PlazAmericas, formerly known as Sharpstown Mall and earlier Sharpstown Center, is a shopping mall located in the Sharpstown development in Greater Sharpstown,

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. The mall is located on the northwest corner of

Interstate 69 Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of eight unconnected segments. The longest segment runs from Evansville, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, and includ ...

/ U.S. Route 59 and Bellaire Boulevard. This is the third mall to be built in Houston after Gulfgate Mall opened in 1956 and Meyerland Plaza in 1957, but the first fully air-conditioned mall in Houston. The area includes the Jewelry Exchange Center, a ten-story building. After the mall was renamed PlazAmericas, it took a

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

n theme and catered to

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

s. The anchor stores are Burlington, SuperNova Furniture, America Cinemas, La Sorella, Gold Factory & Imports, and Clarewood Supermercado. It was built in Sharpstown Industrial Park Section 12.

History

Beginnings and prime years (1961–1990s)

The mall opened as ''Sharpstown Center'', on September 14, 1961, mere days after

Hurricane Carla Hurricane Carla was the most intense tropical cyclone landfall in Texas in the 20th century. The third named storm of the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season, Carla developed from an area of squall, squally weather in the southwestern Caribbean Sea ...

affected Houston, with future United States Senator

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts who served as a member of the United States Senate from 1962 to his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic Party and ...

appearing during the opening ceremony as the main speaker.Gonzales, J.R.
Sharpstown Shopping Center: 50 years later
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

''. September 14, 2011. Retrieved on September 14, 2011.Bivins, Ralph.
The fall of a mall / Sharpstown Center seized in foreclosure
" ''

''. Thursday February 8, 2001. Retrieved on September 14, 2011. A 1970 ''

'' article stated that Frank Sharp decided not to delay the opening; therefore the morale of Houstonians would be increased. Not surprisingly, the first day of business brought only 8,000 shoppers (a number that was affected by the hurricane). At the time of its opening, the mall consisted of 43 stores on one level including the first suburban branch of the Houston-based

Foley's Foley's was a regional chain of department stores owned by Federated Department Stores (1947–1988, 2005–2006), later owned by May Department Stores (1988–2005) and headquartered in Downtown Houston, Texas. On August 30, 2005, the divisi ...

department store chain, as well as the first suburban locations of Houston Trunk Factory, Battelstein's and Florsheim Shoes. In addition to Foley's,

Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a mail-order business and later a department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001; its common nickname was "Monkey Wards". ...

also opened as an anchor, along with the Sharpstown State Bank—later shuttered in the wake of the Sharpstown scandal which significantly involved Sharpstown developer Frank Sharp and many members of the Texas Legislature. The former bank building would later become home to the Jewelry Exchange Center, with three "motor bank" drive-throughs in the middle of the front parking lot as the only present-day reminder of the former bank. Early on, transportation concerns became a threat to the mall's success, and consequently Frank Sharp decided to donate a 300 ft (91 m) wide strip of land to build the Southwest Freeway (

/ U.S. Route 59) through his development. Because it was Houston's first air conditioned mall—a luxury given Houston's historically unpredictable weather, many Houston residents residing in the central part of the city wanted to experience the "mall of the future", hence the traffic concerns. Another unique aspect of the mall within its corridors was the Clock of Texas

diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional model either full-sized or miniature. Sometimes dioramas are enclosed in a glass showcase at a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies like mili ...

, an animated look at the history of Texas through the centuries. Sharp would also place a time capsule in the cornerstone of the mall.Hegstrom, Edward.
Area's diversity represented
. ''Houston Chronicle''. Section A, Page 22, 3 STAR Edition. December 22, 2003. Retrieved July 24, 2011. When Sharpstown Center opened, it was located on the edge of Houston's southwest suburbs. As the Houston area grew rapidly over the next three decades, with Houston itself becoming the nation's fourth-largest city, numerous other developments throughout southwest Houston began to emerge. These developments included countless new apartment complexes home to young professionals in Houston's energy industry, residential developments as far south as Missouri City, the construction of Houston Baptist University, Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital, numerous car dealerships, and a new studio complex for the city's NBC television affiliate,

KPRC-TV KPRC-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Graham Media Group. Its studios are located on Southwest Freeway (I-69/ US 59) in the Southwest Management District (formerly Greate ...

and its sister radio station

KPRC-AM KPRC () is a commercial radio station in Houston, Texas. It has a talk radio radio format, format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. KPRC broadcasts mostly conservative talk radio shows and is the home base for the radio syndication, nationally s ...

. By 1970, Sharpstown Center had 57 stores and was fully leased. The 1970s also saw the opening of

The Galleria The Galleria, stylized theGalleria and also known as the Houston Galleria, is an upscale mixed-use urban development and shopping mall located in the Uptown District of Houston, Texas, United States.Westwood Mall, which became Sharpstown's two strongest competitors over the next two decades. While the Galleria was unique in its strong focus on upscale retailers such as

Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus is an American department store chain founded in 1907 in Dallas, Texas by Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman, and her husband Abraham Lincoln Neiman. It has been owned by Saks Global, a Corporate spin-off, spin-o ...

, Westwood was a more direct competitor to Sharpstown with anchor stores Joske's and

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 ...

, which complemented Sharpstown's aforementioned anchors, and a closer location to rapidly growing Fort Bend County, home to a growing base of upper-middle class suburban shoppers. Beginning in 1979, construction of a second floor began (effectively doubling the mall's store count to over 200) and the mall was extensively renovated from its original 1950s appearance to better compete with Westwood Mall and the Galleria. The 15-month project concluded in May 1980 when the second floor opened to the public. Also during this time, a third anchor in

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 ...

was added as well as a food court in the former Battelstein's department store. The mall was also re-branded as ''Sharpstown Mall'', and would be referred to as such until reverting to the original name in 1993. By February 1989, Sharpstown Mall was 97% occupied, making it the mall with the highest percentage of occupied space in the Houston area. In 1993, the mall underwent a $50 million renovation, with the largest addition being a new ten-screen

Cineplex Odeon Cineplex Odeon is a theatre brand owned by Cineplex Entertainment in Canada, after acquiring the Cineplex Odeon Corporation in 1998. As of 2023, there are 61 Cineplex Odeon locations in Canada. The former corporation was one of North America's ...

movie theater. The renovations effectively deterred Foley's from leaving for nearby Westwood Mall, which prior to the renovation was courting the department store as a third anchor following its own renovation in 1988. During this time, Sharpstown Mall also had to compete with West Oaks Mall for customers out of Fort Bend County.

Decline (1990s–2000s)

Ralph Bivins and Greg Hassell of the ''

'' said that the mall's decline began in the late 1980s. The mall's decline began as many of the nearby apartment complexes, once dominated by young professionals and single adults, became notorious as residential arrangements for low-income dwellers, which in turn resulted in an increase in criminal activity. This was accelerated by the

1980s oil glut The 1980s oil glut was a significant surplus of crude oil caused by falling demand following the 1970s energy crisis. The world price of oil had peaked in 1980 at over US$35 per barrel (equivalent to $ per barrel in dollars, when adjusted f ...

which affected Houston's economy. Sam Wisialowski, president of the Y'alls Texas Store chain, stated that sales were declining annually by about 25 to 30 percent at its Sharpstown store when the chain decided to close said store in 1990. While Sharpstown managed to gain back some shoppers after the addition of the Cineplex Odeon movie theater, Sharpstown would suffer its most significant blow within the decade. In 1996, First Colony Mall opened in the suburb of

Sugar Land Sugar Land (sometimes incorrectly spelled as Sugarland) is the largest city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, located in the southwestern part of the metropolitan area. Located about southwest of downtown Houston, Sugar Land is a po ...

, which resulted in Sharpstown losing many of its national retailers and a core customer base in Fort Bend County that had long been critical to the mall's survival. Tom Estus, a shopping center broker of the Shelby/Estus Realty Group, said "It's a classic case of being passed up by newer, better malls. First Colony clipped it the hardest. The other places were more exciting to shop in. They were new. They were easier to get in and get out of." First Colony would also eventually seal the fate of Westwood Mall, which closed in 1998 and converted to a technology-focused office center, and eventually would impact West Oaks Mall as well. Finally, Sharpstown also had to compete with a redeveloped Meyerland Plaza, whose remodeled JCPenney location would serve as an anchor for the reborn shopping center. The aforementioned crime issues also continued to take their toll on Sharpstown Center, as the crime rate in the area surrounding the mall increased in the late 1990s and early 2000s due to

white flight The white flight, also known as white exodus, is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the Racism ...

and

urban decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban decay. ...

. Consequently, customers even within the surrounding area were deterred, and major retailers who desired a low crime,

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...

, and wealthy area for profitable support began to leave. Oshman's Sporting Goods closed its store in 1997, around the same time it opened a store in the nearby suburb of

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

to serve the Sugar Land area that once frequented Sharpstown for retail business. In 1998, JCPenney would close its store at Sharpstown, having lost much of its clientele to its First Colony store, with much of its remaining business going to its Meyerland Plaza store. In addition to the loss of businesses and customers to the Sugar Land area, further compounded by many big box retailers opening new locations in and around said area, such aforementioned big box stores as well as discounters including

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

and

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...

have grown on the loyalties of customers who used to frequent shopping malls.

Online shopping Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of th ...

began and started to take away from mall shoppers as well. Shopping center developer Ed Wulfe, whose Wulfe & Co. redeveloped Meyerland Plaza as well as Gulfgate Mall, said that the loss of the major tenants negatively affected Sharpstown Center. As 2000 dawned, a New York investment group named Sharpstown Center Associates owned the mall. By 2001, the mall was seized in a foreclosure, and Travelers Insurance took ownership of the mall, whose JCPenney anchor space remained vacant when it was announced that

would close all its locations, including the Sharpstown store, as part of its liquidation process. The loss of Montgomery Ward would leave Foley's as the mall's only remaining anchor tenant, if not the only remaining original tenant from the mall's 1961 opening.

Burlington Coat Factory Burlington, formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory, is an American national off-price department store retailer, and a division of Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation with more than 1,100 stores in 47 states and Puerto Rico, with it ...

would move from an adjacent shopping center to fill the former Montgomery Ward space. In 2006 the ''

Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown Houston, Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely ...

'' alternative weekly newspaper awarded Sharpstown Center "Best Hip-hop Mall," and Sharpstown began to bill itself as "Houston's Premiere Urban Mall" on its website. By May 2007, Sharpstown was nearly 75% occupied, mostly local tenants which now dominated the mall's retail base. Further cementing its status amongst its newfound "urban" clientele, on October 20, 2007, local

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

radio station KPTY, owned by

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...

(whose studio complex is located near the Galleria), opened a broadcast studio called Studio 104.9 where the station broadcast on a regular basis. On December 28, 2007, Macy's announced that it would close its location in Sharpstown, the last remaining original anchor from the mall's 1961 opening. After the conclusion of its liquidation sale on March 15, 2008, employees were moved to other Macy's stores. Mere days after the Macy's announcement, on January 9, 2008, Finger Furniture announced that it would also be closing its Sharpstown location. By January 11, 2008, Sharpstown was operating under

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

bankruptcy protection and was up for sale. The then owner of the mall, Urban Mall Houston, was over $53 million in debt.

Renaming to PlazAmericas (2010–present)

In 2009, with the mall under the ownership of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

-based RAIT Financial Trust, the manager of the mall's interior core, Boxer Property, announced that the mall would be renamed "PlazAmericas." Chris Chumley, a spokesperson for PlazAmericas, stated that "Anybody who knows the back story to the mall knows that it's been distressed for a number of years." Chumley also stated that the mall would cater to the Hispanic population (which now constituted 52% of the population of the mall's three-mile trade area), would undergo a $10 million renovation to boost its appeal to Hispanic shoppers, and would have 350 stores by the time renovations were completed.Quinn, Kevin.
Changes underway for once-popular local mall
." ''

KTRK-TV KTRK-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States. It is owned and operated by the ABC network via its ABC Owned Television Stations division, and maintains studio facilities on Bissonnet Street in Houston's Upper ...

''. Tuesday January 12, 2010. Retrieved on January 23, 2010. The property would include an "mercado" (marketplace) that would have many smaller businesses, a large family lounge, live entertainment stages, and a children's play area.Sharpstown Center to be PlazAmericas
" ''

Houston Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes ''The Business Journals'', which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States with each market ...

''. Monday December 21, 2009. Retrieved on January 10, 2010. The redevelopment into PlazAmericas was expected to create 500 jobs. Signs indicating the renaming appeared by January 29, 2010. But on December 21, 2018, Houston-based Baker Katz LLC, would purchase the main portion of the mall, as the anchors have different owners.

Current Status of Anchor Sites

''(181,477 square feet, opened in former

2002)'' *"Latino City Jewelry Market" (177,229 square feet, first opened as

in 1981. Closed 1998, and reopened in 2010 as a marketplace, with shops, grocery store, laundromat as Clarewood Mercado, was renamed around 2016.) *''Vacant'' (360,846 square feet, opened as

in 1961, became

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 ...

2006, closed March 15, 2008)Macy's, Inc. to Close Nine Stores
" ''

Yahoo! Yahoo (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web portal that provides the search engine Yahoo Search and related services including My Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, y!entertainment, yahoo!life, and its a ...

''Mall to lose Finger store
" ''

'', January 9, 2008 Image:Sharpstown Bank.jpg, The remains of the bank are three drive-throughs in the middle of the front parking lot that are still standing to this day. Image:Jewerly Exchange Center.jpg, Jewelry Exchange Center

References

External links

*
Sharpstown Mall
official website (Archive) *Trevino, Ron.

" ''

KHOU-TV KHOU (channel 11) is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Conroe-licensed Quest station KTBU (channel 55). The two stations share studios on Westheimer Road near ...

''. Saturday March 13, 2010.
Sharpstown Center to be PlazAmericas
" ''

''. Monday December 21, 2009.
PlazAmericas
(project page) The Gelaspi Company.
Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plazamericas Shopping malls in Houston Shopping malls established in 1961 1961 establishments in Texas