Shelbyville Road / US 60 and Oxmoor Lane
Louisville, Kentucky
The third major shopping mall in Greater Louisville was built on a 75-acre parcel, located 6.5 miles east of the Derby City's downtown area. The fully-enclosed complex was designed by Herman Guttman of Los Angeles' Victor Gruen Associates. It was developed by a joint venture of Louisville's Bullitt Family Trust-Beargrass Corporation and Seattle's SafeCo Insurance-Winmar Company.
The OXMOOR CENTER site was adjacent to the Henry Watterson Expressway (Interstate 264). It was part of the 940-acre Oxmoor Estate and was leased for development of the mall. Originally encompassing approximately 650,000 leasable square feet, OXMOOR CENTER consisted of a main Mall Level and Upper Level, which surrounded its Center Court.
The first operational store, a 2-level (183,300 square foot), Cincinnati-based Shillito's, began business on August 10, 1970. The mall -and a 2-level (156,000 square foot), Louisville-based Stewart's- were officially dedicated on February 8, 1971. On hand for the grand opening was Cynthia Ann Bostick, "Miss Kentucky 1970," who cut a ceremonial ribbon.
Charter tenants at included Lerner Shops, Thom McAn Shoes, B. Dalton Bookseller, Rodes men's, Byck's, Loevenhart's, Disc Records, Zales Jewelers, the Oxmoor Smoke Shop and a Blue Boar Cafeteria.
The Rappaport Oxmoor Twin Cinemas, on the mall's Lower Level, showed first features on February 16, 1971. Mid-States Theatres installed a tri-plex on the Upper Level of the center. It opened for business on August 30, 1974. With its completion, the two venues were promoted as Cinemas 1-2 and Cinemas 3-4-5. The new Upper Level movie house was adjacent to the Putter's Park indoor golf course and a Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour & Restaurant.
Shopping malls in the vicinity of OXMOOR CENTER included THE MALL-MALL ST. MATTHEWS (1962) {.8 mile west, in St. Matthews}, GREEN TREE MALL (1968) {9.3 miles northwest, in Clarksville, Indiana}, BASHFORD MANOR MALL (1973-2004) {4.1 miles southwest, in West Beuchel}, RACELAND MALL (1975) {4.3 miles southwest, in Jefferson County} and MIDDLETOWN STATION (1990-2008) {4.9 miles east, also in Jefferson County}.
The first expansion of OXMOOR CENTER developed the southern half of the mall site, bridging the Middle Fork of Beargrass Creek with a 201,600 square foot South Wing. Anchored by a 1-level (139,800 square foot) Sears "Store of the Future", the South Wing was christened on July 31, 1984. It enlarged the tenant roster to 126 stores and services.
Work on a subsequent renovation commenced in June 1989. The project included an interior face lift and installation of the 10-bay Oxmoor Gardens Food Court in Upper Level space. Center Court was also reconfigured with a glass elevator and new escalators and skylights were added to shopping concourse ceilings. The retail hub was re-dedicated on November 15, 1989.
Anchor rebrandings commenced with the conversion of Shillito's to a Shillito Rikes, in June 1982. This store morphed into a Lazarus on March 16, 1986, Lazarus-Macy's on August 1, 2003 and bona fide Macy's on March 12, 2005. At some point in time, the store had a third level added, which increased its size to 271,300 square feet.
Stewart's first nameplate change was completed on November 1, 1985, when Indianapolis-based L.S. Ayres assumed the space. The 1986 merger of Associated Dry Goods with May Department stores resulted in a deal to sell Louisville Ayres stores the Ben Snyder's chain (another Louisville-based retailer).
Ben Snyder's was acquired by Allentown, Pennsylvania-based Hess's the day before the deal was to close. Amazingly enough, the Louisville Ayres stores were rebranded, with Ben Snyder's nameplates, on September 3, 1987. Only 5 months later, on February 1, 1988, a Hess's nameplate was installed. This store was in operation until August 1, 1993.
The OXMOOR CENTER Stewart's building was rebranded again in November 1994. Jackson, Michigan-based Jacobson's moved in. This store was in operation until September 2002. The most recent rebranding was done by Davenport, Iowa-based Von Maur, who renovated the building and opened for business on September 20, 2003.
The mall had been given a major renovation between November 1997 and November 1998. The 15 million dollar project revamped the north-facing front of the shopping hub, creating an exterior-entranced Streetscape out of a windowless concrete wall.
A new, tree-lined entry from Shelbyville Road was installed, which converged on a 3-story, octagonal atrium mall entrance. Common areas inside OXMOOR CENTER were also revamped, with new flooring installed throughout. Center Court was completely reconfigured, with a new fountain and escalator. This ascended to a remodeled Food Court. The cinema spaces on the Upper and Lower Levels, vacated in April 1996, were repurposed. The Upper Level space became inline stores and offices. The Lower Level area became part of a new Old Navy store.
Meanwhile, a new lifestyle complex had opened. THE SUMMIT LOUISVILLE {4.3 miles northeast, in Jefferson County} held its grand opening in November 2001. As a competitive measure, OXMOOR CENTER was expanded again. The addition, dedicated on October 29, 2001, added a 2-level (80,000 square foot), Galyan's Trading Company. Stores in the Galyan's chain (an Indiana-based athletic equipment retailer) were rebranded by Dick's Sporting Goods in October 2004.
For most of its history, OXMOOR CENTER was owned and operated by the Bullitt Family Trust-Beargrass Corporation and Seattle's SafeCo-Winmar conglomerate. In 1999, Owensboro, Kentucky's David Hocker & Associates attempted, unsuccessfully, to buy SafeCo's fifty-percent share.
After the failed transaction, the Beargass Corporation established full ownership of the mall and installed Hocker & Associates as the property manager and leasing agent. The owner of Hocker & Associates succeeded in buying the mall structure (but not the land) in May 2003 and sold the property to Maryland's Rouse Company, in October 2004.
The holdings of the Rouse Company, including OXMOOR CENTER, were acquired by Chicago's General Growth Properties in November 2004. GGP also assumed ownership of the neighboring MALL ST. MATTHEWS. Hence an ongoing 30-year rivalry between the two malls was finally laid to rest.
In the 2010s, OXMOOR CENTER encompassed approximately 960,000 leasable square feet and contained 110 stores and services. An interior face lift got underway in February 2013 and was finished in November. This entailed demolition of the mall's Upper Level Food Court area and another reconstruction of Center Court. Food vendors were relocated throughout the main level of the mall, with new casual dining restaurants joining the tenant list.
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. Hence, OXMOOR CENTER became part of the Brookfield retail center portfolio.
Meanwhile, Sears shuttered their OXMOOR store on January 14, 2018. A plan was drawn up to replace the vacant building -and a section of the South Wing- with a 3-level (65,000 square foot) Topgolf Driving Range. This plan was met with a great deal of community opposition. After 3 years of litigation, and a ruling by the Kentucky Supreme Court, demolition of the abandoned Sears commenced in September 2021. Topgolf opened for business on November 18, 2022.
Sources:
The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky)
http://pastperfectvintage.com/louisvillestores.htm
http://www.bizjournals.com
http://movie-theatre.org / Mike Rivest
http://www.ggp.com / General Growth Properties (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://www.wlky.com / WLKY-TV
https://www.oxmoorcenter.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://www.topgolflouisville.com
https://www.wdrb.com / WBRD-TV
https://www.oxmoorcenter.com
"Oxmoor Center" article on Wikipedia
