Oak Court Mall facts for kids
Entrance to Oak Court Mall
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| Location | Memphis, Tennessee, United States |
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| Coordinates | 35°7′1.4″N 89°54′46.8″W / 35.117056°N 89.913000°W |
| Address | 4465 Poplar Avenue, |
| Opening date | 1988 |
| Developer | Belz Enterprises |
| Management | WP Glimcher |
| Owner | WP Glimcher |
| No. of stores and services | 85 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 3 |
| Total retail floor area | 850,000 square feet (79,000 m2) (GLA) |
| No. of floors | 2 (3 in Macy's) |
| Parking | 3000 spaces |
Oak Court Mall is a large indoor shopping center located in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. It first opened its doors in 1988. The mall is known for its main stores, called "anchor stores," which include Macy's and two Dillard's stores (one for women and one for men).
Contents
Discovering Oak Court Mall's Past
The story of Oak Court Mall began in 1961. Back then, it was just a single, three-story department store named Goldsmith's. Goldsmith's was a popular store based right there in Memphis.
In the early 1970s, Goldsmith's grew bigger. They added a new three-story building next to the original store. The top two floors of this new part were used for parking cars. The bottom floor connected to the first floor of the old store, giving shoppers even more space to explore.
Goldsmith's expanded again in the late 1970s. This time, they added two more floors of shopping space to the north of the original building. Later, in the 1980s, part of this new area became Goldsmith's Furniture Gallery. This happened as the rest of the mall was being built around it.
Building the Modern Mall
In 1986, a company called Belz Enterprises started building the main mall. It was constructed right next to the Goldsmith's store. The first floor of the new mall was actually built underground. The second floor was at ground level.
The entire mall officially opened in 1988. Its first big anchor stores were Lord & Taylor and Goldsmith's.
Changes Over the Years
Lord & Taylor closed its store at the mall in 1992. After that, Dillard's moved into that space. Dillard's had previously been located at a different shopping center called Poplar Plaza.
In 1995, Dillard's expanded even more. They built a new section in the middle of the mall. This new part became the Dillard's store for men's and children's clothing. The original Dillard's store on the west side of the mall then became the women's store.
A big change happened in 2005. The company that owned Goldsmith's, Federated Department Stores, decided to rename all Goldsmith's stores. They all became Macy's.
Did you know that the very first Starbucks coffee shop in Tennessee was located at Oak Court Mall? It opened there a long time ago. In 2013, that Starbucks closed its original spot and moved to the second floor inside the Macy's store.
Main Stores at Oak Court Mall
Oak Court Mall has three main "anchor" stores. These are very large stores that help bring many shoppers to the mall.
- Macy's (about 400,000 square feet)
- This store first opened in 1961 as Goldsmith's.
- It has three floors, including one floor that is below ground.
- It is the largest Macy's store in the entire region!
- Women's Dillard's (about 111,000 square feet)
- This store opened in 1992.
- It used to be the Lord & Taylor store.
- It has two floors filled with women's clothing and accessories.
- Men's Dillard's
- This store opened in 1995.
- It also has two floors.
- It even has a parking garage attached to it. This area used to be the mall's center court, connecting the parking garage and an office building to the rest of the mall.
