Richardson Square Mall

32°56′32″N 96°41′51″W Richardson Square Mall (1977-2006) was an enclosed single-level shopping center located in Richardson, Texas on Plano Road, stretching between the intersections of Belt Line Road and Spring Valley Road. The three adjacent corners of Belt Line and Plano Road were also occupied by shopping centers. The mall attached to an existing Sears, which served as an anchor store and remained in business after Richardson Square Mall was demolished in June 2007.

Now located in its place is an outdoor retail center that goes by the name Richardson Square.

History

The 139,000 square foot Sears building opened on March 6, 1974, before the mall existed, and operated as a standalone store.[1][2] Richardson Square Mall opened in 1977 along Plano Road with Sears being one of the four anchors in addition to Montgomery Ward, Dillard's, and Titche-Goettinger (which became Joske's in 1979). While the mall, Sears, and Montgomery Ward, were single-level, the other two anchor locations were each two stories.

During its peak in the 1980s, the mall included the Richardson Square I-II-III movie theater (owned by General Cinema),[3] a video game arcade across from it, two bookstores (Waldenbooks and B. Dalton), and two music stores (Musicland and Camelot Music). Food vendors were grouped in the entrance corridors at each end of the mall–by Sears (Hot Sam Pretzels, Bresler's Ice Cream, Karmelkorn) and Montgomery Ward (Chick-fil-A, Orange Julius).

The mall was closed on Sundays until September 1, 1985, when the Texas blue law was repealed.[4]

In 1981, the much larger Collin Creek Mall opened in nearby Plano, but Richardson Square continued to be popular and fully occupied throughout the remainder of the 1980s. An L-shaped, free-standing strip of stores was built in 1984–85 on the outer corner of the property closest to Lloyd V. Berkner High School.

In 1987, the Joske's chain was purchased by Dillard's, and the Joske's location in the mall became a second Dillard's. Dillard's maintained both two-level stores until it closed the latter in 1995.

Decline

Stores began rapidly closing in the early 1990s. By 1993, the property was at about 60% occupancy. A new tenant during this phase was French bakery Cafe Partier.[5]

In 1998, the mall was remodeled,[6] with many new tenants and a food court added, as well as a Barnes & Noble bookstore which occupied the space of multiple stores. The entrance corridor near Sears, formerly occupied by a movie theater, arcade, and several food vendors, became a Stein Mart. Shortly thereafter Montgomery Ward filed for bankruptcy and closed its stores.[7] The former Ward's pad was demolished and converted into a Super Target in 2002. Stein Mart, Oshman's, and several other small stores soon closed as well. The mall continued to operate until Garland's Firewheel Town Center opened in 2005. Dillard's, Old Navy, and Barnes & Noble all relocated to Firewheel.[8]

In 2006, it was announced that the mall would be demolished and Simon Properties would be renovating the site.[9] Richardson Square Mall was demolished in mid 2007, except for Sears, which remained in operation as part of the subsequent Richardson Square retail center.

Richardson Square

The Richardson Square retail center includes Super Target with an internal Starbucks, Ross Dress for Less, Shoe Carnival, and a Lowe's home improvement store. Pad sites sites include Panda Express, Chick-fil-A, Whataburger, Sonic Drive-In, and Bank of America.[10]

On December 28, 2018, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of a plan to close 80 stores nationwide. The store closed on March 10, 2019.[11]

New additions to the current Richardson Square include El Pollo Loco, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and Jason's Deli. Additionally, there are two triplexes. One includes Spectrum, Blaze Pizza, and one unoccupied space. The other includes Starbucks, Jersey Mike's, and Aspen Dental.

References
  1. "Sears Opens Richardson Shop". Plano Daily Star-Courier: 5. February 20, 1974.
  2. Richardson Square Mall forum discussion
  3. "Richardson Square 3". Cinema Treasures.
  4. Smith, Rick (September 18, 2010). "Blue Law made some Sunday shopping a crime". Standard-Times.
  5. Cook, Betty (March 1993). "The Food of Dallas". D Magazine.
  6. "Richardson mall could net $28M for Simon – Dallas Business Journal". Bizjournals.com. July 20, 2003. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
  7. "Montgomery Ward drops out of crowded retail field". Nreionline.com. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
  8. "Barnes & Noble leaves Richardson mall – Dallas Business Journal". Bizjournals.com. October 16, 2005. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
  9. Action Newsletter Archived August 18, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Simon Property Group". Simon.com. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
  11. Thomas, Lauren (December 28, 2018). "Sears is closing 80 more stores in March, faces possible liquidation". CNBC. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  • Photos of Richardson Square Mall just prior to and during demolition.
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