Hilltop Mall
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| Hilltop Mall | |
| Facts and statistics | |
|---|---|
| Location | Richmond, California, USA |
| Opening date | 1976 |
| Developer | A. Alfred Taubman |
| Management | Simon Property Group |
| Owner | Simon Property Group & GM Pension Trusts |
| No. of stores and services | 150 [1] |
| No. of anchor tenants | 5 |
| Total retail floor area | 1.1 million ft² [2] |
| No. of floors | 2 |
| Website | www.shophilltop.com |
Hilltop Mall Shopping Center is a mall in the Hilltop neighborhood of Richmond, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Hilltop is managed and co-owned by Simon Property Group, and is anchored by longtime tenants JC Penney, Macy's, Sears, and lastly Wal-Mart, a 2007 addition. [3]
Contents |
[edit] History
Hilltop Mall opened in September of 1976, built on land previously occupied by the Hilltop Drive-In outdoor movie theater. The mall was developed by the A. Alfred Taubman, who also developed several other shopping malls in the East and South Bay Area, including Eastridge Mall in San Jose, Stoneridge Shopping Center in Pleasanton and Sunvalley Mall in Concord. Originally it was anchored by a bright red-tiled Capwell's, JCPenney and Macy's soon followed, closing their neighboring store in downtown Richmond at the same time.[4] Capwell's changed its name to Emporium-Capwell in 1979, before becoming simply Emporium in 1990. Sears was also added in 1990, the last expansion of this property.
Once opened the mall attracted the major anchors of Richmond's downtown, which became deserted with nearly all stores closing although many acknowledge that their trend predated Hilltop due to economic and safety issues.[5][6]
The mall remained largely unchanged until 1996 when the Emporium store closed following its merger with Federated, who owned Macy's. The store remained vacant until October 1998, when Macy's refurbished and relocated their existing store into the former Emporium space. However, Federated chose not to have two Macys at Hilltop (unlike SunValley, Stoneridge, and others) and closed the original store. That building would remain vacant until WalMart took it over in the Spring of 2007.
The Taubman shopping center interests, which had become a publicly traded real estate investment trust in 1992, were reorganized in 1998 and the GM Pension Trust assumed full-ownership of Hilltop Mall at this time, retaining Taubman Centers as manager.[7] In its turn, in 2004 the GM Pension Trust sold a half-interest in a portfolio of shopping centers, including Hilltop to The Mills Corporation, which also assumed management of the center. After several years of delay, Wal-Mart opened on April 11, 2007 on the site Macy's vacated in 1998.
[edit] Wal-Mart controversy
The Wal-Mart has been met with intense and fervent community opposition led by the area's strong union base. Others in the community view the addition as meeting the local consumer's needs and boosting the local economy through sales tax revenues to the city and new job opportunities for the historically high unemployment area. In response to at least one community concern, Wal-Mart officials have indicated they are willing to not sell guns at this location. [8] The mall's Wal-Mart is a more upscale version of that chain.[citation needed]
[edit] Anchors
- JCPenney (207,600 ft²)
- Sears (135,000 ft²)
- Macy's (190,700 ft²)
- Wal-Mart (150,000 ft²)
- 24-Hour Fitness Magic Johnson Sport (37,383 ft²)
[edit] Mall Stores
Hilltop also has dozens of smaller clothing boutiques for men, women, teens, and children. It has shoe stores including Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker and Kids Foot Locker, electronics stores such as EB Games and Ritz Camera, and athletic stores such as Champs Sports and Finish Line. Hilltop also has a Disney Store, and features many other mainstream retailers such as The Body Shop, Anchor Blue, Claire's, Forever 21, Zumiez and many more. Hilltop has several big name places to eat or snack, such as Maggie Moo's Ice Cream, Mrs. Fields Cookies, Auntie Anne's Pretzels, Subway, and Great Khan's Mongolian BBQ.
There are also jewelry stores, bookstores, stationers, luggage shops, music, video, gift and toy stores. There are also restaurants, mostly fast food, that include Burger King, McDonald's and others. Miscellaneous services include a hair salon, manicurist, portrait studios, a dentist and optometrists. There is a wide range of catering facilities and a health bar at the 24 Hour Fitness Magic Johnson Sport gym.
[edit] Notes and references
Oakland Tribune (Richmond area edition), Sept. 3, 1976, page 13
- ^ Simon Property Group
- ^ Simon Property Group
- ^ Chico Enterprise Record - Wal-Mart plans to offer help to small fry at new location
- ^ Richmond Chamber of Commerce: History
- ^ Richmond History, retrieved 09-08-07
- ^ Images of America: Richmond (Paperback) by Donald Bastin, Arcadia Publishing (SC), November 2003
- ^ http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/890319/0000890319-99-000005.txt
- ^ J. Douglas Allen-Taylor, "Richmond Wal-Mart Fought", Berkeley Daily Planet, Dec. 12, 2003.
[edit] External links
- Hilltop Mall is at coordinates Coordinates:
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