East Northern Lights Boulevard and Seward Highway
Anchorage, Alaska
Alaska's first shopping mall was developed by real estate entrepreneur Barney Gottstein and Lawrence J. "Larry" Carr, who operated the Carrs Food Center supermarket chain. They built a fully-enclosed shopping center on a 17.6-acre site, located 1.5 miles southeast of downtown Anchorage, in the city's Midtown area.
Anchorage, Alaska
Alaska's first shopping mall was developed by real estate entrepreneur Barney Gottstein and Lawrence J. "Larry" Carr, who operated the Carrs Food Center supermarket chain. They built a fully-enclosed shopping center on a 17.6-acre site, located 1.5 miles southeast of downtown Anchorage, in the city's Midtown area.
THE MALL was added to a 2-level (144,900 square foot) Sears, which had been dedicated on July 17, 1966. A mall-wide grand opening was held on January 31, 1968. At this time, THE MALL encompassed approximately 272,600 leasable square feet and housed thirty stores and services.
Anchoring THE MALL were the aforementioned Sears and 1-level (28,800 square foot) Carrs Food Center. Charter inline stores included Russell Stover Candies, a Wells Fargo Bank, Sheffield Cafeteria & Pub and Ben Franklin variety store.
Within 3 years, Sears was being enlarged by 28,500 square feet. The expanded store, now covering 173,500 square feet, was dedicated on July 29, 1972. It featured a Coffee House cafe and attached Auto Center. The Carrs Food Center was also enlarged around this time. Post-expansion, it measured 41,900 square feet. THE MALL now encompassed approximately 314,300 leasable square feet.
As the Sears expansion was being completed, the city's second enclosed shopping complex was opening its doors. UNIVERSITY CENTER {.5 miles southeast} was officially dedicated in April 1972. BONIFACE CENTER {3.1 miles east} debuted in June 1976. The first stores in DIMOND ["Diy-mund"] CENTER {2.7 miles south} began business in August 1977, with those in NORTHWAY MALL {2.1 miles northeast} being inaugurated in May 1980. FIFTH AVENUE MALL {a downtown development} welcomed first shoppers in August 1987.
By this time, the official name of THE MALL had morphed into THE MALL AT SEARS. An anchor rebranding took place in April 1999, after the Pleasanton, California-based Safeway chain acquired Anchorage-based Carrs. Following the merger, stores were known as Carrs Quality Center-Safeway or simply Carrs-Safeway.
A major renovation of THE MALL AT SEARS got underway in March 2011. The project created a new south side entrance, gave face lifts to the exterior of the building, replaced flooring, ceilings and restrooms and made room for four new retail spaces. The remodeling was completed in June 2011.
A 1-level (35,000 square foot) Nordstrom Rack was dedicated on September 3, 2015. The store was set up in the northeast corner of Sears. With its completion, Sears had been downsized to approximately 138,400 square feet. The store was shuttered in April 2018 and was placed under the ownership of Seritage Growth Properties, a real estate division of Sears Holdings. Seritage renovated the shuttered Sears, renaming it The Shops at Sertitage.
This store strip encompassed eight retail spaces. The largest of these was a (65,000 square foot) Carrs-Safeway supermarket, which relocated from the west end of the mall. Other stores included the aforementioned Nordstrom Rack, a (16,500 square foot) Guitar Center and (14,800 square foot) Planet Fitness. These were open for business by mid-2019. The original Carrs store was renovated and expanded, with a 1-level (55,000 square foot) REI Co-op opening on March 22, 2019.
As Sears was no longer anchoring the shopping hub, an official name change was in order. THE MALL AT SEARS was renamed MIDTOWN MALL in July 2018. The Shops at Seritage section of the shopping center was acquired by New York City-based Time Equities, Incorporated in April 2022. The mall proper -and REI Co-op- remained under the ownership of Anchorage's Carr Family Properties and Denali Commercial.
Sources:
The Anchorage Daily News
http://www.mallatsears.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://property.muni.org / Municipality of Anchorage city-borough property search
Sources:
The Anchorage Daily News
http://www.mallatsears.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://property.muni.org / Municipality of Anchorage city-borough property search
http://www.denalicommercial.com / Denali Commercial
http://www.carrgottstein.com / Carr Gottstein Properties
https://midtownmall.com
http://www.carrgottstein.com / Carr Gottstein Properties
https://midtownmall.com
https://www.rei.com / Recreational Equipment, Incorporated
https://www.akbizmag.com
https://timeequities.com / Time Equities, Incorporated
