Richmond Mall
Address | 3801 East National Road | |
---|---|---|
Opening date | May 12, 1966 | |
Previous names | Richmond Square | |
Developer | Total retail floor area | 392,572 square feet (36,471.1 m2) |
No. of floors | 1 |
Richmond Mall, formerly Richmond Square, is a
History
Montgomery Ward was the first store to open, doing so on March 3, 1966. The rest of the mall officially opened on May 12 of the same year. Among the stores open for business that day were JCPenney, Thrift Drug, Woolworth, Kroger,
Throughout the first five years of its existence, Richmond Square hosted a semi-annual charity fair, where local charities could set up sales kiosks throughout the mall.[7] The mall held tenth-anniversary festivities in 1976, consisting of a puppet show and a gem and mineral exhibit; patrons could also guess the weight of a decorative artificial cake, with the winner receiving a trip to French Lick, Indiana.[8] Kroger announced plans in 1979 to close their store at Richmond Square in favor of a larger location west of the mall, with a targeted opening date of 1980.[9] After the newer Kroger store opened in late 1980, mall owners announced plans to subdivide the former Richmond Square store among six smaller stores.[10] The departure of Kroger led to concerns among mall merchants that the mall was declining in tenancy and sales. Also impacting the mall's tenancy at the time were the closures of local clothing stores Loehr's and Golden Rule, as well as a plan from Montgomery Ward to convert their Richmond Square location into an outlet store. Despite these changes, the manager of the JCPenney store at Richmond Square reported in September 1981 that sales at the store remained strong and were benefiting stores close to that end of the mall.[11] By 1983, Noble Roman's Pizza had opened in a portion of the former Kroger,[12] and the Montgomery Ward location had successfully undergone conversion to an outlet store.[13] A directory published in 1986 in honor of the mall's 20th anniversary listed Maurices, Musicland, Circus World, and Afterthoughs among the major retailers, as well as JCPenney, Montgomery Ward Outlet, Woolworth, and Thrift Drug.[14] By year's end, Montgomery Ward closed their store due to expiration of its lease, and the store was sold to Sears in 1988. Sears relocated from an existing store in Gateway Plaza, as did another tenant, Hallmark Cards. Instead of relocating all departments at once, Sears chose to first open a small portion of the former Montgomery Ward location for sales of women's clothing, before opening the rest of the store gradually over several months as merchandise was relocated from the existing store.[15]
Hull Property Group bought the mall in 2015. The mall was the company's first in Indiana.[24] In late 2018, Hull Property Group announced that Dunham's Sports would be taking the former location of Sears, relocating from an existing location at Gateway shopping center.[25] Soon afterward, Hull renamed the property to Richmond Mall and began a number of interior renovations, while also opening a McAlister's Deli in the parking lot. Despite the addition of Dunham's Sports and McAlister's Deli, a number of tenants closed under Hull's ownership, including JCPenney, Justice, Victoria's Secret, Deb Shops, MCL Cafeterias, Aéropostale, and Hallmark. Mall owners attributed these closures to the number of chains closing smaller-town locations or going out of business during the retail apocalypse of the 2010s, an effect compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the retail sector across the United States. In response, mall owners expressed interest in recruiting local stores to replace chains which had departed the mall.[26] A tornado destroyed several businesses at Richmond Mall in 2019, including OfficeMax.[27]
References
- ^ Fred S. Lord (May 11, 1965). "Shopping center start scheduled". Palladium-Item. p. 1. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ a b "Richmond Square to feature garden atmosphere when final work completed". Palladium-Item. March 3, 1966. p. 34. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ "Beauty, convenience stressed in city's newest shopping center". Palladium-Item. May 11, 1966. p. 17. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ "Richmond Square Penney store is fourth location since 1927". Palladium-Item. May 11, 1966. p. 18. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ "New Woolworth store opens". Palladium-Item. May 11, 1966. p. 27. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ "State's first Thrift Drug store to open". Palladium-Item. May 11, 1966. p. 27. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ "Charity fair dates set at shopping mall". Palladium-Item. October 8, 1971. p. 3. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ "Richmond Square is 10 years old". Palladium-Item. May 8, 1976. p. 31. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ Phil Hall (October 10, 1979). "$3-million Kroger center planned". Palladium-Item. p. 29. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ "Mall to get new residents". Palladium-Item. September 5, 1981. pp. A3. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ "Retailers either love or leave mall". Palladium-Item. September 27, 1981. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ "Pizza is great pick-me-up for tired holiday shoppers". Palladium-Item. November 24, 1983. p. 8. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ "What is a Montgomery Ward outlet store?". Palladium-Item. November 24, 1983. p. 8. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ "Richmond Square". Palladium-Item. March 26, 1986. p. 6. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ John Sisson (July 16, 1988). "2 firms to leave Gateway". Palladium-Item. pp. A1. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ "Mall owners announce mega-merger". Palladium-Item. March 27, 1996. pp. A1. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ Steve Arel (May 4, 1996). "Officials applaud mall addition". Palladium-Item. pp. A1, A2. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ Steve Arel (December 17, 1996). "Richmond mall to get OfficeMax next year". Palladium-Item. pp. A3. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ Ann M. Gynn (November 2, 1997). "Big retail selling in a small town". Palladium-Item. pp. D1, D2. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ Monica M. Schultz (September 15, 1997). "Another shoe store joins Richmond Mall". Palladium-Item. pp. A1, A2. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ Jennifer Scarborough (February 6, 1999). "New stores, eatery expected to boost mall's first quarter". Palladium-Item. pp. A3. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ Bill Engle (May 5, 2004). "Richmond Square Mall sold again". Palladium-Item. pp. A1. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ "New sporting goods store coming to mall". Palladium-Item. January 23, 2005. pp. B1. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ Jason Truitt (December 17, 2015). "Richmond Square Mall has a new owner". Palladium-Item. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ Jason Truitt (December 12, 2018). "Richmond Mall owner: Dunham's Sports will take old Sears space". Palladium-Item. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ Jason Truitt. "Richmond Mall will lose another struggling national retailer". Palladium-Item. July 30, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ "Tornado-damaged OfficeMax store finally has a reopening date". Palladium-Item. December 6, 2019. Retrieved October 9, 2023.