,[7] and Sears closed two years later.[8]
Carlyle announced redevelopment plans in 2008. Under these plans, the former Dillard's would be converted to offices, and its wing would be closed to retail.[9] A year later, St. Louis County hired researchers from the Urban Land Institute to analyze the mall's viability as a retail center. The study found that the center was no longer viable as a shopping mall because it overlapped with existing retailers in the area.[10] These plans were canceled in 2009 when the mall developers lost financial support from the county following an attempt to auction the former Dillard's store.[11] Further plans in 2010 called for the demolition of everything except the JCPenney and Macy's stores, with the rest of the complex to be re-developed as a mixed-use center.[12] In June 2011, a furniture store called Central States Liquidation opened in the former Dillard's.[13] The JCPenney Outlet store, which was renamed JC's 5 Star Outlet, closed in late 2013.[14]
In late 2012, gas service to the mall was shut off but later restored.[15] The mall was closed in November 2013 due to the heat being shut off.[16] The closure of the Macy's store was announced in January 2014.[17] Jamestown Mall finally closed it doors on July 1, 2014. Wiki Source.
While driving around St.Louis to go get a Stake & Shake (Best burger fast food joint) My friend decided to take me past the mall, i was told we would be going there at some point on my trip but could not promise we would get access.
So on my last day and after 2 jars of moonshine the night before we headed over to the mall. It took us almost 2hrs to walk round the building trying every door and vent we could but with zero success. We got to the last fire exit before heading round the front an low an behold the door was open (Score).
We stepped foot into what was a store room and was very small and tight, a quick turn round the corner and boom we hit the main court yard. It took me a few minutes to register that i was standing in an abandoned mall it was so vast that i did not know where to start. We must of spent about 3 hrs in what was described as about a quarter of the mall, sadly they had sealed the main retail area the cinema up so was a bit sad not to see that. Here are the few images i got, if you ever get a chance to explore in the USA id highly recommend doing a mall.
On a side note Missouri is awash with abandoned places not only in its cities and towns but also has the last part of Route 66 which i got the pleasure of driving down.
