La Gran Plaza de Fort Worth
 | |
| Location | Fort Worth, Texas |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 32°41′10″N 97°19′34″W / 32.686°N 97.326°W |
| Address | 4200 South Freeway |
| Opening date | 1962 |
| Developer | Homart Development Company |
| Owner | Boxer Retail |
| No. of stores and services | 200+ |
| Total retail floor area | 1,077,782 square feet (100,129.2 m2)[1] |
| No. of floors | 2 |
| Website | www |
La Gran Plaza de Fort Worth is a Hispanic-themed shopping mall in Fort Worth, Texas. Opened in 1962 as Seminary South and later known as Fort Worth Town Center, it was reinvented as a center catering to largely Hispanic clientele after losing most of its major stores. Major tenants include Burlington, Ross Dress for Less, Bealls Clearance Center, and El Mercado.
History
[edit]The center opened for business on March 14, 1962 as Seminary South Shopping Center. It was the first shopping mall built by Homart Development Company, a former division of Sears department stores through which they built shopping malls.[2]
Its original tenants included Sears, G. C. Murphy, and Stripling's department store. Other major tenants included Buddies supermarket (later Winn Dixie), Finger Furniture, and a seven-story office tower. JCPenney was added in 1964, and Dillard's joined in 1977.[3] On 23 December 1974, the car of the three girls that became known as the Fort Worth Missing Trio was found in the Sears upper-level parking lot.
Texas Centers bought the building from Homart in 1985 and announced renovation plans, including enclosure of the formerly open-air concourses.[4][5]
The Stripling's store was later renamed Stripling & Cox before closing in 1989. Around this point, the mall began losing traffic and tenants to other centers in the area, such as Ridgmar Mall and Hulen Mall.[3] Despite the loss of stores, a movie theater and food court were added, the latter replacing G. C. Murphy. As a result of declining traffic, JCPenney closed in 1997, followed by Sears and Dillard's, leaving the mall without an anchor store.[3]
In 2004, Legaspi bought the property, which at the time had only a 10 percent occupancy rate.[6][7] The new owners reinvented the property to cater to a largely Hispanic clientele, including the addition of El Mercado, a market for local vendors, in the former Dillard's space. Burlington and Ross Dress for Less replaced the Sears space.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ "Leasing plan" (PDF). Boxer Properties. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
- ^ "Sears sells Texas mall". Chicago Tribune. December 27, 1985. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
- ^ a b c d "La Gran Plaza de Fort Worth". Fort Worth Architecture. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
- ^ Donna Steph Hansard (April 5, 1986). "Seminary South Redo Planned". The Dallas Morning News.
- ^ "FW Mall's Renovation Completed". The Dallas Morning News. August 28, 1987. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
- ^ Gustafson, Kristina. "Doubling down on the rebirth of the American shopping mall". CNBC. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
- ^ "Partnership buys Fort Worth's Town Center mall". Bizjournals.com. June 17, 2004. Retrieved 3 September 2017.