Strandler Boulevard and Andover Park West
Tukwila, Washington
The Allied Stores Corporation dedicated NORTHGATE CENTER, their first Puget Sound shopping mall, in April 1950. Their second Puget Sound endeavor, TACOMA MALL, opened in October 1965. Planning for a third Seattle-centric shopping facility was underway by 1957.
Allied formed a subsidiary known as the Southcenter Corporation and purchased a 160-acre site, located 12 miles southeast of center city Seattle. The land parcel, annexed into the City of Tukwila in November 1957, would eventually be adjacent to a junction of the Interstate 5 and 405 expressways.
Construction commenced in March 1967. Like NORTHGATE CENTER and TACOMA MALL, SOUTHCENTER was designed by Seattle's John Graham, Junior. The fully-enclosed retail hub consisted of a single retail level and encompassed approximately 1,339,200 leasable square feet.
A Champagne Preview Showing was held on July 30, 1968, with the mall's official dedication taking place on the following day. The grand opening ceremony was attended by Governor Daniel J. Evans (R). Anchoring SOUTHCENTER were a 4-level (265,000 square foot), Seattle-based The Bon Marche, 4-level (240,000 square foot) J.C. Penney, 2-level (70,000 square foot), Seattle-based Nordstrom Best and 3-level (170,800 square foot), Seattle-based Frederick & Nelson.
Among the mall's ninety-three charter stores were Richardson's apparel, Heidi's Chocolates, Tinder Box Tobacconist, Paris Hats, Florsheim Shoes, Friedlander's Jewelers, Pay 'n Save Drug and an (18,000 square foot) Lucky Stores supermarket. When fully-leased, SOUTHCENTER contained 110 stores under its roof, with free parking for 7,200 autos. For several tears, the complex was the largest mall in the Pacific Northwest.
The United Theatres Southcenter Theatre was built as a northwestern outparcel of the mall. It showed its first feature on April 1, 1970 and was the final Cinerama-capable venue built in the United States. The theater closed August 5, 2001 and was demolished in 2002.
The first expansion of SOUTHCENTER consisted of the enlargement of the existing Nordstrom Best into a 3-level (165,900 square foot) Nordstrom, in 1973. Lucky Stores shuttered their SOUTHCENTER location in the mid-1980s. It re-opened, as a Gary's Market. This was shuttered in 1989 with its space being reconfigured as the 14-bay Rainier Food Court.
The next mall addition brought a 2-level (86,000 square foot) Mervyn's and twenty-store Northeast Wing. Mervyn's opened for business on October 25, 1992. Frederick & Nelson had been shuttered in May of the same year and was replaced by Sears. By this time, SOUTHCENTER MALL encompassed 1.3 million leasable square feet and housed 157 stores and services.
Shopping hubs in the SOUTHCENTER trade area included SEA-TAC MALL (1975) {10 miles southwest, in Federal Way}, FACTORIA MALL (1975) {8.6 miles northeast, in Bellevue} and SUPERMALL OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST (1995) {10.9 miles south, in Auburn}.
SOUTHCENTER had been sold to Ohio's Richard E. Jacobs group in 1985. The company performed a mall-wide face lift during 1999. As part of the 6 million project, new flooring and skylights were installed and mall entrances rebuilt. In April 2002, Australia's Westfield acquired the mall. They renamed it WESTFIELD SHOPPINGTOWN SOUTHCENTER. The "Shoppingtown" reference was dropped in June 2005.
Construction commenced in March 1967. Like NORTHGATE CENTER and TACOMA MALL, SOUTHCENTER was designed by Seattle's John Graham, Junior. The fully-enclosed retail hub consisted of a single retail level and encompassed approximately 1,339,200 leasable square feet.
A Champagne Preview Showing was held on July 30, 1968, with the mall's official dedication taking place on the following day. The grand opening ceremony was attended by Governor Daniel J. Evans (R). Anchoring SOUTHCENTER were a 4-level (265,000 square foot), Seattle-based The Bon Marche, 4-level (240,000 square foot) J.C. Penney, 2-level (70,000 square foot), Seattle-based Nordstrom Best and 3-level (170,800 square foot), Seattle-based Frederick & Nelson.
Among the mall's ninety-three charter stores were Richardson's apparel, Heidi's Chocolates, Tinder Box Tobacconist, Paris Hats, Florsheim Shoes, Friedlander's Jewelers, Pay 'n Save Drug and an (18,000 square foot) Lucky Stores supermarket. When fully-leased, SOUTHCENTER contained 110 stores under its roof, with free parking for 7,200 autos. For several tears, the complex was the largest mall in the Pacific Northwest.
The United Theatres Southcenter Theatre was built as a northwestern outparcel of the mall. It showed its first feature on April 1, 1970 and was the final Cinerama-capable venue built in the United States. The theater closed August 5, 2001 and was demolished in 2002.
The first expansion of SOUTHCENTER consisted of the enlargement of the existing Nordstrom Best into a 3-level (165,900 square foot) Nordstrom, in 1973. Lucky Stores shuttered their SOUTHCENTER location in the mid-1980s. It re-opened, as a Gary's Market. This was shuttered in 1989 with its space being reconfigured as the 14-bay Rainier Food Court.
The next mall addition brought a 2-level (86,000 square foot) Mervyn's and twenty-store Northeast Wing. Mervyn's opened for business on October 25, 1992. Frederick & Nelson had been shuttered in May of the same year and was replaced by Sears. By this time, SOUTHCENTER MALL encompassed 1.3 million leasable square feet and housed 157 stores and services.
Shopping hubs in the SOUTHCENTER trade area included SEA-TAC MALL (1975) {10 miles southwest, in Federal Way}, FACTORIA MALL (1975) {8.6 miles northeast, in Bellevue} and SUPERMALL OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST (1995) {10.9 miles south, in Auburn}.
SOUTHCENTER had been sold to Ohio's Richard E. Jacobs group in 1985. The company performed a mall-wide face lift during 1999. As part of the 6 million project, new flooring and skylights were installed and mall entrances rebuilt. In April 2002, Australia's Westfield acquired the mall. They renamed it WESTFIELD SHOPPINGTOWN SOUTHCENTER. The "Shoppingtown" reference was dropped in June 2005.
The Bon Marche had been rebranded as a Bon-Macy's on August 1, 2003. The store received a bona fide Macy's nameplate on March 6, 2005. A large-scale mall expansion got underway in May 2006. The 240 million dollar project added 400,000 square feet of new retail space. Seventy-five stores opened (or relocated from the existing mall), a 19-bay Dining Terrace replaced the existing food court and two parking garages were built.
The first South Wing component to open for business, the American Multi-Cinema Southcenter 16, showed its first features on July 18, 2008. The addition was officially dedicated July 25th. Stores new to the mall included PINK, Love Culture, Gilly Hicks, White House / Black Market, Mark Ecko Cut & Sew, Borders Books, a 2-level (25,000 square foot) H & M and 2-level (25,000 square foot) XXI Forever.
WESTFIELD SOUTHCENTER now encompassed approximately 1.7 million leasable square feet and contained 218 stores and services. With its early 2000s expansion, the mall was -once again- the largest in the Pacific Northwest.
Mervyn's pulled out of WESTFIELD SOUTHCENTER in late 2006. A (44,000 square foot) section of the first floor was renovated by Pomona, California's Seafood City, a Filipino specialty grocer. Their new store held its grand opening on July 22, 2010. The second floor of the building was eventually reconfigured as a Round 1 Bowling & Amusement Center, that was dedicated in July 2015.
Westfield's American and European property portfolio was merged into the holdings of Paris-based Unibail-Rodamco in June 2018. A new company, known as Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield was created. Westfield shopping centers in Australia and New Zealand were not included in the merger.
Sources:
The Seattle Times
http://www.historylink.org
https://www.westfield.com / The Westfield Group
The first South Wing component to open for business, the American Multi-Cinema Southcenter 16, showed its first features on July 18, 2008. The addition was officially dedicated July 25th. Stores new to the mall included PINK, Love Culture, Gilly Hicks, White House / Black Market, Mark Ecko Cut & Sew, Borders Books, a 2-level (25,000 square foot) H & M and 2-level (25,000 square foot) XXI Forever.
WESTFIELD SOUTHCENTER now encompassed approximately 1.7 million leasable square feet and contained 218 stores and services. With its early 2000s expansion, the mall was -once again- the largest in the Pacific Northwest.
Mervyn's pulled out of WESTFIELD SOUTHCENTER in late 2006. A (44,000 square foot) section of the first floor was renovated by Pomona, California's Seafood City, a Filipino specialty grocer. Their new store held its grand opening on July 22, 2010. The second floor of the building was eventually reconfigured as a Round 1 Bowling & Amusement Center, that was dedicated in July 2015.
Westfield's American and European property portfolio was merged into the holdings of Paris-based Unibail-Rodamco in June 2018. A new company, known as Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield was created. Westfield shopping centers in Australia and New Zealand were not included in the merger.
Sources:
The Seattle Times
http://www.historylink.org
https://www.westfield.com / The Westfield Group
https://www.westfield.com / The Westfield Corporation
http://www.retailwatch.com
http://www.reuters.com
http://www.retailwatch.com
http://www.reuters.com
"Westfield Southcenter" article on Wikipedia