Muncie Mall facts for kids
| Address | 3501 N. Granville Ave. |
|---|---|
| Opening date | 1970 |
| Developer | Melvin Simon & Associates |
| No. of stores and services | 20+ |
| No. of anchor tenants | 4 (0 open, 4 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 636,000 square feet |
| No. of floors | 1 |
Muncie Mall is a shopping mall located in Muncie, Indiana. It first opened its doors in 1970. A shopping mall usually has large main stores called "anchor stores." Muncie Mall used to have four of these big stores, but now they are all empty. Carson's and Sears closed in 2018, and JCPenney and Macy's closed in 2020. The Woodmont Company currently manages the mall.
Contents
History of Muncie Mall
Early Years and Original Stores
Muncie Mall welcomed its first shoppers in 1970. When it opened, it had three main "anchor stores": Britt's, W. T. Grant, and Sears. These were the biggest stores that helped attract people to the mall. Other important stores that opened with the mall included a National Tea supermarket and Osco Drug.
Over time, some of these original stores changed. Britt's became L. S. Ayres, and W. T. Grant became J. C. Penney. Another big store called Ball Stores later changed its name to Elder-Beerman.
Changes and New Stores Over Time
In 1997, L.S. Ayres moved to a new spot within the mall. The old L.S. Ayres building then became a new Elder-Beerman store. Elder-Beerman also kept a separate store for home goods in the former Ball Stores location.
In 2006, the newer L.S. Ayres store changed its name to Macy's. That same year, Books-A-Million opened its fourth store in Indiana right here at Muncie Mall.
Recent Closures and Mall Changes
In 2010, Old Navy closed its store, which had replaced the Elder-Beerman home store. Elder-Beerman itself later became Carson's in 2012.
However, in 2018, many changes began to happen.
- On April 18, 2018, Carson's announced it would close in August. This happened because its parent company, Bon-Ton, was going out of business.
- On May 31, 2018, Sears also announced it would close its Muncie Mall store. This was part of a plan to close many Sears stores across the country. Sears closed in September 2018.
In 2019, the mall's owner announced they would return the mall to the bank. More store closures followed in 2020:
- On January 7, 2020, Macy's announced it would close its Muncie Mall location. This was part of a plan to close 125 Macy's stores nationwide. The store closed in March 2020.
- On June 4, 2020, JCPenney announced its closure, which happened in October 2020. This was part of a plan to close 154 JCPenney stores.
With these closures, Muncie Mall was left without any of its large anchor stores.
