Salem Center (Oregon) facts for kids
Mall entrance
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| Location | Salem, Oregon, United States |
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| Coordinates | 44°56′35″N 123°02′10″W / 44.943°N 123.036°W |
| Opening date | 1979 |
| Management | Jones Lang Lasalle |
| No. of stores and services | 80 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 4 (2 open, 2 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 650,000 square feet (60,000 m2) (GLA) |
| No. of floors | 2 (3 in former JCPenney, 4 in Macy's) |
| Parking | 5,200 |
Salem Center is a big shopping mall in downtown Salem, Oregon, United States. It has many buildings and is located on both sides of Center Street. The mall is a great place to shop, with about 80 stores and a food court where you can grab a bite to eat.
Salem Center first opened its doors in 1979. It has two main floors and a total of 650,000 square feet (60,000 m2) of space for stores. The mall has big "anchor" stores, which are usually the largest shops that attract many visitors. Currently, the main anchor stores are Kohl's and Macy's. There are also two empty spots where big stores used to be, like JCPenney and Nordstrom.
A cool feature of Salem Center is its five sky bridges. These bridges connect different parts of the mall. One bridge connects Macy's to the rest of the mall. Another links the mall to a nearby parking garage. There's also a bridge that used to connect the old JCPenney store to the mall. Plus, skybridges help connect the two main mall buildings across Center Street. The mall is managed by a company called Jones Lang Lasalle.
How the Mall Started
The idea for Salem Center began a long time ago, even before the mall was built. In 1955, a large department store called Meier & Frank opened in Salem. It had two floors and its own parking garage. This was the first time Meier & Frank opened a store outside of its main location.
Later, in 1965, another big store called JCPenney opened nearby. It also had two floors. These two stores were originally separate buildings. But when Salem Center was planned, they became important "anchor" stores for the new mall. Skybridges were built to connect them directly to the rest of the shopping center.
Mall's Journey Through the Years
Building the new Salem Center mall started in 1978. It officially opened in 1979. Over the years, the mall has been updated and remodeled a few times, including in 1988 and 1995. For a while, until about 2004, the mall was known as "Salem Centre" with an 'e' at the end.
Some of the big stores have changed over time. The Kohl's store you see today used to be a Mervyns store until 2007. The Macy's store was once the Meier & Frank store, and its name changed to Macy's in 2006.
In 2008, the mall started a new service. It allowed people to search online for products sold in all the mall's stores. Salem Center said it was the first mall in Oregon to offer something like this! Since 2009, the mall has also had a special tradition. Every year, they build and light a Lego menorah to celebrate Hanukkah.
Sadly, some stores have closed. On January 31, 2018, it was announced that the Nordstrom store would close in April 2018. Then, on June 4, 2020, JCPenney announced that its Salem Center location would close on October 18, 2020. This was part of a plan to close many JCPenney stores across the country. After these closures, Kohl's and Macy's became the only remaining anchor stores at Salem Center.
