Florin Towne Centre

Florin Towne Centre,[lower-alpha 2] formerly Florin Mall and Florin Center, is an outdoor shopping center in the unincorporated area of Parkway-South Sacramento near Sacramento, California, United States. It opened in 2008 on the site of the old Florin Mall, which closed and was demolished in 2006. The 484,500 square feet (45,010 m2) center is anchored by 24 Hour Fitness, AutoZone, PetSmart and Walmart Supercenter.

Florin Towne Centre
LocationSacramento, California, United States
Coordinates38.4960°N 121.4291°W / 38.4960; -121.4291
AddressFlorin Road and Stockton Boulevard
Opening date
  • 1968 (mall)
  • 2008 (center)
Closing date
  • February 28, 2006 (mall)
  • still open (center)
Developer
ArchitectJohnson Lyman Architects
No. of anchor tenants3
Total retail floor area484,500 sq ft (45,010 m2)
No. of floors1

History

Florin Mall

Florin Mall (originally named Florin Center) was built by the James J. Cordano Company and Blumenfield Enterprises. The single-level center was situated on 70 acres (280,000 m2), 8 miles (13 km) southeast of downtown Sacramento. It was the Sacramento area's first fully enclosed shopping mall built from the ground up. The site had previously been utilized as the Sky Ranch Airfield.

The mall was opened in February 1968 and was anchored by a 3-level, 157,000 square foot (14,600 m2), Sacramento-based Weinstock's, which held its grand opening October 9, 1967. The mall also included a 2-level, 259,000 square foot (24,100 m2) Sears and a 2-level, 125,000 square foot (11,600 m2) JCPenney. Surrounding the mall were Montgomery Ward (now Burlington), Zody's and a White Front discount store. On March 23, 1968 during the 1968 US presidential campaign, Senator Robert F Kennedy made a campaign stop at the recently opened Florin Mall.

The only physical expansion of the 620,400 square foot (57,640 m2) shopping center was completed in 1978. A 1-level, 46,600 square foot (4,330 m2) addition was built at the main entrance at the front of the mall, increasing its gross leasable area to 667,000 square feet (62,000 m2).

As the second mall-type center on Sacramento's south side, it eclipsed its nearest commercial competitor, Southgate Plaza. The former White Front store became Price Club in 1982.

By the 1980s, Florin Mall was becoming rather notorious as a haven for shootings, stabbings and car thefts. Local gangs had made the complex a regular hangout spot by the early 1990s. Customers began wafting to other frequent regional centers, such as Arden Fair Mall, Downtown Plaza and Sunrise Mall. A remodeling of Weinstock's in 1989 and a facelift renovation of the mall proper in the second half of 1990 did little to dispel the negative image that the center had taken on, especially in 1991 when four perpetrators took 41 people hostage at a Good Guys! electronics store that was adjacent to the mall. It resulted in the deaths of three hostages, injuring 14 others and remains, to this day, the largest hostage rescue operation in U.S. history.

In 1994, Price Club relocated to South Sacramento (now Costco). With the acquisition of Weinstock's by Federated Department Stores in August 1995, it was decided that the Florin Mall location be shuttered rather than converting it to Macy's. The store closed in March 1996. This was seen as the first significant decline to Florin Mall. JCPenney was converted to an outlet store in November 1998. The store was shuttered in 2003, leaving Sears as the sole anchor of the mall.[1]

In a state of disrepair for some time, the bulk of Florin Mall was purchased by San Francisco's Jim Kessler and Prudential Insurance Company in October 2005.[2] The mall closed on February 28, 2006.[3] It was fully demolished in July 2006 (including the former JCPenney and Weinstock's anchors) leaving Sears, its Auto Center, and five outparcels standing.

Florin Towne Centre

Mervyn's opened on March 6, 2008 and was the first store to open at Florin Towne Centre. The store was shuttered in February 2009 when the entire chain went out of business. It sat vacant the majority of the time (aside from temporary usage for seasonal retailers such as Halloween City) until 2019 when AutoZone opened in a portion of the former Mervyn's.[4] Walmart opened on June 17, 2009, replacing a former store 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the west (the old store re-opened six years later as Walmart's Neighborhood Market format in 2015, occupying only half of the old store's original footprint, but later closed in 2019). PetSmart opened on November 12, 2011 in a building adjacent to the former Mervyn's that was originally intended for Old Navy, but never opened.[5] Other retailers include Eyeglass World, GameStop, GNC, Starbucks, and Verizon Wireless. The Florin Towne Centre has a total area of 484,500 sq ft (45,010 m2).[6]

In 2015, Sears Holdings spun off 235 of its properties, including the Sears at the Florin Towne Centre, into Seritage Growth Properties.[7]

On October 15, 2018, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of a plan to close 142 stores nationwide.[8] Sears was the only remnant and remaining anchor from the former Florin Mall that continued to operate until its closure.

Anchor stores

Current

Former
  • JCPenney / JCPenney Outlet Store (125,000 square feet (11,600 m2), opened 1968, closed 2003)
  • Mervyn's (80,000 square foot (7,400 m2), opened 2008, closed 2009)
  • Sears (259,000 square feet (24,100 m2), opened 1968, closed 2018)
  • Weinstock's (157,000 square foot (14,600 m2), opened 1967, closed 1996)

Notes
  1. Developer of the original mall
  2. The spelling of "towne" and "centre" are intentional misspelling/sensational spellings
gollark: I'm sure you'd like to think so.
gollark: Except mine.
gollark: Please update the APIONET config now, as you "exist".
gollark: cryoapioform.
gollark: 2024.

References
  1. "JC Penney To Close Florin Mall Outlet". KCRA-TV. 24 January 2003. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  2. Johnson, Kelly (4 November 2005). "New owner plans $65M remake for Florin Mall". Sacramento Business Journal. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  3. "Florin Mall Closes Its Doors". KOVR. 28 February 2006. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  4. Johnson, Kelly (25 April 2011). "Sizzler coming to Florin Towne Centre - Sacramento Business Journal". bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  5. Johnson, Kelly (18 November 2011). "Retailers optimistic about holiday shopping - Sacramento Business Journal". bizjournals.com. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  6. "Up Towne Development: Florin Towne Centre bucks market trends". Comstocks Magazine. November 2008. Archived from the original on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  7. http://www.seritage.com/retail/property/5901-florin-rd/3312455/landing
  8. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/10/15/sears-holdings-bankruptcy-store-closures/1645971002/
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.