Grand Central Mall
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Grand Central Mall is a regional
shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...
in
Vienna, West Virginia Vienna () is a city in Wood County, West Virginia, United States, situated along the Ohio River. The population was 10,676 at the 2020 census. It is the second-largest city in the Parkersburg–Vienna metropolitan area. History In 1794, Joseph ...
, near the larger city of Parkersburg. The mall opened in 1972 and is the only enclosed mall within 35 miles of its region. It features more than 90 tenants, including a
food court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food Vendor, vendors and provides a common area for self-serve di ...
. The mall has eight
anchor store In North American, Australian and New Zealand retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are ...
s: Belk Outlet,
JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC , Trade name, doing business as JCPenney (colloquially Penney's and abbreviated JCP) is an American department store chain store, chain with 649 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. It is managed as part of the Catalys ...
,
Dunham's Sports Dunham's Sports is an American sporting goods retail chain owned by Dunham's Athleisure Corporation, with stores located in the Midwestern to Southeastern United States. The chain specializes in athletic equipment, clothing, firearms, and oth ...
,
PetSmart PetSmart Inc. is a privately held American chain of pet Big-box store, superstores, which sell pet products, services, and small pets. It is the leading North American pet company, and its direct competitor is Petco. Its indirect competitors ...
,
TJ Maxx TJ Maxx (stylized as T•J•maxx) is an American discount department store chain. It has more than 1,000 stores in the United States, making it one of the largest clothing retailers in the country. TJ Maxx is the flagship chain of the TJX Comp ...
,
HomeGoods HomeGoods is a chain of home furnishing stores headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Midd ...
,
Ross Dress For Less Ross Stores, Inc., operating under the brand name Ross Dress for Less, is an American chain of discount department stores headquartered in Dublin, California. It is the largest off-price retailer in the U.S.; as of July 2024, Ross operates 1,795 ...
, and a Regal
movie theater A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...
; it also has one vacant anchor previously occupied by
Elder-Beerman The Elder-Beerman Stores Corp., commonly known as Elder-Beerman, was an American chain of department stores founded in 1883 and whose last stores closed in 2018. The chain, based primarily in the Midwestern United States, was composed of 31 sto ...
. The mall is owned by
Washington Prime Group Washington Prime Group Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers. The company is organized in Indiana with its headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. From January 2015 to September 2016, the company had the name WP ...
.


History

Grand Central Mall opened in 1972 as the only enclosed mall within the Mid-Ohio Valley region. At the time, the mall included The Diamond (a branch of the
Associated Dry Goods Associated Dry Goods Corporation (ADG) was a chain of department stores that merged with May Department Stores in 1986. It was founded in 1916 as an association of independent stores called American Dry Goods, based in New York City. History ...
chain),
JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC , Trade name, doing business as JCPenney (colloquially Penney's and abbreviated JCP) is an American department store chain store, chain with 649 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. It is managed as part of the Catalys ...
,
Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...
, and a
G.C. Murphy G.C. Murphy was a chain of five and dime or variety stores in the United States from 1906 to 2002. They also operated Murphy's Mart (full-scale discount stores), Bargain World (closeout merchandise), Terry & Ferris and Bruners (junior department ...
dime store among its anchors. The Diamond closed in 1983 and was later converted to
Stone & Thomas Stone & Thomas was a United States chain of department stores. Based in Wheeling, West Virginia, the chain had stores located in West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. The company was bought out in 1998 by Elder-Beerman, an Ohio-based chain ...
, which in turn became
Elder-Beerman The Elder-Beerman Stores Corp., commonly known as Elder-Beerman, was an American chain of department stores founded in 1883 and whose last stores closed in 2018. The chain, based primarily in the Midwestern United States, was composed of 31 sto ...
after the Stone & Thomas chain was acquired in 1998.
Phar-Mor Phar-Mor (stylized as ) was a United States chain of discount drug stores, based in Youngstown, Ohio, and founded by Michael I. Monus, Michael "Mickey" Monus and David Shapira in 1982. Some of its stores used the names Pharmhouse and Rx Place ( ...
, a discount pharmacy chain, was later added to the mall. Glimcher Realty Trust acquired the mall in 1993. Three years later, the company invested in an $8 million expansion, which brought a food court and a new movie theater. Phase 2 of the expansion comprised a
Proffitt's Proffitt's was a department store chain based in Alcoa, Tennessee. The chain was founded in 1919 by David W. Proffitt and James Ellis. In 2006, the Proffitt's and McRae's stores were converted into Belk after Belk had acquired the two chains in ...
(now
Belk Belk, Inc. is an American department store chain founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, North Carolina, with nearly 300 locations in 16 states. Belk stores and Belk.com offer apparel, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, a ...
) anchor store, which was also added to Glimcher's Morgantown Mall in
Morgantown, West Virginia Morgantown is a city in Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Monongahela River in North Central West Virginia and is the home of West Virginia University. The population was 30,347 at the 2 ...
the same year. These two stores were the first Proffitt's stores in West Virginia. Phar-Mor closed in 2002 and eventually became
Steve & Barry's Steve & Barry's was an American retail clothing chain, featuring casual clothing, footwear and accessories. Headquartered in Port Washington, New York, the chain operated 276 stores in 39 states before liquidating throughout 2008 and 2009. The ...
. Steve & Barry's, a former anchor store, closed in September 2008. The space is now occupied by
Dunham's Sports Dunham's Sports is an American sporting goods retail chain owned by Dunham's Athleisure Corporation, with stores located in the Midwestern to Southeastern United States. The chain specializes in athletic equipment, clothing, firearms, and oth ...
. In November 2002, Toys R Us, Olive Garden, Long John Silver’s and Outback Steakhouse opened outside the mall. In 2016, Long John Silver’s was replaced with Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen. In 2019, Toys R Us was replaced with Big Lots. On March 1, 2022, Ruby Tuesday was replaced with Longhorn Steakhouse. On November 28, 2017, it was announced that Elder-Beerman would be closing on January 31, 2018. A 20,000 square foot portion of the store will be converted to the first H&M store in West Virginia. On September 18, 2018, Sears announced that its store would be closing as part of a plan to close 12 stores nationwide. The store closed in December 2018. On March 11, 2021, two of the four new tenants to be built on the former Sears property,
TJ Maxx TJ Maxx (stylized as T•J•maxx) is an American discount department store chain. It has more than 1,000 stores in the United States, making it one of the largest clothing retailers in the country. TJ Maxx is the flagship chain of the TJX Comp ...
and
HomeGoods HomeGoods is a chain of home furnishing stores headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Midd ...
, opened their doors. The third tenant,
PetSmart PetSmart Inc. is a privately held American chain of pet Big-box store, superstores, which sell pet products, services, and small pets. It is the leading North American pet company, and its direct competitor is Petco. Its indirect competitors ...
, opened on March 27, 2021. The final new tenant,
Ross Dress for Less Ross Stores, Inc., operating under the brand name Ross Dress for Less, is an American chain of discount department stores headquartered in Dublin, California. It is the largest off-price retailer in the U.S.; as of July 2024, Ross operates 1,795 ...
, opened on July 16, 2021. On June 17, 2023, Belk downgraded its full-line store into an outlet store.


References


External links


Grand Central Mall
— official site {{Shopping malls in West Virginia Shopping malls in West Virginia Buildings and structures in Wood County, West Virginia Shopping malls established in 1972 1972 establishments in West Virginia Washington Prime Group Tourist attractions in Wood County, West Virginia Vienna, West Virginia