Dillard's to Anchor New Border Town Mall
Dillard’s is boosting its presence in California. The Little Rock, Ark.–based department store chain will be one of four anchors in the proposed Imperial Valley Mall in El Centro, Calif., near the U.S./Mexican border.
Dillard’s is sticking with its West Coast strategy of opening regional mall stores in markets that are not over-saturated with retail space. It currently has stores at the Antelope Valley Mall in Palmdale, Calif., and the Weberstown mall in Stockton, Calif.
The Imperial Valley Mall, set to open in the spring of 2005, will serve the Southern California farm communities of El Centro, Calexico, Brawley, Imperial and Calipatria and Mexicali, Mexico, said Michael Lebovitz, senior vice president of mall development for developer CBL and Associates Properties Inc., which is partnering with The MGHerring Group on the project.
The mall will be a single-level, 741,000- square-foot enclosed center that includes the 147,000-square-foot Dillard’s, a 140,000- square-foot Robinsons-May, an 81,000- square-foot JCPenney and a 30,000-squarefoot Sears, Roebuck & Co. A 12-screen UltraStar theater, 100 national specialty stores and a food court will round out the development.
“This site is the perfect location for new retailers to make their first appearance in the Imperial Valley market area,” said Buddy Herring, president of The MGHerring Group.
Significant residential growth in the Imperial Valley in recent years has created demand for a regional mall, Lebovitz said. Consumers in the area have usually had to travel 100 miles east to San Diego or Palm Springs, Calif., to find a major department store.
The project will be the first in California for the developers. CBL is a real estate investment trust that is among the top five shopping center owners in North America, with interests in 164 properties in 25 states. The MGHerring Group has developed 30 major retail projects making up 24 million square feet.
—Robert McAllister
