Vanstory Street and Pinecroft Road
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro's Joseph Koury, a major Piedmont Triad real estate developer, began planning for a Tournament Town shopping hub in the late 1950s. He accumulated a large tract of land and set aside a 62.2-acre plot, located 2.7 miles southwest of center city Greensboro, for some type of retail facility.
Various plans were drawn up over the years, but construction didn't commence until October 1972. A 2-level, fully-enclosed mall was built, with provisions for an eventual third level. Its first operational stores were a 2-level (145,300 square foot) J.C. Penney and 2-level (112,600 square foot), Boston-based Jordan Marsh. Both were officially dedicated on August 7, 1974.
A 1-level (20,000 square foot), Richmond-based Thalhimers welcomed its first shoppers on November 6, 1974. A mall-wide grand opening was held February 6, 1975. A 2-level (170,000 square foot), Charlotte-based Belk and 2-level (35,000 square foot), Richmond-based Miller & Rhoads opened their doors.
At this time, there were an initial seventy-four stores and services. These included Frankenburger's apparel, Eckerd Drugs, National Shirt Shops, Piccadilly Cafeteria, Schiffman's Jewelry, Daron Hallmark Shop, Record Bar, Pet-Go-Round, a J.G. McCrory 5 & 10 and freestanding Winn-Dixie supermarket.
Major shopping centers in the vicinity included FRIENDLY CENTER (1957) {3 miles north, in Greensboro}, WESTCHESTER MALL (1970) {12.5 miles southwest, in High Point}, CAROLINA CIRCLE MALL (1976-2006) {6.5 miles northeast, in Greensboro} and, eventually, OAK HOLLOW MALL (1995) {9.8 miles southwest, in High Point}.
The General Cinema Corporation Four Seasons Mall I-IV opened for business on February 9, 1979. The venue was built as a freestanding structure on an east parking area pad. The cinema was shuttered on November 16, 2000, with the building being demolished soon after.
In the meantime, a large-scale renovation of FOUR SEASON MALL had commenced in 1986. During this project, the third level was completed, with new inline store space added. A 14-bay Food Court was installed as part of this new sales floor, a parking garage built west of J.C. Penney and the exterior entrances of the Belk store rebuilt.
All three anchor stores would be expanded with third levels. Post-expansion J.C. Penney encompassed 218,000 square feet, Ivey's housed 140,000. Belk had grown to 211,900. As part of the renovation, the official name of the complex was changed to FOUR SEASONS TOWN CENTRE. When the addition was dedicated on April 9, 1987, the mall housed 175 stores and services.
Jordan Marsh was the first FOUR SEASONS anchor store to change nameplates. It became a Charlotte-based Ivey's on August 9, 1979. Miller & Rhoads shut down June 7, 1986. Its area was divided into inline store spaces. Ivey's was rebranded as a Dillard's June 4, 1990. Thalhimers went dark on February 1, 1992.
A 1.1 million dollar face lift renovation was announced in June 1998, which was completed in November of the same year. It added new flooring, lighting, ceilings, escalators, columns and hand rails. Center Court was revamped, with an amphitheater and 9-foot-high waterfall. All mall entrances were also remodeled.
The most recent expansion of FOUR SEASONS TOWN CENTRE was announced in late 2001. The existing Dillard's was enlarged with a 2-level (73,000 square foot) addition, growing into a 213,000 square foot store. When the renovation was completed in 2002, FOUR SEASONS TOWN CENTRE encompassed 1,141,000 leasable square feet.
The Koury Corporation sold FOUR SEASONS TOWN CENTRE to Chicago-based General Growth Properties in March 2004. Koury received a cash sum and an ownership interest in GGP.
A new motion picture venue opened soon after. The Southern Theatres Grand 12 Four Seasons showed its first features on November 16, 2007. The venue was built on a pad southwest of the mall site. It was expanded with an IMAX theater in 2011. The GrandLuxe 6 dining cinemas were added in 2012. In 2014, they were renamed the Movie Tavern 6.
Meanwhile, the FOUR SEASONS TOWN CENTRE Belk had been downsized to 2 levels in 2009. The store was shuttered on January 18, 2015. Dillard's relocated from the north anchor space to the vacant Belk on October 22, 2016.
Brookfield Property Partners, based in Hamilton, Bermuda, acquired a share of General Growth Properties in 2016. In August 2018, Brookfield established 100-percent ownership of the corporation. As part of the transaction, FOUR SEASONS TOWN CENTRE became part of the Brookfield retail portfolio.
Sources:
The Wilmington Star (Wilmington, North Carolina)
The News & Record (Greensboro, North Carolina)
The High Point Enterprise (High Point, North Carolina)
The Daily Times (Burlington, North Carolina)
The Dispatch (Lexington, North Carolina)
The Spartanburg Herald-Journal (Spartanburg, South Carolina)
https://www.bizjournals.com
http://www.kourycorp.com / The Koury Corporation
http://retailhistoryemporium.blogspot.com
https://www.shopfourseasons.com
www.ggp.com / General Growth Properties
https://www.brookfieldproperties.com / Brookfield Properties
Guiford County, North Carolina GIS
http://www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.otherstream.com
http://www.urbanplanet.org / Four Seasons Town Centre
http://www.movie-theatre.org
"Four Seasons Town Centre" article on Wikipedia
