ANNAPOLIS MALL

The 'Annapolis Mall', officially known as 'Westfield Annapolis', is a shopping mall owned by The Westfield Group, and is located opposite of U.S. Route 50 from the city of Annapolis, Maryland. It's major anchor stores include Borders Books and Music, Macy's (formerly Hecht's), Lord & Taylor, Nordstrom, Sears (formerly Montgomery Ward), JCPenney, and Bow Tie Cinemas (formerly Crown Theatres).
As of 2006, the mall has begun construction of an expansion that will include over 240,000 square feet, including more than 60 additional stores, making the mall the largest in Anne Arundel County (surpassing Arundel Mills). The addition is expected to be complete in time for the 2007 holiday shopping season. [1]

Contents

History

2006 shooting

2007 expansion

Anchors

References

External link

History

Originally opened in 1980 by developer May Centers, Inc., the Annapolis Mall was, at that time, anchored by JCPenney, Hecht's, Garfinckel's, and Montgomery Ward. Nordstrom joined the center in March of 1994 and was followed by Lord & Taylor in 1998. Montgomery Ward went bankrupt and closed in 1999, its location eventually acquired by Sears, which moved from nearby Parole Plaza in 2002. As the result of a merger in 2006, Hecht's was re-equipped and absorbed into the larger Macy's chain.
In 1992, the original developer May Centers, Inc., was renamed CenterMark Properties and sold by May Department Stores in 1994 to a consortium led by Westfield Holdings, Ltd., a predecessor of The Westfield Group. Westfield bought its partnership in CenterMark in 1995 and gained full ownership of the mall in 1997. In 1998 the center was renamed "Westfield Shoppingtown Annapolis", the unwieldy "Shoppingtown" name being dropped in 2005. Despite the name changes, the mall remains most commonly known as the Annapolis Mall.

2006 shooting

On Saturday, November 18, 2006, an off duty United States Secret Service agent was at the mall when he witnessed a fight in progress in the food court. During the attempt to break up the fight, one of the combatants pulled a gun and fired at the agent, wounding him. The agent returned fire, hitting the shooter. A third person was wounded in the altercation. The food court was closed shortly after the incident, with all patrons asked to leave quickly, although the remainder of the mall stayed open.http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/18/maryland.shootings.ap/index.html, accessed November 18, 2006 http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=25&sid=979876, accessed November 18 2006

2007 expansion

After several attempts, Westfield reached agreement in 2006 with local planning authorities to reconfigure the center and expand it by over 240,000 square feet. The total project cost is expected to be over $100,000,000 and be completed on November 1st, 2007.

Anchors

★ JCPenney (83,695 sq. ft.)

★ Lord & Taylor (120,000 sq. ft.)

★ Macy's (198,171 sq. ft.)

★ Nordstrom (153,000 sq. ft.)

★ Sears (147,282 sq. ft.)

References

External link

★ Official Westfield Annapolis Website