Huntington Mall facts for kids
| Location | Barboursville, West Virginia, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 38°25′20″N 82°16′0″W / 38.42222°N 82.26667°W |
| Address | PO Box 4008 I-64 & Mall Rd. |
| Opening date | 1981 |
| Developer | Cafaro Company |
| Owner | Cafaro Company |
| No. of stores and services | 150+ |
| No. of anchor tenants | 11 (9 open, 2 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 1,570,160 square feet (145,873 m2) (GLA) |
| No. of floors | 1 (2 in JCPenney, Macy's, and former Sears) |
Huntington Mall is a large shopping mall located in Barboursville, West Virginia. It is in Cabell County, West Virginia, which is part of the U.S. state of West Virginia. This mall is the biggest in West Virginia. It first opened its doors in 1981 and now has more than 150 different stores.
Some of the main stores, called Anchor stores, include Dick's Sporting Goods, Field & Stream, JCPenney, Macy's, and TJ Maxx & HomeGoods. There are also two large spaces that used to be home to Forever 21 and Sears. Other popular stores you can find there are Books-A-Million and Old Navy. The Cafaro Company from Youngstown, Ohio owns Huntington Mall.
Contents
History of Huntington Mall
Huntington Mall first opened in 1981. It was built a few miles east of Huntington, right off Interstate 64.
Early Years and Famous Visitors
When the mall first opened, it had several main stores. These included JCPenney, Lazarus, Stone & Thomas, and Sears. A fun event happened when the Foot Locker store opened. Famous tennis player Bobby Riggs visited the mall. He even played tennis games against some of the mall's employees!
In 1990, Phar-Mor, a store that sold discounted pharmacy items, became the mall's fifth main store.
Changes and New Stores
In 1998, the Stone & Thomas store changed its name to Elder-Beerman. This happened after another company bought the Stone & Thomas chain. A year later, in 1999, Borders Books & Music opened its first store in West Virginia at Huntington Mall.
Later, other popular stores like Old Navy, Steve & Barry's, and a local chain called Dawahares also joined the mall. When Phar-Mor closed in 2002, its space became the second Dick's Sporting Goods store in West Virginia.
New Movie Theater and Store Closures
In 2008, it was announced that Cinemark would open a brand new movie theater at the mall. This new theater opened in early 2009. It took the place of an older, smaller movie theater and a nearby cafeteria. That cafeteria space is now a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant.
Borders Books closed in 2011 because the company was having financial difficulties. Books-A-Million later moved into that spot. The Elder-Beerman store closed on January 31, 2016. Its large space was then divided into three smaller stores: Forever 21, TJ Maxx, and HomeGoods.
In 2019, two more big stores announced they would be closing. On August 6, 2019, Sears said its mall location would close in late October. Its auto center closed even earlier, in late August. Then, on October 2, 2019, Forever 21 also announced it would close in late 2019. This was because the company was also facing financial challenges.
Impact on the Area
Huntington Mall is very important to the state of West Virginia. It is the largest mall in the entire state.
Growth Around the Mall
When the mall was first built, there were only a few businesses nearby. These included two bars and an Exxon gas station. But after the mall opened, many new businesses started to build around it. This included four motels and several restaurants. Big stores like a Walmart Supercenter, the first Best Buy in West Virginia, and the first Sheetz gas station and convenience store in southern West Virginia also opened nearby.
Economic Boost
Huntington Mall has brought a lot of money into the local area. On average, the mall helps bring in about $375 million in retail sales each year. This has greatly helped the budget of the Village of Barboursville, allowing the town to grow and improve.
