Cortana Mall facts for kids
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| Location | Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States |
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| Coordinates | 30°27′26″N 91°05′35″W / 30.457236°N 91.093186°W |
| Address | 9401 Cortana Place |
| Opening date | August 4, 1976 |
| Closing date | September 18, 2019 |
| Developer | Mall Properties |
| Owner | Moonbeam Equities |
| Architect | Milton J. Womack |
| No. of stores and services | 1 (formerly 110) |
| No. of anchor tenants | (0 by April 2021) |
| Total retail floor area | 1,432,889 sq ft (133,119.7 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 (2 in anchors) |
Cortana Place Mall was a large shopping center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was located where Airline Highway and Florida Boulevard meet. This mall was once a very popular place for shopping and fun. It was owned by a company called Moonbeam Equities from Las Vegas, Nevada.
Contents
Cortana Mall: A Giant Opens (1976-1987)
Cortana Mall first opened its doors in 1976. It was built on the land where an old plantation used to be. The first big store to open was Goudchaux's, which later became Maison Blanche. The rest of the mall, with about 100 smaller shops, opened in August. Soon after, three more large stores joined: JCPenney, Dillard's, and Sears. There was even a movie theater with three screens!
When it first opened, Cortana Mall was huge. It had 1.2 million square feet of space. This made it the largest shopping mall in the southern United States and the 14th largest in the whole country. In 1977, another big store, H. J. Wilson Co., opened. Then, in 1987, Mervyn's became the sixth major store, and ten more smaller shops were added. At this point, the mall had space for about 140 stores and grew to 1.6 million square feet. The mall's movie theater closed in 1988.
Changes and Challenges (1990s-2000s)
In the 1990s, Cortana Mall got some updates. In 1991, the inside was refreshed, and security was improved. In 1997, the outside signs and landscaping were updated. Around this time, the mall changed its name to "The Mall at Cortana."
However, new competition started to appear. In 1997, the Mall of Louisiana opened in South Baton Rouge. This new mall caused some stores at Cortana to close or not renew their leases. Things got even tougher when the Towne Center at Cedar Lodge opened nearby in 2005. Many stores that had locations at both malls decided to close their Cortana spots.
Anchor Store Changes
Over the years, many of the big anchor stores at Cortana Mall changed names or moved.
- The first Goudchaux's store eventually became Dillard's. In 2009, this Dillard's store changed into a special clearance center, selling items at lower prices.
- The original Dillard's store was sold and became Parisian in 1998, then McRae's a year later. In 2001, these stores became Foley's. Finally, in 2006, Foley's stores became Macy's.
- H. J. Wilson Co. became Service Merchandise in 1985. Service Merchandise closed in 2002. Then, Steve & Barry's opened there in 2004 but closed in 2009. After that, Virginia College opened its Baton Rouge campus in that spot.
- The newest anchor, Mervyn's, closed in 2006. This space was later used for special events like fundraisers.
Decline and Closure (2010s)
In 2009, the mall's name went back to Cortana Mall. In 2013, a company called Moonbeam Equities bought most of the mall.
During the late 2010s, Cortana Mall started to lose many of its stores. By March 2016, the main anchor stores were Sears, Dillard's Clearance Center, JCPenney, Macy's, and Virginia College. But soon, more stores began to leave.
- In April 2016, Macy's announced it was closing its Cortana Mall location.
- In January 2017, Sears announced it would close.
- In March 2017, JCPenney also announced its closure.
By March 2017, only 48 stores were left in the mall, with 62 empty spaces. The Dillard's Clearance Center was the only major anchor store remaining. Moonbeam Equities tried to sell the mall in 2017 but couldn't find a buyer.
In September 2018, Virginia College announced it would close its campus. By December 2017, the Dillard's outlet also closed its mall entrance. By May 2019, most of the mall was empty. Only a few small shops remained, like jewelers, a hair salon, Bath & Body Works, a restaurant, a church, and a small medical clinic. Over 90% of the mall was vacant.
By the end of July 2019, Bath and Body Works closed. The remaining tenants were told to leave by September 15, 2019. The last few businesses, like a USPS branch and a clinic, stayed open for a little longer. The mall officially closed to the public on September 3, 2019.
It was later confirmed that Amazon planned to buy the mall and the former Macy's and Virginia College buildings. They planned to build a new distribution center there. In January 2021, Dillard's Clearance Center also closed, leaving the entire mall empty.
Images for kids
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Cortana Place Mall
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JCPenney at The Mall at Cortana
See also
In Spanish: Centro Comercial Cortana para niños
