Three Rivers Crossing, formerly known as Three Rivers Mall, is an enclosed

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 ...

located in

Kelso, Washington Kelso is a city in the southwestern part of the State of Washington and is the county seat of Cowlitz County. At the 2020 census, the population was 12,720. Kelso is part of the Longview, Washington Metropolitan statistical area, which has ...

that opened in 1987, on the site of a former golf course adjacent to

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

. Previously owned by

General Growth Properties GGP Inc. (an initialism of General Growth Properties) was an American Commercial property, commercial real estate company and the second-largest shopping mall operator in the United States. It was founded by brothers Martin Bucksbaum, Martin, Ma ...

, the mall was one of 30 malls that was spun off into Rouse Properties in 2012. Rouse was acquired by Brookfield Properties Retail Group in 2016. In July 2019, Brookfield sold the mall to Arizona-based Three Rivers Village, LLC. In November, 2024, the mall was sold to a new ownership group known as Three Rivers Development Group. The mall has three anchors:

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 ...

, Sportsman's Warehouse, and

Regal Cinemas Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain that operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with 5,720 screens in 420 theaters as of December 31, 2024. Founded on August 10, 1989, it ...

. Its original main anchors were The Bon Marche (which 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 ...

; closed 2017),

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 ...

(closed 2013), and Emporium (closed 2001). The Kelso Public Library moved its main branch to the mall in 2011. The mall also has several freestanding businesses:

Safeway Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops, and veh ...

(originally TOP Food & Drug),

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 ...

(opened 1990), and

Pier 1 Imports Pier 1 Imports, Inc., is an online retailer and former Fort Worth, Texas-based retail chain specializing in imported home furnishings and decor, particularly furniture, table-top items, decorative accessories, and seasonal decor. It was Public ...

(which closed in 2020 along with the rest of the chain). There are also several freestanding restaurants: Red Lobster, Panera Bread, and Fiesta Bonita Mexican Restaurant. The former Izzy's Pizza has reopened as an Asian Buffet restaurant.

operated a freestanding theater until January 2015, when it relocated into the main mall.

History

While the mall opened to great fanfare in 1987, bringing a variety of new stores to the area, as well as the relocation of

, and The Bon Marche from nearby downtown

Longview, Washington Longview is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, Cowlitz County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. It is the principal city of the Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cowlitz County. Longvie ...

, the mall began to struggle in the early 2000s, starting with the closure of the Emporium chain. A few tenants, such as a used car showroom, a seasonal Halloween store, and a church, occupied the former Emporium for brief periods of time until 2014. The decline in foot traffic prompted many smaller retailers to close, and some chains present in the mall such as

Radio Shack RadioShack (formerly written as Radio Shack) is an American electronics retailer that was established in 1921 as an amateur radio mail-order business. Its parent company was purchased by Tandy Corporation in 1962, which shifted its focus from ma ...

, Sam Goody, and

KB Toys K·B Toys (also known as Kay Bee Toys) was an American chain of mall-based retail toy stores. The company was founded in 1922 as Kaufman Brothers, a wholesale candy store. The company opened a wholesale toy store in 1946, and ended its candy wh ...

, were also closed as those chains struggled. The food court also dwindled down to a couple of local tenants. Sears announced late in 2012 that they would close their store in the mall in January 2013, which further reduced foot traffic. Among the businesses that left after Sears closed were Big 5 Sporting Goods, Fred Meyer Jewelers, and Mr. Formal. Chuck E. Cheese's also closed their location inside the mall on April 7, 2014.

announced in January 2017 that the Kelso location is one of 68 stores that would be closing. The store closed in March 2017. As of February 2018, there were no tenants open in the food court, and the food court remained vacant until March 2020. Sportsman's Warehouse opened in the former Emporium store in July 2014. The former Sears store has been demolished, and

has constructed a new theater on the former Sears site, which replaced the mall's freestanding theater, as well as the Triangle Cinemas in nearby Longview. The new theater opened in January 2015. The mall's management announced in September 2014 that Planet Fitness will be moving into the former Chuck E. Cheese's site with additional space. Planet Fitness held its grand opening in January 2015. Panera Bread built a new, freestanding location which opened in December 2017. A local business called The Coffee Court opened in the mall's food court in March 2020. This is the first food court tenant in over two years. The mall was purchased by two local businessmen for $20 million in November 2024 and was later renamed to Three Rivers Crossing. The new ownership group plans to renovate the food court and build additional restaurants around the perimeter of the parking lot.

List of anchor stores

In popular culture

An episode of the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

show '' Food Court Wars'' was filmed in the mall. The episode titled "Gaufre Gourmet vs. Pressed" originally aired on March 30, 2014. The winner of the contest received one year of free rent in the food court, and Gaufre Gourmet opened for business in April 2014. However, citing a lack of foot traffic, Gaufre Gourmet closed in September 2014, and the owners have since opened a restaurant in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

References

External links

* {{Shopping Centers WA Shopping malls established in 1987 Shopping malls in Washington (state) Buildings and structures in Cowlitz County, Washington Tourist attractions in Cowlitz County, Washington 1987 establishments in Washington (state)