The Mall in Columbia, also known as the Columbia Mall, is the central

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 ...

for the

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a planned community in Howard County, Maryland, United States, consisting of 10 self-contained villages. With a population of 104,681 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the second-most-populous community in Maryland ...

, United States. It has over 200 specialty stores and the anchor stores are

AMC Theatres AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (doing business as AMC Theatres, originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema; often referred to simply as AMC) is an American movie theater chain founded in Kansas City, Missouri, and now headquartered ...

Lidl Lidl ( ) is a trademark, used by two Germany, German international discount supermarket, discount retailer chain store, chains that operates over 12,600 stores. The ''LD Stiftung'' operates the stores in Germany and the ''Lidl Stiftung & Co. K ...

Main Event Entertainment Main Event Entertainment is an American chain of family entertainment centers. The company was formerly headquartered in Coppell, Texas, before being sold to their former competitor Dave & Buster’s in 2022. Main Event currently operates 58 loca ...

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States. Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...

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 ...

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

, and

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and a seco ...

. Restaurants include

PF Chang's P. F. Chang's China Bistro is an American-based, casual dining restaurant chain founded in 1993 by Paul Fleming and Philip Chiang that serves Asian fusion cuisine. Centerbridge Partners owned and operated Chang's until acquired by the private e ...

Maggiano's Little Italy Maggiano's Little Italy () is an American casual dining restaurant chain specializing in Italian-American cuisine. The company was founded in Chicago's River North neighborhood, at Clark Street and Grand Avenue, in 1991 by Rich Melman's Lettuce ...

and

The Cheesecake Factory The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is an American restaurant company and distributor of cheesecakes based in the United States. It operates 348 full-service restaurants: 215 under the Cheesecake Factory brand, 42 under the North Italia brand, a ...

. It is located in the

Town Center A town centre is the commercial or geographical centre or core area of a town. Town centres are traditionally associated with shopping or retail. They are also the centre of communications with major public transport hubs such as train or bus st ...

area of the city and attracts shoppers from surrounding counties in Maryland.

History

Architect

Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry ( ; ; born February 28, 1929) is a Canadian-American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become attractions. Gehry rose to prominence in th ...

designed

The Rouse Company The Rouse Company was a publicly traded shopping mall and community developer from 1956 until 2004, when GGP Inc., General Growth Properties (GGP) purchased the company. It was founded by Hunter Moss and James Rouse, James W. Rouse in 1939. Begin ...

Columbia exhibit building, and was initially selected to design the neighboring mall centerpiece. Gehry was later rejected by Rouse for lack of experience, and the firm of Cope, Linder, & Walmsley was contracted for the project. The Mall opened in 1971 with two major anchor stores:

Hochschild Kohn's Hochschild Kohn's, also known as Hochschild-Kohn or simply Hochschild's, was a 20th-century American department store chain based in Baltimore, Maryland. It was started in 1897 as a partnership between Max Hochschild, Benno Kohn, and his brother L ...

(which was replaced by

Hecht's Hecht's was an American department store chain founded in 1857 by Samuel Hecht, Jr. It was headquartered in Washington, D.C., and operated in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and Southern United States. The family business was acqui ...

in the mid-1970s) and

Woodward & Lothrop Woodward & Lothrop was a department store chain headquartered in Washington, D.C. that began as the capital's first department store in 1887. Woodies, as it was often nicknamed, maintained stores in the Mid-Atlantic states, Mid-Atlantic United St ...

(a.k.a. Woodies, which closed in late 1995 and was replaced by JCPenney in July 1996), as well as a

McCrory's McCrory Stores or J.G. McCrory's was a chain of five and dime stores in the United States based in York, Pennsylvania. The stores typically sold shoes, clothing, housewares, fabrics, penny candy, toys, cosmetics, and often included a lunch co ...

and

Lerner's New York & Company, Inc. (NY&C) is an e-commerce workwear retailer for women. New York & Company apparel and accessories are sold exclusively through their digital store. From 1918 to 1992, the company was known as Lerner Shops. Its name was then ...

, which were minor anchors. Howard Research and Development was probed shortly after opening for purchasing bulk energy contracts on electricity while charging market rates to tenants. Of the original 102 stores, the only one still in operation at the mall as of July 2024 is GNC. The Mall has undergone several major expansions since its opening, with the Sears wing opening in 1981, along with an expansion of approximately and about 55 specialty stores. In 1997, the Hecht's store (now Macy's) added a third level. The

Lord & Taylor Lord & Taylor was an American department store chain founded in 1826 by Samuel Lord. It had 86 full-line stores in the Northeastern United States at its peak in the 2000s, and 38 locations at the time of its liquidation in 2021. The Lord & Tay ...

wing opened in November 1998 (along with two new parking garages); the Nordstrom wing opened in September 1999. Also at this time, 20 to 30 stores opened in a new wing near Hecht's. The interior was renovated by replacing the floors, lighting, skylights and air conditioning units by the end of 1998. The Mall was sold to General Growth Properties by

in 2004. A

Cheesecake Factory The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is an American restaurant company and distributor of cheesecakes based in the United States. It operates 348 full-service restaurants: 215 under the Cheesecake Factory brand, 42 under the North Italia brand, a ...

restaurant opened on The Mall property near the movie theater in late 2005. The Mall's Hecht's store became Macy's on September 9, 2006. Le10-005

A December 2007 decision by local General Growth Properties managers to abandon The Mall's traditional "

Poinsettia The poinsettia (; ''Euphorbia pulcherrima'') is a commercially important flowering plant species of the diverse spurge family Euphorbiaceae. Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, the poinsettia was first described by Europeans in 1834. It ...

Tree" Christmas display sparked a grassroots movement by several hundred Columbia residents for the return of the display which had come to be viewed as a local tradition. The story was picked up by ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', and the publicity led mall managers to reverse their decision and return the popular display in 2008. Part of what makes the "tree" unique is its watering system and plant specifications. In 2017, the large water fountain within which the "tree" had been installed each year, was replaced with at-grade flooring. In early 2013, construction began on an addition to the outdoor "Plaza at The Mall in Columbia" to replace the

L.L. Bean L.L.Bean is an American privately held retail company that was founded in 1912 by Leon Leonwood Bean. The company, headquartered in Freeport, Maine (where it was founded), specializes in clothing and outdoor recreation equipment. History L.L. ...

store (which closed in May 2013) with additional stores and restaurants. The first phase of the outdoor expansion opened in November 2013. On April 28, 2015, Howard County Police announced an increased presence at village centers and malls following the protests and riots in Baltimore. In May 2018, a

facility opened on the south side of the mall, featuring 22

bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

lanes and over a hundred virtual reality video games. In October 2018, it was also announced the Sears store would shutter as part of an ongoing decision to phase out of their traditional brick-and-mortar format and would become German supermarket chain

. In August 2020, it was announced that Lord & Taylor would shutter its traditional brick and mortar format as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Several potential replacement tenants are reportedly in the midst of early on discussions. By 2023, The Mall in Columbia announced several additions; among them were

Warby Parker Warby Parker Inc. is an American eyewear brand and retailer of prescription glasses, contact lenses, and sunglasses, based in New York City. Founded in 2010, it was initially an online-only retailer. It now receives (about two-thirds) of its r ...

Under Armour Under Armour, Inc. is an American sportswear company that manufactures footwear and clothing, apparel headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. History 20th century Under Armour was founded on September 25, 1996, by Kevin Plank, a ...

, and Showcase.

Key dates

*1971: The Mall in Columbia opens in August. *1981: A new wing that includes a food court and Sears is added. *1998: Lord & Taylor opens along with two new parking garages. *1999: A new wing that includes 40 stores, a third parking garage, and Nordstrom is added. *2000: L.L. Bean opens outside of the mall. It is only the third retail location for the Maine-based outdoors catalog company. *2001:

PF Chang's China Bistro P. F. Chang's China Bistro is an American-based, casual dining restaurant chain founded in 1993 by Paul Fleming and Philip Chiang that serves Asian fusion cuisine. Centerbridge Partners owned and operated Chang's until acquired by the private e ...

, Z'Tejas (replaced by

Uno Chicago Grill Uno Pizzeria & Grill (formerly Pizzeria Uno and Uno Chicago Grill), or more informally as Uno’s, is a United States-origin franchised pizzeria restaurant chain under the parent company Uno Restaurant Holdings Corporation. Uno Pizzeria and Gril ...

in 2004), and Champps Restaurant & Bar open in the Plaza at The Mall in Columbia. *2003: AMC Theatres opens a 14-screen movie theater next to Champps Restaurant. *2013: L.L. Bean closes and makes way for an expansion of the Mall's outdoor plaza. *2014: outdoor expansion to the mall opens, deemed "The Plaza at The Mall in Columbia". *2017: The center court fountain is removed, and Sears downsizes to the first floor. *2018: Main Event Entertainment facility opens on the south side of the mall on the second floor of the Sears anchor space, and Sears closes. *2019: The food court fountain was drained and filled with plants, and a glass elevator was installed outside of Main Event Entertainment. *2020: Lord & Taylor closes. *2021: Lidl opens in the remaining Sears anchor space.

Current anchors

*JCPenney (since 1996) *Nordstrom (since 1999) *AMC Theatres (since 2003) *Macy's (since 2006) *Main Event Entertainment (since 2018) *Lidl (since 2021)

Former anchors

*Woodward & Lothrop (1971–1995, now JCPenney) *Hochschild-Kohn (1971–1974) *Hecht's (1975–2006, now Macy's) *Sears (1981–2018) *Lord & Taylor (1998–2020)

Incidents

2014 shooting

On January 25, 2014, at around 11:15 a.m., 19-year-old Darion Marcus Aguilar of

Littleton, Colorado Littleton is a home rule municipality city located in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Stati ...

, who lived in

College Park, Maryland College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located approximately from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. Its population was 34,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the home of the University of Mary ...

at the time, entered the

Zumiez Zumiez Inc. () is an American multinational specialty clothing store founded by Thomas Campion and Gary Haakenson in 1978, and publicly traded since 2005. The company is a specialty retailer of apparel, footwear, accessories and hardgoods for y ...

store on the second floor of the mall, armed with a

Mossberg 500 The Mossberg 500 is a series of pump-action shotguns manufactured by O.F. Mossberg & Sons. The 500 series comprises widely varying models of hammerless repeaters, all of which share the same basic receiver and action, but differ in bore size, ...

12-gauge The gauge (in American English or more commonly referred to as bore in British English) of a firearm is a unit of measurement used to express the inner diameter (bore diameter) and other necessary parameters to define in general a smoothbore barr ...

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, peppergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which discharges numerous small ...

with a pistol grip, and fired six to nine shots, killing two employees—21-year-old Brianna Benlolo and 25-year-old Tyler Johnson—and shot another person before committing suicide. Four others were injured unrelated to the shooting. Police arrived within two minutes to find an extensive amount of ammunition and crude explosive devices next to Aguilar's body, which were disabled safely. All of the injured were treated and later discharged from the

Howard County General Hospital Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center is a 225-bed, not-for-profit health care provider located in Columbia, Maryland. History Prior to the construction of Howard County General, most emergency services were provided outside Howard County. ...

2015 shooting

Former Jessup correctional officer Hong Young was arrested on March 2, 2015, on suspicion of shooting at the Columbia AMC theater building and gunfire incidents at the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

Arundel Mills Arundel Mills is a shopping mall located in unincorporated Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States (with a Hanover mailing address). It is 59.3% owned by Simon Property Group, who manages the mall. With its GLA, it is the largest mall ...

Costco, Inter-county Connector and

Laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

Walmart.

2024 shooting

On July 28, 2024, 17-year-old Angelo Little was shot and killed in the mall's food court in what police said was a targeted attack. Some witnesses told of their experiences on X. The suspect was later revealed to be another 17-year-old, and police offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

2025 shooting

On February 22, 2025, shots were fired outside of the mall's

store. Police located two teenaged victims, one of whom was dead when the police arrived, and the other who died days later from his injuries. The shooter was identified the next day as 18-year-old Emmetson Zeah of Columbia and arrested on February 24, 2025. Howard County Chief of Police Gregory Der said it is believed that the shooting was targeted.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mall In Columbia Brookfield Properties Buildings and structures in Columbia, Maryland Shopping malls in Maryland Tourist attractions in Howard County, Maryland Shopping malls established in 1971 1971 establishments in Maryland