NORTH EAST MALL
Bedford-Euless and Melbourne Roads
Hurst, Texas
A joint venture of Fort Worth's Tandy Corporation and the Stripling's department store chain announced plans for a 12 million dollar shopping complex in March 1968. The fully-enclosed center was to be built on a 98-acre site, located 8.5 miles northeast of center city Fort Worth, in suburban Hurst.
Eventually, Indiana's Melvin Simon & Associates signed onto the project. NORTH EAST MALL would be anchored by Stripling's, Leonards, and a third, national department store. Tandy Corporation, who had bought the Fort Worth-based Leonards chain in 1967, planned for the NORTH EAST MALL location to be its first branch.
Construction of the Leonards store was underway by late 1968. However, problems with site drainage and utilities delayed progress on the building. A second Leonards branch in Arlington, whose construction had actually started after that of the NORTH EAST MALL store, ended up opening first.
Dallas' Harrell & Hamilton Architects designed the single-level mall. Upon its completion, it would envelop 750,000 leasable square feet and contain seventy-six store spaces. Its 2-level (240,000 square foot) Leonards opened for business July 10, 1970.
The freestanding store included a snack bar-cafeteria, western wear & saddlery department, lawn & garden center, full-line supermarket (with deli and bakery), freestanding auto center and, eventually, the Lenwood Hall community room. The building was equipped with a conveyor system, which transported larger purchases, via subway, to a convenient package pick-up area.
Stripling's 2-level (106,000 square foot) NORTH EAST MALL unit was dedicated on March 18, 1971. The store included the following departments; men's, women's & children's wear, shoes, jewelry, luggage, fabrics & notions, linens, housewares, photo equipment, radio & TV, draperies, furniture, appliances, toys, lawn & garden and the Very Special Beauty Salon. In the middle of the store, at its central escalators, was the Wishing Fountain. This was a feature also included at the first Stripling's branch at Fort Worth's SEMINARY SOUTH CENTER.
The official ribbon cutting for NORTH EAST MALL was held, at the Leonard's Court Dancing Waters Fountain, on March 25, 1971. Charter stores and services included Cullum & Boren Sporting Goods, Margo's la Mode ladies' wear, Chess King apparel, Pizzazzz apparel and Skillern's Drugs. A 2-level (28,000 square foot) J.G. McCrory 5 & 10 opened in August 1971, joined by the center's third anchor, a 2-level (147,700 square foot) J.C. Penney. This store rang up its first sale on November 3rd.
Rumors of a mall expansion surfaced in early 1977, but were not initially confirmed. When the renovation was officially announced, it was revealed that Sears and Montgomery Ward stores would be added to NORTH EAST MALL. Construction was underway by September 1977 and completed in the fall of 1978. A 2-level (164,100 square foot) Sears and 2-level (178,000 square foot) Montgomery Ward were built, along with the United Artists Northeast 6 cinema and twenty inline stores. NORTH EAST MALL now encompassed 1.3 million leasable square feet and housed over 100 stores and services.
RICHLAND PLAZA (1962) {2.7 miles southwest, in North Richland Hills} was outpositioned by NORTH EAST MALL and eventually failed as a retail center. A list of shopping centers that fared better against NORTH EAST MALL would include SIX FLAGS MALL (1970) {9.8 miles southeast, in Arlington}, RIDGMAR MALL (1976) {14.7 miles southwest, in Fort Worth}, NORTH HILLS MALL (1979) {.8 mile west, in North Richland Hills} and, eventually, GRAPEVINE MILLS (1997) {12.6 miles northeast, in Grapevine}.
The first anchor nameplate change at NORTH EAST MALL involved Leonards, which had been acquired by Dillard's in 1974 and rebranded in 1975. In 1983, Stripling's morphed into Stripling & Cox as a result of a merger with Fort Worth-based Cox's. This store was shuttered in January 1986 and re-opened as Dillard's West, a men's store. The original location became Dillard's East, a women's Store. This was one of the first Dillard's "double header" operations.
Rumblings about a second expansion of NORTH EAST MALL were being heard by the early 1990s. However, there was a problem with acquiring all of the land that would be necessary to enlarge the complex. It was decided to buy 127 homes in the Richland Park East neighborhood, which was situated southwest of the shopping hub.
Years of litigation followed. By late 1998, 40 acres had been acquired and all homes demolished. The majority of land was not used for expansion of the mall, per se. A strip-format complex, THE SHOPS AT NORTH EAST MALL, took most of the parcel.
The first facet of the NORTH EAST MALL expansion project, which was completed in 1996, enlarged the existing J.C. Penney into a 250,700 square foot store. Next came the construction of a 3-level (310,000 square foot) Dillard's. This store, which consolidated the two Dillard's operations into one building, was dedicated on October 1, 1999. It anchored a South Wing of twenty stores.
Saks Fifth Avenue opened their 2-level (164,000 square foot) NORTH EAST MALL store on September 16, 2000. The old Stripling's-Dillard's West was demolished and replaced by a 2-level (142,400 square foot) Nordstrom. This store was dedicated on March 22, 2001.
The vacant Leonards-Dillard's East was partially demolished. Store space was divided between an enlarged Center Court, a The Gap store, Olympian University of Cosmetology campus (in the basement) and a Houston-based Foley's. This 3-level (232,800 square foot) store opened on October 16, 2001.
A mall-wide dedication was held on September 15th. There were now three new parking structures, with a fourth on the way. The mall encompassed approximately 1,749,000 leasable square feet, with a retail roster of 140 tenants. Stores new to NORTH EAST MALL included August Max Woman, Bebe, Chico's, Discovery Channel Store, People's Pottery and Williams-Sonoma.
NORTH EAST MALL was now the largest enclosed mall in the Metroplex, and the second-largest in the Lone Star State (following Houston's GALLERIA). The grand re-opening of NORTH EAST MALL was somewhat muted by the presence of a vacant anchor. Montgomery Ward had been shuttered in February 2001.
There was talk of Lord & Taylor renovating and leasing the space, but this never happened. Eventually, the building was knocked down, with its replacement, the Rave North East Mall 18, showing first features on November 10, 2004. This project adjusted the gross leasable area of NORTH EAST MALL to approximately 1,671,000 square feet. Saks shuttered their store in September 2006. It re-opened, as a Dick's Sporting Goods, in November 2007. The mall's Foley's morphed into a Macy's on September 9, 2006.
J.C. Penney renovated their building, converting it to a "new concept" store. It now included amenities such as as the InStyle Salon & Spa, Pearl Cup Bistro and The Barbery (barber shop). The new-style Penney's was dedicated on November 1, 2019.
Meanwhile, Sears, a mall anchor for 41 years, was shuttered in October 2019. Nordstrom shut down on May 12, 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The store never re-opened. The building was leased by North Carolina's Quicklotz Liquidations, who opened on July 31, 2021 and closed in October 2024. Ireland's Primark chain set up shop in the first level of the building in 2025.
Sources:
Dallas Morning News
Mid-Cities Daily News (Hurst, Texas)
Fort Worth Star Telegram
https://www.nbcdfw.com
https://www.simon.com / Simon Property Group
https://www.simoncorporateoverview.com
http://www.hurst.gov
https://www.wfaa.com
https://corporate.primark.com
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