La Gran Plaza de Fort Worth

La Gran Plaza de Fort Worth is a Hispanic-themed shopping mall in Fort Worth, Texas. Opened in 1962 as Seminary South and later known as Fort Worth Town Center, it was reinvented as a center catering to largely Hispanic clientele after losing most of its major stores. Major tenants include Burlington, Ross Dress for Less, Bealls Clearance Center, and El Mercado.

La Gran Plaza de Fort Worth
LocationFort Worth, Texas
Coordinates32.686°N 97.326°W / 32.686; -97.326
Address4200 South Freeway
Opening date1962
DeveloperHomart Development Company
OwnerBoxer Retail
No. of stores and services200+
Total retail floor area1,077,782 square feet (100,129.2 m2)[1]
No. of floors2

History

The center opened for business on March 14, 1962 as Seminary South Shopping Center. It was the first mall built by Homart Development Company, the former retail and shopping mall arm of Sears,[2] and the first mall in Fort Worth.[3]

Its original tenants included Sears, G. C. Murphy, and Stripling's department store. Other major tenants included Buddies supermarket (later Winn Dixie), Finger Furniture, and a seven-story office tower. J. C. Penney was added in 1964, and Dillard's joined in 1977.[4] Texas Centers bought the building from Homart in 1985 and announced renovation plans, including enclosure of the formerly open-air concourses.[5][6]

In 1974, the Fort Worth Missing Trio were last seen here.

The Stripling's store was later renamed Stripling & Cox before closing in 1989. Around this point, the mall began losing traffic and tenants to other centers in the area, such as Ridgmar Mall and Hulen Mall.[4] Despite the loss of stores, a movie theater and food court were added, the latter replacing G. C. Murphy. As a result of declining traffic, J. C. Penney closed in 1997, followed by Sears and Dillard's, leaving the mall without an anchor store.[4]

In 2004, Legaspi bought the property, which at the time had only a 10 percent occupancy rate.[3][7] The new owners reinvented the property to cater to a largely Hispanic clientele, including the addition of El Mercado, a market for local vendors, in the former Dillard's space. Burlington and Ross Dress for Less replaced the Sears space.[4]

References
  1. "Leasing plan" (PDF). Boxer Properties. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  2. "Sears sells Ft. Worth mall to investors". Texas Monthly. December 30, 1985. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved March 7, 2010.("Seminary South was the first shopping center developed by Homart Development")
  3. Gustafson, Kristina. "Doubling down on the rebirth of the American shopping mall". CNBC. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  4. "La Gran Plaza de Fort Worth". Fort Worth Architecture. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  5. Donna Steph Hansard (April 5, 1986). "Seminary South Redo Planned". The Dallas Morning News.
  6. "FW Mall's Renovation Completed". The Dallas Morning News. August 28, 1987. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  7. "Partnership buys Fort Worth's Town Center mall". Bizjournals.com. June 17, 2004. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
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