Everett Mall facts for kids
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| Location | Everett, Washington, United States |
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| Coordinates | 47°54′37″N 122°12′47″W / 47.91035°N 122.21309°W |
| Opening date | October 1974 (original mall portion) |
| Developer | Earl Cohen & Associates (1967–1972) Hanson Development Company (1972–1979) |
| Management | JLL |
| Owner | Brixton Capital |
| Architect | Law Construction Company MulvannyG2 Architecture (2004 remodel) |
| No. of stores and services | 100+ |
| No. of anchor tenants | 7 (6 open, 1 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 673,000 sq ft (62,500 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 |
The Everett Mall is a large shopping center in Everett, Washington, USA. It has both indoor and outdoor stores. The mall is about 673,000 square feet (62,500 m2) in size.
Plans for the mall started in the late 1960s. The first big stores, Sears and White Front, opened in 1969 and 1971. The main mall building opened in 1974. Building the mall was tricky because of a tough economic time called the "Boeing bust." This meant many jobs were lost in the area. One of the main stores even closed before the mall fully opened.
At first, not many stores wanted to open at Everett Mall. Things got better when The Bon Marché (which later became Macy's) opened in 1977. This success led to a new part of the mall being built. In 2004, the mall got a big makeover and grew even more. A 16-screen movie theater and more outdoor shops were added. Today, the main stores at Everett Mall include Regal Cinemas, LA Fitness, Burlington, Floor & Decor, Ulta Beauty, and Party City. The old Sears store space is now empty.
Over the years, some stores have changed. Mervyn's closed in 2006 and was replaced by LA Fitness and Steve & Barry's. Steve & Barry's closed in 2009 and was replaced by Burlington Coat Factory in 2013. Macy's closed in 2017, and Sears closed in 2020.
Contents
Everett Mall's Story
Starting the Mall: 1968–1972
The idea for a modern shopping mall in Everett began in the mid-1960s. It was first called "Broadway Mall." In 1968, developers bought a large piece of land south of downtown Everett. This land was near major roads like Interstate 5.
The first big store to join was Sears. Sears moved from its old downtown location to the new mall site. A manager from Sears said they needed a bigger store in Everett. He believed the new spot would become a busy center for shoppers. The new Sears store opened on February 12, 1969. It was very large, with many different departments. It even had a car repair center and a coffee shop.
Another big store, White Front, opened on May 13, 1971. It was a discount store from California. Developers then planned to build an enclosed mall to connect Sears and White Front. They also planned for a third main store. However, construction stopped in 1972. This was because of big job cuts at Boeing, which hurt the local economy. A new company, Hanson Development Company, bought the unfinished mall in July 1972. They promised to finish building it.
In late 1973, a new movie theater was announced for the mall. It was called Everett Mall Cinemas I, II, and III. This was special because it was Washington's first indoor theater with three screens. It opened on February 13, 1974. Popular movies like The Sting and American Graffiti were shown.
Challenges and Growth: 1973–1977
Building the mall continued. By March 1973, many stores had signed up to rent space. The mall was supposed to be finished that summer. However, things got difficult when White Front, one of the main stores, went out of business in 1974. This made other businesses nervous about opening stores at the mall.
When Everett Mall finally opened in October 1974, it was not very busy. Only one main store was open, and just over half of the smaller shops were rented. The mall felt empty, like a "ghost town." There were large curtains blocking off empty spaces. Young people sometimes played games in the quiet hallways. Shoppers could always find a parking spot close to the building.
Things started to get better in 1976. The Bon Marche bought the old White Front store. They planned to move their downtown Everett store to the mall. Their new store opened on February 25, 1977. After this, new stores began to move into the mall. The mall's managers also announced plans to finish the mall as originally intended. This included adding a third main store. In August 1977, construction began on a second movie theater near Sears.
Mall Expansion and Changes: 1977–1992
A new part of the mall, called the east wing, started being built in the fall of 1979. It was finished and fully rented by the fall of 1980. This new section officially opened on August 1, 1980. The main feature of this expansion was a two-story Frederick & Nelson department store. This was a fancy store, and it was their 15th location. The new area also included a Payless Drug store and many other shops.
The mall stayed busy until 1992. That year, Frederick & Nelson went out of business, and their Everett store closed. However, it was quickly replaced by Mervyn's, a department store from California. After a big renovation, the Mervyn's store opened on July 19, 1992, with a lot of excitement.
New Owners and Growth: 1998–2002
In 1998, the mall's management planned a huge expansion. They wanted to add a lot more shops, a new movie theater, a hotel, and restaurants. These plans would have made Everett Mall much bigger. However, the mall's owners faced financial problems, and these big plans were put on hold.
In 2000, the mall's owners had trouble paying back a loan. Because of this, the mall was taken over by a court. By 2001, the owners owed a lot of money. To fix this, they gave the mall to Equitable Life Assurance Society. This company then hired Madison Marquette to manage the mall and plan its future growth.
Modern Updates and Recent Changes: 2003–Present
In 2003, plans for expanding the mall started again. This time, the plans included adding over 227,068 square feet (21,095.3 m2) of new shops. They also planned a new "power center" called the Everett Mall Village. This involved big changes to the outside of the mall. Construction began in 2004. In June 2004, the mall was sold to Steadfast Commercial Properties. They took over managing the expansion.
The Everett Village project began in November 2004. New stores like Best Buy, PetSmart, Old Navy, Borders Books, and Bed Bath & Beyond were announced. The Village was finished in 2007. After that, Steadfast sold the Village part to SJ Realty Investments. This part of the mall has been sold a few times since then.
As part of the expansion, Regal Cinemas agreed to build a 16-screen movie theater. Regal was already running the mall's existing theaters.
In late 2006, Mervyn's announced it would close all its stores in Oregon and Washington. The Everett store was split into two new stores: LA Fitness and Steve & Barry's. A year later, Steve & Barry's closed all its locations. The empty space at Everett Mall was then filled by Burlington Coat Factory in September 2013.
In 2017, Macy's closed its store at Everett Mall. Floor & Decor took its place the next year. In October 2017, Brixton Capital bought the mall. JLL then took over managing the mall. On August 31, 2019, it was announced that Sears would close its Everett store in December 2019. Bed Bath & Beyond also announced in September 2020 that it would close its store by the end of that year.
Images for kids
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Everett Mall logo
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Everett Mall front entrance
