Bellevue Square
Bellevue Square is a shopping center in Bellevue, Washington. The mall has 180 retail stores, with anchors Macy's and Nordstrom. Bellevue Square also offers concierge services, valet parking, and children's play area. It and the connecting Lincoln Square comprise The Bellevue Collection.
 East entrance on Bellevue Way | |
| |
| Location | Bellevue, Washington, USA |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 47.61555°N 122.20392°W |
| Opening date | August 20, 1946 |
| Developer | Kemper Freeman Sr |
| Management | Kemper Development Co. |
| Owner | Kemper Development Co. |
| No. of stores and services | 180 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 4 |
| Total retail floor area | 1,300,000 sq ft (120,000 m2) (GLA) |
| No. of floors | 3 |
| Website | bellevuecollection |
Bellevue Square attracts over 16 million visitors annually who individually spend nearly two hours per trip spending $126, well above the national average. Over $600 is spent for every square foot of retail space each year.[1]
History
Bellevue Square was first opened on August 20, 1946,[2] trading under the name "Bellevue Shopping Square",[3] with the first suburban department store opened by Marshall Field & Co. through its Seattle-based subsidiary, Frederick & Nelson.
With the mall's name shortened to Bellevue Square a few years later, JCPenney opened a store in 1955. Nordstrom, then a local shoe store, opened in 1958, before adding apparel and becoming the third major anchor in 1966, initially under the name Nordstrom Best.[3]
In the 1980s, the mall, then led by the original developer's son, Kemper Freeman Jr., expanded in several phases, finally adding a location for the Seattle-based department store The Bon Marché in 1984. In 1992, with the bankruptcy and closure of Frederick & Nelson and collapse of a deal to lease part of the vacated space to Saks Fifth Avenue, the center used the opportunity to reconfigure the vacant anchor as mall shop space. 1994 saw the addition of a separate The Bon Marché Home Store, while Nordstrom expanded the size of their store by half. In 2003, The Bon Marché stores were renamed Bon-Macy's, and in 2005 they adopted the name Macy's.
In 2007, Bellevue Square was linked by a skybridge to Lincoln Square, another Kemper Freeman owned property which opened in 2005 and expanded in 2017. Together, they form part of the "Bellevue Collection", which spans several blocks of Downtown Bellevue.[4]
Bellevue Square continues to be owned by Kemper Freeman Jr. and his family, one of the few shopping centers in the United States that have not been purchased by a real estate investment trust (REIT).
In September 2014, JCPenney announced that it was closing its store after staying in the mall for 55 years. The 200,000 square foot area was converted into smaller retail stores in May 2015 for the following holiday season including UNIQLO and Zara.[5]
On May 31, 2020, much of the interior of Bellevue Square was damaged by looters in a downtown riot. It was staged by organized gang members amid the George Floyd protests that had begun in the area. The mall was later secured by Bellevue Police and the Washington National Guard.[6][7]
References
- "A new Bellevue rising: Big-thinking Kemper Freeman Jr. thinking even bigger" Seattle P-I article published on April 6, 2005. Retrieved May 30, 2006.
- Stein, Alan J. (February 15, 2003). "Bellevue Square opens on August 20, 1946". HistoryLink. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
- http://bellevuesquare.com/aboutus_history.php, accessed August 18, 2006
- Tu, Janet I. (December 15, 2016). "Malls are not dead (at least in Seattle, where they are changing to remain vibrant and popular)". The Seattle Times. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
- http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2024455311_jcpenneyclosingxml.html
- KOMO News Staff (2020-06-01). "'Determined to wreak havoc': Bellevue looting was organized event, police say". KOMO.
- "National Guard arrives in Bellevue, looting cleanup begins across King County". Q13 FOX. 2020-06-01.
