South 47th and South Pine Streets
Tacoma, Washington
The first fully-enclosed shopping center in the Pacific Northwest was built on an 85-acre parcel, lying 2.7 miles southwest of center city Tacoma. A regional retail facility, with the provisional name of TOWN CENTER, had been proposed for the site in August 1957. Plans were scuttled due to intense opposition from downtown Tacoma merchants.
By 1959, the name of the prospective complex had morphed into TACOMA FREEWAY MART. In September 1961, TACOMA MALL was adopted as the official name. The project was approved by the Tacoma City Council in December 1961. Development would be handled by the Southcenter Corporation, a division of New York City-based Allied Stores (the parent company of Seattle-based The Bon Marche).
Ground was broken for TACOMA MALL on June 19, 1963. The 40 million dollar center, designed by Seattle's John Graham, Junior, would be anchored by a 3-level (205,500 square foot) The Bon Marche. This store opened for business on August 3, 1964. A 2-level (135,000 square foot) J.C. Penney was dedicated, along with fifty-three inline stores, on October 13, 1965.
Ground was broken for TACOMA MALL on June 19, 1963. The 40 million dollar center, designed by Seattle's John Graham, Junior, would be anchored by a 3-level (205,500 square foot) The Bon Marche. This store opened for business on August 3, 1964. A 2-level (135,000 square foot) J.C. Penney was dedicated, along with fifty-three inline stores, on October 13, 1965.
The grand opening celebration included music by The Hi Times, Gypsy Violins and a Dixieland jazz band. Tacoma's L. Everett Landon was guest speaker. Officials of the Tacoma Mall Corporation and Allied Stores were in attendance. A ceremonial ribbon, stretching across the mall's Main Entrance, was cut.
Charter tenants included Andrew's Women's Apparel, Bernie's Men's Wear, Klopfenstein's, Leeds Qualicraft Shoes, Johnny's On The Mall restaurant, Mode O' Day Frock Shop, Motherhood Maternity, Weisfield's Jewelers, PayLess Drugs and (25,000 square foot) Thriftway supermarket. A (20,300 square foot) S.H. Kress Variety Fair store commenced operation on November 18, 1965.
Charter tenants included Andrew's Women's Apparel, Bernie's Men's Wear, Klopfenstein's, Leeds Qualicraft Shoes, Johnny's On The Mall restaurant, Mode O' Day Frock Shop, Motherhood Maternity, Weisfield's Jewelers, PayLess Drugs and (25,000 square foot) Thriftway supermarket. A (20,300 square foot) S.H. Kress Variety Fair store commenced operation on November 18, 1965.
On August 5, 1966, a 1-level (43,000 square foot), Seattle-based Nordstrom Best joined the store directory. This was the first unit to operate under the Nordstrom Best banner. Previous locations had opened as Best's Apparel. They were rebranded with the Nordstrom Best nameplate in October 1967. At this time, TACOMA MALL encompassed over 900,000 leasable square feet and contained seventy-six stores and services under its roof.
One of these, the Thriftway supermarket, was shuttered in early 1967. The store re-opened -as a Mall Super Foods- on May 3, 1967. By February 1970, the grocery had morphed into a Lucky Stores unit. The Sterling Tacoma Mall Theatre had opened, as a northeast parking area outparcel, on May 16, 1968. It was twinned in 1974 and renamed the Tacoma Mall Twin. The venue was shuttered in July 2002 and razed soon after.
The closest competitor of TACOMA MALL was VILLA PLAZA (1957) / (LAKEWOOD MALL (1989) {4 miles southwest, in Lakewood}. There were also SEA-TAC MALL (1975) {9.7 miles northeast, in Federal Way}, SOUTH HILL MALL (1988) {8.7 miles southeast, in Puyallup} and SUPERMALL OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST (1995) {6 miles northwest, in Auburn.
Back at TACOMA MALL, Nordstrom Best was expanded with a second floor, which opened on August 25, 1972. The store now covered 63,000 square feet. It was refitted with a Nordstrom nameplate in December 1972. Meanwhile, construction had begun on the first expansion of the shopping facility in January. A twenty-five store West End addition was built, which was officially dedicated on July 25, 1973. New stores included Orange Julius, Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour, , the Lemon Tree, Ben Bridge Jewelers and House of Fabrics. New tile flooring was installed throughout the mall.
Anchoring the West End addition was a 2-level (72,000 square foot), Honolulu-based Liberty House, which welcomed its first shoppers on August 24, 1974. The store was rebranded by Seattle-based Frederick & Nelson on April 20, 1978 and Hayward, California-based Mervyn's, on July 19, 1992.
A second expansion of TACOMA MALL added an eighteen-store East Wing and 2-level (178,000 square foot) Sears. This addition was officially dedicated on July 30, 1981. New inline stores included Above the Belt, Noah's Little Ark, Pacific Big & Tall, Mrs. Field's Chocolate Chippery and a Gloria Marshall Figure Salon. TACOMA MALL now encompassed 1,400,000 leasable square feet and 120 stores and services.
Nordstrom was expanded with a southward addition. The new store section commenced operation on May 18, 1983. The adjacent original store was shuttered and given a 3 million dollar renovation to link it with the newly-built section. The consolidated (130,000 square foot) store opened on October 21, 1983. A third level was also built onto J.C. Penney, increasing its size to 210,000 square feet. The newly-enlarged store was inaugurated in November 1986.
At this time, Canada's Campeau Corporation acquired the holdings of the Allied Stores holding company. Included in the transaction were five shopping malls; NORTHSHORE CENTER {Massachusetts}, BERGEN MALL {New Jersey} and COLUMBIA CENTER, TACOMA MALL and NORTHGATE CENTER {Washington State}.
In December 1986, a joint venture was formed by Canada's Campeau Corporation and Ohio's Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation. DeBartolo assumed management of the five shopping centers in 1987. After the DeBartolo Corporation merged with Indiana's Simon Property Group, in 1996, TACOMA MALL became a Simon Property Group holding.
A third major renovation of TACOMA MALL was completed in four stages. Work commenced after the shuttering of Mervyn's, in February 2007. The building was razed. A 2-level (144,000 square foot) Nordstrom was built, which opened for business on October 3, 2008. The front facade of the mall was renovated, with its remaining Mid-century Modern sections being ripped out.
A 105,000 square foot Lifestyle Wing was constructed. Officially dedicated on October 4, 2008, it housed Bose, Coldwater Creek, The Walking Company and a BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse. H & M, utilizing existing and newly-built space, began business September 9, 2010.
The third stage of the project renovated and retenanted the original Nordstrom building. It was divided into three stores. Sephora was dedicated April 9, 2010. An Apple Store followed, on May 25, 2010. A 2-level Forever 21 welcomed its first shoppers on October 9 of the same year.
The fourth, and final, stage of the mall's metamorphosis added a 3-unit restaurant structure to the Lifestyle Wing. Built at the mall's Food Court entrance, it housed Mod Pizza, Menchies Frozen Yogurt and Blazing Onion Burgers, Brews & Spirits. The latter welcomed its first diners on January 19, 2014. With all renovations completed, TACOMA MALL encompassed 1,326,000 leasable square feet, and contained 159 tenant spaces.
Over the ensuing years, several stores in the shopping facility either closed altogether or moved to different locations. Coldwater Creek pulled up stakes, with its space being enlarged and rebuilt into The Cheesecake Factory. This store was dedicated December 6, 2016. Forever 21, who opened a West Wing store in late 2010, downsized into a smaller East Wing location in June 2016. Dick's Sporting Goods renovated the vacant Forever 21 store and opened for business on October 27, 2017.
Sears, which anchored the northeast corner of TACOMA MALL for 37 years, closed for good on September 2, 2018. The building was demolished in April 2019. A Lifestyle Village was built, which consisted of two freestanding structures. A (30,000 square foot) Nordstrom Rack welcomed first shoppers on September 14, 2021. Other stores were Total Wine & Spirits, Ulta Beauty and Kohl's. The latter was formally dedicated on November 4, 2022.
Sources:
The Tacoma News Tribune
The Seattle Times
Comment post by Mark Bozanich
Pierce County, Washington tax assessor website
http://www.simon.com
http://www.cinematreasures.org
FAIR USE OF TACOMA MALL IMAGES:
The photographs from the Tacoma Public Library illustrate a key moment in the mall's history that is described in the article. The images are not replaceable with free-use or public-domain images. The use of the images does not limit the copyright owners' rights to distribute the images in any way. The imagea are being used for non-profit, informational purposes only and their use is not believed to detract from the original images in any way.
