The Mall at Turtle Creek facts for kids
Entrance into the mall
|
|
| Location | Jonesboro, Arkansas |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 35°49′24″N 90°39′50″W / 35.8234°N 90.6640°W |
| Opening date | March 29, 2006 |
| Developer | David Hocker & Associates MBC Holdings |
| Management | Brookfield Properties Retail Group |
| Owner | Brookfield Properties Retail Group |
| No. of stores and services | 100+ |
| No. of anchor tenants | 3 main anchors 2 junior anchors |
| Total retail floor area | 750,000 square feet (69,677.3 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 (2 in Dillard's) |
| Parking | 5,000 spaces |
The Mall at Turtle Creek is a large indoor shopping mall located in Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States. It's special because it was the only indoor mall to open in the U.S. in 2006! Today, it has big stores like JCPenney, Dillard's, and Target. It also has smaller main stores like Bed Bath & Beyond and Best Buy. Plus, there are over 70 other stores and a place to eat called a food court. You can even get there by bus using the Jonesboro Economical Transit system.
Mall History: How It Started
The idea for The Mall at Turtle Creek began when two companies, MBC Holdings and David Hocker & Associates, bought a big piece of land. This land was in Jonesboro, Arkansas, where two main roads meet. Building the mall started in early 2002.
After about three years of work, some of the big stores opened first. Target and JCPenney opened their doors in late 2005. Then, Dillard's opened early in 2006. Finally, the whole mall was ready and opened completely in March 2006.
Mall Layout: What's Inside
The Mall at Turtle Creek is very big! It covers an area of about 750,000 square feet. A large part of this space, about 230,000 square feet, is used for shops.
The mall is shaped like a rectangle and sits on a 73-acre plot of land. The people who built it wanted it to look like a "Main Street." There are about 100 stores inside. They are set up along two sides, facing each other. There's a wide path for people to walk on each side, and sometimes you'll find small carts or stands in the middle.
The three biggest stores, called "anchor stores," are Dillard's, Target, and JCPenney. Dillard's is on the east side of the mall, and Target is on the west side. JCPenney is located at the southwest end. Besides these, there are three other important stores: Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, and Bed Bath & Beyond. These are all located on the southeast side. When it first opened, The Mall at Turtle Creek was the fifth largest mall in all of Arkansas!
In 2013, a company called Rouse Properties bought the mall.
2020 Tornado: A Big Storm
On March 28, 2020, a strong tornado hit the east side of Jonesboro. It happened around 5:00 PM. The tornado caused a lot of damage to the mall and other nearby areas.
The mall's main entrance and many of its stores were badly damaged. Luckily, the mall was temporarily closed at the time because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This meant there were almost no customers inside. Even though there was a lot of damage, no one died, and only 22 people in Jonesboro were hurt.
After the tornado, the big stores like Dillard's, JCPenney, and Target were able to reopen. However, it was announced in September 2020 that the Barnes & Noble store would not reopen.
