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GRAND CENTRAL MALL
Grand Central Avenue and Masonic Home Road
Vienna, West Virginia
West Virginia's second shopping mall was built in the state's northwestern sector, Mid-Ohio Valley region. GRAND CENTRAL MALL was developed an 85-acre tract, located 2.4 miles north of downtown Parkersburg. Before the mall's construction, the Stewart Air Park (a municipal airfield) had occupied the site.
The shopping hub was designed by Morganelli & Huemann Associates, of Los Angles. It was built by a joint venture of Parkersburg's Parr Progress, Incorporated and the Oxford Development Company, of Monroeville, Pennsylvania. An official ground breaking was held on June 15, 1971.
GRAND CENTRAL MALL achieved its 50th year in business in August 2022. H & M had partially filled a vacant Elder-Beerman space in October 2018. The demise of Sears, in December 2018, provided space for the new power plaza. It added Ross, T.J. Maxx, HomeGoods and PetSmart to the retail roster. There were now seventy-eight stores and services.
GRAND CENTRAL MALL
Grand Central Avenue and Masonic Home Road
Vienna, West Virginia
West Virginia's second shopping mall was built in the state's northwestern sector, Mid-Ohio Valley region. GRAND CENTRAL MALL was developed an 85-acre tract, located 2.4 miles north of downtown Parkersburg. Before the mall's construction, the Stewart Air Park (a municipal airfield) had occupied the site.
The shopping hub was designed by Morganelli & Huemann Associates, of Los Angles. It was built by a joint venture of Parkersburg's Parr Progress, Incorporated and the Oxford Development Company, of Monroeville, Pennsylvania. An official ground breaking was held on June 15, 1971.
When fully-realized, GRAND CENTRAL MALL encompassed approximately 800,000 leasable square feet and housed eighty-three stores and services. It was the largest shopping center in the Mountain State, being nearly twice the size of the previous contender, Marion County's MIDDLETOWN MALL (1971).
Forty-one stores and services were dedicated at the official grand opening of GRAND CENTRAL MALL, on August 17, 1972. These included a 2-level (105,000 square foot), Charleston-based The Diamond department store and General Cinema Corporation Cinema I & II. A 1-level (144,000 square foot) J.C. Penney -the chain's largest West Virginia store- welcomed first shoppers on September 21, 1972. A 1-level (104,000 square foot) Sears was launched at the same time.
The interior and exterior of the shopping hub exemplified '70s Mod architecture and decor. The shopping concourse was elaborately appointed. There was an oriental garden with hundreds of tropical plants, duck and fish ponds, a waterfall, starburst fountain, jet fountain, bird aviary and sculpture by Arronel DeRoy Gruder.
Dil's River Packet sold men's and boy's wear and operated out of a 2-level riverboat-motif store. Seddon's Restaurant, done in the latest Mediterranean decor, included a full-service bar and a dance floor. Other charter tenants included Orange Julius, Waldenbooks, Walden Hallmark, Pizza Inn, Hickory Farms of Ohio, Nobil Shoes, Der Dog Haus, Embees ladies' wear, National Record Mart and a (49,000 square foot) G.C. Murphy 5 & 10. There was also a 250-seat Community Room. The freestanding Darrels IGA supermarket was business by 1976.
A second enclosed shopping center opened in "The Burg" in late 1983. TOWN SQUARE MALL, a redevelopment in downtown Parkersburg, was much smaller than the sprawling GRAND CENTRAL facility and could not effectively compete with it. TOWN SQUARE eventually faltered and was converted into an office complex.
The Diamond at GRAND CENTRAL MALL was one of two locations in the chain. A division of New York City-based Associated Dry Goods, it was shuttered in 1983. Soon after, the store re-opened as a Wheeling, West Virginia-based Stone & Thomas. A freestanding movie multiplex was built at the northern parking lot entrance, along Grand Central Avenue. The General Cinema Corporation Cinema 3-4-5 showed first features in the late 1980s.
The first expansion of GRAND CENTRAL MALL was completed in the early 1990s. The northwest corner was gutted. 48,500 square feet of retail space was added to accommodate a new (65,000 square foot) Phar-Mor Drug. Columbus, Ohio's Glimcher Realty Trust acquired the shopping hub in September 1993. They embarked on a 25 million dollar renovation in January 1996. This project, which was done in two phases, would add over 122,400 square feet of shopping space.
During Phase I, the southwest corner of the mall was gutted and rebuilt. The first eateries in the 10-bay Grand Central Food Court opened in November 1996. The Regal Grand Central Mall 12 megaplex was built adjacent to the new culinary complex.
Phase II of the remodeling involved demolishing approximately 18,500 square feet of store space at the mall's Main Entrance. A 1-level (86,000 square foot), Alcoa, Tennessee-based Proffitt's was built. The store opened for business on March 4, 1998. GRAND CENTRAL MALL now encompassed approximately 902,400 leasable square feet.
In July 1998, Dayton-based Elder-Beerman bought stores in the Stone & Thomas chain. The GRAND CENTRAL MALL location was rebranded as an Elder-Beerman on October 7th of the same year. Proffitt's morphed into a Charlotte-based Belk on March 8, 2006.
Phar-Mor Drug had shut down in December 2001. Steve & Barry's University Sportswear opened in the store space during 2006, but closed in November 2008. Steve & Barry's was followed by a Waterford, Michigan-based Dunham's Sports, which opened its doors on November 20, 2009. With these modifications, GRAND CENTRAL MALL housed 105 store spaces.
Indiana's Simon Property Group created a spin-off Real Estate Investment Trust in May 2014. Known as the Washington Prime Group, it merged with the Glimcher Realty Trust in early 2015. As a result of this transaction, GRAND CENTRAL MALL became a Washington Prime Group holding.
Elder-Beerman closed for good on January 31, 2018. Within weeks, Sweden's trendy H & M apparel chain had signed a lease for a (20,000 square foot) store, which was installed in a section of the vacant Elder-Beerman. The new H & M opened for business on October 25, 2018. Its dedication was accompanied by those for Ulta Beauty and Five Below. These stores set up show in an outparcel hhgregg, which had closed in May of 2017.
Sears shuttered their 46-year-old GRAND CENTRAL MALL store in December 2018. The building was demolished and replaced by a 25 million dollar, four-store power center. Open-air in format, it housed a (16,000 square foot) PetSmart, (25,000 square foot) T.J. Maxx, (22,800 square foot) HomeGoods and (22,100 square foot) Ross Dress For Less. These stores were all 1-level.
T.J. Maxx and HomeGoods were dedicated on March 11, 2021, with PetSmart and Ross up and running by the summer of the same year. The adjusted gross leasable area of GRAND CENTRAL MALL now stood at approximately 884,500 square feet, with a tenant list of ninety stores and services.
Sources:
The Charleston Gazette (Charleston, West Virginia)
The Charleston Daily Mail (Charleston, West Virginia)
Memories of Mike P., former West Virginia resident
http://investor.washingtonprime.com
https://www.thefreelibrary.com
http://www.glimcher.com
The Charleston Gazette (Charleston, West Virginia)
The Charleston Daily Mail (Charleston, West Virginia)
Memories of Mike P., former West Virginia resident
http://investor.washingtonprime.com
https://www.thefreelibrary.com
http://www.glimcher.com
"Grand Central Mall" article on Wikipedia
"Proffit's" article on Wikipedia
"Elder-Beerman" article on Wikipedia
"Proffit's" article on Wikipedia
"Elder-Beerman" article on Wikipedia
