I finally had the pleasure of visiting one the very few malls in Northern California that I haven't been to, Country Club Plaza. Well, I tried to visit once before, but it was closed (at 7:30 on a Saturday!). I only got to see the inside from the gates of Gottschalks that time. Then it was gutted and in its place a new, expanded mall. I'm glad they kept the mall enclosed, but I'm not sure if the public shares my opinion. The outside of the mall had a number of big-box retailers that were doing fine, but the interior of the mall wasn't so lively. Personally, I prefer less crowds, but that isn't good for business.
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| Gottschalks at Country Club and a former JC Penney. |
Country Club Plaza wasn't much when it celebrated its grand opening on June 23, 1955. Just a line of stores fronting Watt.
The new plaza opened across the street from Country Club Centre, which opened August 21, 1952 with Penney's. The area was quickly becoming the hottest shopping destination in town.
While competing Hale's had opened at Arden Fair just weeks earlier, the plaza got a boost in 1961 when Weinstock-Lubin opened (later known as Weinstocks). The Weinstock's store, eventually becoming Macy's, was designed by Charles Luckman & Associates of Los Angeles. You can find this building type at other malls, like Sunrise Mall.
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| Macy's at Country Club and a former Weinstocks. |
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| Country Club Plaza was just a wee thing in 1962. |
By 2009, things started to change
Country Club Plaza, Sacramento's most vulnerable mall, has the highest vacancy rates (30.6%) than any other mall in the metro area.
The recently remodeled 600,000 sq. ft. shopping center has been finding its niche among power players in the area, including the Roseville Galleria and Arden Fair mall. Soon after the remodel of the mall, occupancy rates were at 51%. Currently, with 49 potential stores, 15 spaces are empty (in red above), which lowers the vacancy rate to 30.6%. Exterior pads were not considered in this statistic.
I'm examining this mall because it's home to the only Gottschalk's in the Sacramento region. The impact of Gottschalk's closing is purely speculative. However, Country Club Plaza is unique in its own rite. Very rarely do you see investors willing to pony up money for an enclosed mall this size.
Comments
If I recall, Country Club's in a pretty affluent part of Sacramento, otherwise I'm sure it wouldn't have lasted being so far away from a freeway and so close to Arden Fair. Both malls had Weinstocks and now both have Macys.
But as affluent as the area is, it sounds as if Country Club doesn't position itself as too upscale. (Arden and Roseville do that) Therefore, you end up with big box retailers that are better suited for auto traffic, not mall-walkers.
The Macy's at Arden Fair doesn't sell much of anything besides clothing (i.e., no housewares, domestics, etc.) since it's such a small store, so Country Club is a much better option for finding a full line of Macy's merchandise with better parking and smaller crowds.
Country Club Centre was once an enclosed mall with Wards at one end and Liberty House at the other. IN the middle was a Longs Drugs. The Wards location is now Wal-Mart, and the Liberty House end is offices. The enclosed mall was torn down after Wards went under.
If the owners of the two malls had been smart, they'd have connected the two malls into a mega-mall (see Del Amo, King of Prussia, Valley Fair) before Arden became the mega-mall for the area.
Again, the lack of freeway access is Country Club's biggest drawback, and it's proximity to affluent neighborhoods like Carmichael is what kept this place afloat. Despite the fact that it has Macys and Gottschalks, all the other tenants are what you'd find in a power center. Because it's a smaller mall, it works.
Sunrise is going to be interesting to watch as it's also miles from a freeway. The Roseville Galleria has to be a threat to their market area, and if any real competition were to ever emerge on the Hwy 50 corridor towards Folsom, they might be in trouble
There's not much of a food court left as only Panda Express and Subway serve up actual meals. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and Mrs. Fields are pretty much just dessert.
Back in the day when I used to work there in 1999 (4 years before the renovation), there was a Claire's, Footaction, Hallmark, Lane Bryant, MasterCuts, Orange Julius, Payless ShoeSource, RadioShack, Ritz Camera, Sbarro and Vitamin World. Only Claire's, Hallmark, MasterCuts and Vitamin World returned after the mall renovation. Payless ShoeSource also returned, but located their store outside.
Yes, with the affluent area nearby, it should've attracted some upscale stores.
Side Note: Vans Skatepark was originally going to open as part of the renovation, but instead, Sport Chalet opened.
When Country Club Plaza was built Penney's moved into what became the Gottchalk's building. Although I never really understood why. I mean that building is not all that much larger than the Longs was.
I personally wish they had kept Country Club Centre and torn down the Plaza..but fond memories of walking out into the mall from Longs to sit on Santa's Lap aside.........
The Macy's (former Weinstok's) IS the best in Sacramento, although not billed as a men's or kids store, it seem's they ALWAYS have my size and style in stock. It's also a beautiful building in it's own right.