East Northern Lights Boulevard and Seward Highway
Anchorage, Alaska
Alaska's first shopping mall was developed by real estate entrepreneur Barney Gottstein and Lawrence J. "Larry" Carr, who operated the Carr's Food Center supermarket chain. They built a fully-enclosed shopping center on a 17.6-acre site, located 1.5 miles southeast of downtown Anchorage, in the city's Midtown area.
Anchorage, Alaska
Alaska's first shopping mall was developed by real estate entrepreneur Barney Gottstein and Lawrence J. "Larry" Carr, who operated the Carr's Food Center supermarket chain. They built a fully-enclosed shopping center on a 17.6-acre site, located 1.5 miles southeast of downtown Anchorage, in the city's Midtown area.
THE MALL was added to a 2-level (139,300 square foot) Sears, which had been dedicated July 17, 1966. At its official grand opening, held on January 31, 1968, the single-level shopping complex spanned around 279,400 leasable square feet and housed thirty stores and services.
Anchoring THE MALL were the aforementioned Sears and a 1-level (41,200 square foot) Carr's Food Center. Charter inline stores included Russell Stover Candies, a Wells Fargo Bank, Sheffield Cafeteria & Pub and Ben Franklin variety store.
Within 3 years, Sears was being enlarged by 29,800 square feet. The expanded store, now spanning 163,000 square feet, was re-dedicated on July 29, 1972. THE MALL now encompassed a total of 309,200 leasable square feet.
Meanwhile, the city's second enclosed shopping complex had been completed. UNIVERSITY CENTER {.5 miles southeast} opened for business in April 1972. Next came BONIFACE CENTER {3.1 miles east}, which was dedicated in June 1976. The first stores in DIMOND CENTER {2.7 miles south} began business in August 1977, with those in NORTHWAY MALL {2.1 miles northeast} debuting in May 1980. FIFTH AVENUE MALL {a downtown development} welcomed its first shoppers in August 1987.
By this time, the official name of THE MALL had morphed into THE MALL AT SEARS. An anchor rebranding took place in April 1999, after the Pleasanton, California-based Safeway chain acquired Anchorage-based Carrs. Following the merger, stores were known as Carrs Quality Center-Safeway or simply Carrs-Safeway.
A major renovation of THE MALL AT SEARS got underway in March 2011. The project created a new south side entrance, gave face lifts to the exterior of the building, replaced flooring, ceilings and restrooms and made room for four new retail spaces. The remodeling was completed in June 2011.
A 1-level (35,000 square foot) Nordstrom Rack was dedicated September 3, 2015. The store was set up in the northeast corner of the existing Sears. With its completion, Sears had been downsized to approximately 128,000 square feet.
By this time, the mall had been acquired by Seritage Growth Properties, a real estate redevelopment division of Sears Holdings. Carr Gottstein Properties, the original owner, was retained as a managing agent.
Carrs-Safeway was shuttered on September 12, 2016. In April 2018, Sears went dark. Its space was reconfigured as a (65,000 square foot) Carrs-Safeway supermarket, (16,500 square foot) Guitar Center and a Planet Fitness facility. These would be open for business by mid-2019. As Sears was no longer a tenant at the shopping hub, an official name change was in order. THE MALL AT SEARS became MIDTOWN MALL in July 2018.
Sources:
The Anchorage Daily News
www.mallatsears.com
Anchorage County, Alaska property tax assessor website
untphilstrunk.com/mall-anchorage-turns-47 / "Aunt Phil's Trunk"
http://www.denalicommercial.com (Denali Commercial)
http://www.carrgottstein.com (Carr Gottstein Properties)
https://midtownmall.com
http://www.carrgottstein.com (Carr Gottstein Properties)
https://midtownmall.com
