Four Seasons Town Centre
Encyclopedia
Four Seasons Town Centre is a three-story shopping mall
in Greensboro, North Carolina
. Opened in 1974, it was the first enclosed shopping center in Greensboro. Currently it is anchored by Belk
, Dillard's
and J. C. Penney
and it is the only indoor shopping mall within Greensboro's city limits; however, nearby Friendly Center
, an outdoor shopping plaza, has many of the same tenants. Four Seasons today is managed by General Growth Properties
. The shopping mall is located at the I-40
interchange with High Point Road, southwest of downtown.
and US 29-A/US 70-A (modern day High Point Road), was earmarked as the location for the signature development of Imperial Construction, the predecessor company to Koury Corporation, which was also owned and operated by Koury.
The first development on the site, a Holiday Inn
hotel, opened in 1970. The mall eventually followed, with two levels and 900,000 square feet (84,000 m²), opening in stages between 1974 and 1975. The mall was designed for expansion, with the main mall building featuring both a third floor and basement level, both of which would eventually be used for retail space in the mall's future.
Originally known as Four Seasons Mall, it featured Belk
, J. C. Penney
, and Meyer's, a Greensboro-based department store owned by Allied Stores
, as primary anchors. Thalhimer's
, Miller & Rhoads
, McCrory's, and Frankenbergers were secondary anchors. There were also large Eckerd Drugs and Winn-Dixie stores at Four Seasons, as well as a Piccadilly Cafeteria and a four-screen General Cinema.
Meyer's was soon replaced by Jordan Marsh
, another Allied Stores nameplate, and that space was sold to Ivey's
by 1980. Frankenbergers closed shortly afterward, followed by Miller & Rhoads a couple of years later. The Frankenbergers and Miller & Rhoads spaces were turned into small shop space and their exterior entrances became mall entrances. JCPenney discontinued its auto service operation at Four Seasons in 1983, and the freestanding building that housed it was razed a few years later.
In 1987, Four Seasons Mall completed its third story expansion, giving the mall over 1 million square feet (93,000 m²) 200 stores, and a large new food court. It also assumed its current name at that time, along with a new, more contemporary logo.
Ivey's was acquired by Dillard's
in 1990, just after a major renovation to its store that connected it to the mall's new third level, and Thalhimers was sold to the The May Department Stores Co.
later that same year. Belk also expanded and renovated its store, adding a third shopping level and over 50000 square feet (4,645.2 m²) of selling space.
When the Thalhimers nameplate was discontinued in 1992, the Four Seasons store closed because it was too small, at 30000 square feet (2,787.1 m²), to carry a full line of department store merchandise. It was scheduled to be replaced with a Hecht's
store, but May instead decided to expand its Friendly Center
Hecht's and build a freestanding Hecht's three miles (5 km) west of Four Seasons at Interstate 40 and Wendover Avenue.
In the late 1990s, Four Seasons Town Centre further renovated its interior with a dramatic redesign by Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates
. This renovation added a large fountain and amphitheater to the mall's center court. A number of permanent vendor spaces and kiosks were added to the mall's large corridors, as well as living room-like soft seating areas.
In 2002, Dillard's expanded its store by 80000 square feet (7,432.2 m²) and underwent a total renovation. Additionally, all exterior public mall entrances were redesigned over a period of three years following the Dillard's renovation.
In the early 2000s, the closure and demolition of Carolina Circle Mall
left Four Seasons as the only enclosed shopping mall in Greensboro.
On December 23, 2006, a shopper was shot just outside of Baby Gap on the second floor of the mall. Due to the large holiday crowd, the event was reported extensively. The incident marked the second shooting at the mall in little more than a month; a man was killed on November 21, 2006, when he was shot in the parking lot outside the mall's J.C. Penney store.
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
in Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...
. Opened in 1974, it was the first enclosed shopping center in Greensboro. Currently it is anchored by Belk
Belk
Belk is a department store chain founded in 1888 in Monroe, North Carolina, today part of the Charlotte metropolitan area. After the founding of the first Belk store, the company grew in size and influence throughout the South via the chain in the USA, with its stores primarily located in the...
, Dillard's
Dillard's
Dillard's, Inc. is a department store chain in the United States, with 330 stores in 29 states. Headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, Dillard's locations are concentrated in Texas and Florida; with a major presence in other states including Arizona, Iowa, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Missouri,...
and J. C. Penney
J. C. Penney
-External links:*...
and it is the only indoor shopping mall within Greensboro's city limits; however, nearby Friendly Center
Friendly Center
Friendly Center is a large, open-air shopping center located in northwestern Greensboro, North Carolina, at the intersection of Wendover Avenue and Friendly Avenue. The shopping center opened in August 1957. With its unusual sector design, Friendly Center is essentially an outdoor lifestyle center....
, an outdoor shopping plaza, has many of the same tenants. Four Seasons today is managed by General Growth Properties
General Growth Properties
General Growth Properties, Inc. is a publicly traded real estate investment trust in the United States. It is based in Chicago, Illinois at 110 North Wacker Drive, a historic building designed by architectural firm Graham, Anderson, Probst & White...
. The shopping mall is located at the I-40
Interstate 40 in North Carolina
Interstate 40 runs through the state of North Carolina from the Tennessee state line in the west to its eastern terminus in Wilmington.-Pigeon River Gorge:...
interchange with High Point Road, southwest of downtown.
History
Assembly of the land that would eventually become the site of Four Seasons Mall began in late 1958, when Joseph S. Koury, a local developer, began purchasing land south of downtown Greensboro with the intent of developing new suburban housing and shopping centers. The Four Seasons site, at the new intersection of Interstate 40Interstate 40
Interstate 40 is the third-longest major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90 and I-80. Its western end is at Interstate 15 in Barstow, California; its eastern end is at a concurrency of U.S. Route 117 and North Carolina Highway 132 in Wilmington, North Carolina...
and US 29-A/US 70-A (modern day High Point Road), was earmarked as the location for the signature development of Imperial Construction, the predecessor company to Koury Corporation, which was also owned and operated by Koury.
The first development on the site, a Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn is a brand of hotels, formally a economy motel chain, forming part of the British InterContinental Hotels Group . It is one of the world's largest hotel chains with 238,440 bedrooms and 1,301 hotels globally. There are currently 5 hotels in the pipeline...
hotel, opened in 1970. The mall eventually followed, with two levels and 900,000 square feet (84,000 m²), opening in stages between 1974 and 1975. The mall was designed for expansion, with the main mall building featuring both a third floor and basement level, both of which would eventually be used for retail space in the mall's future.
Originally known as Four Seasons Mall, it featured Belk
Belk
Belk is a department store chain founded in 1888 in Monroe, North Carolina, today part of the Charlotte metropolitan area. After the founding of the first Belk store, the company grew in size and influence throughout the South via the chain in the USA, with its stores primarily located in the...
, J. C. Penney
J. C. Penney
-External links:*...
, and Meyer's, a Greensboro-based department store owned by Allied Stores
Allied Stores
Allied Stores was a department store chain in the United States. It was founded in the 1930s as part of a general consolidation in the retail sector by B. E. Puckett. See also Associated Dry Goods. It was the successor to Hahn's Department Stores, a holding company founded in 1928...
, as primary anchors. Thalhimer's
Thalhimer's
Thalhimers was a department store in the Southern United States. Based in Richmond, Virginia, the venerable chain at its peak operated dozens of stores in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and one store in Memphis, Tennessee....
, Miller & Rhoads
Miller & Rhoads
Miller & Rhoads was a Virginia-based department store chain. Throughout its 105 year life-span, the store played an active role in the Richmond community, along with its friendly cross-street rival Thalhimers.- Origins :...
, McCrory's, and Frankenbergers were secondary anchors. There were also large Eckerd Drugs and Winn-Dixie stores at Four Seasons, as well as a Piccadilly Cafeteria and a four-screen General Cinema.
Meyer's was soon replaced by Jordan Marsh
Jordan Marsh
Jordan Marsh & Company was a department store in Boston, Massachusetts, which grew to be a major regional chain in the New England area of the United States. In 1996, the last of the Jordan Marsh stores were converted to Macy's. The store was formerly part of Allied Stores and then Federated...
, another Allied Stores nameplate, and that space was sold to Ivey's
Ivey's
Ivey's , a former department store chain, was acquired by Dillard's, Inc. in 1990. Ivey's was based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was founded in 1900 by Joseph Benjamin Ivey.-History:...
by 1980. Frankenbergers closed shortly afterward, followed by Miller & Rhoads a couple of years later. The Frankenbergers and Miller & Rhoads spaces were turned into small shop space and their exterior entrances became mall entrances. JCPenney discontinued its auto service operation at Four Seasons in 1983, and the freestanding building that housed it was razed a few years later.
In 1987, Four Seasons Mall completed its third story expansion, giving the mall over 1 million square feet (93,000 m²) 200 stores, and a large new food court. It also assumed its current name at that time, along with a new, more contemporary logo.
Ivey's was acquired by Dillard's
Dillard's
Dillard's, Inc. is a department store chain in the United States, with 330 stores in 29 states. Headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, Dillard's locations are concentrated in Texas and Florida; with a major presence in other states including Arizona, Iowa, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Missouri,...
in 1990, just after a major renovation to its store that connected it to the mall's new third level, and Thalhimers was sold to the The May Department Stores Co.
May Department Stores
The May Department Stores Company was a national department store chain in the United States, founded in 1877 by David May. The company ceased to exist in 2005 when it was merged with Federated Department Stores, Inc . Prior to the merger it was headquartered in Downtown St. Louis, Missouri...
later that same year. Belk also expanded and renovated its store, adding a third shopping level and over 50000 square feet (4,645.2 m²) of selling space.
When the Thalhimers nameplate was discontinued in 1992, the Four Seasons store closed because it was too small, at 30000 square feet (2,787.1 m²), to carry a full line of department store merchandise. It was scheduled to be replaced with a Hecht's
Hecht's
Hecht's, also known as Hecht Brothers, Hecht Bros. and the Hecht Company, was a large chain of department stores located mainly in the mid-Atlantic and southern region of the United States....
store, but May instead decided to expand its Friendly Center
Friendly Center
Friendly Center is a large, open-air shopping center located in northwestern Greensboro, North Carolina, at the intersection of Wendover Avenue and Friendly Avenue. The shopping center opened in August 1957. With its unusual sector design, Friendly Center is essentially an outdoor lifestyle center....
Hecht's and build a freestanding Hecht's three miles (5 km) west of Four Seasons at Interstate 40 and Wendover Avenue.
In the late 1990s, Four Seasons Town Centre further renovated its interior with a dramatic redesign by Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates
Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates
tvsdesign, formerly known as Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates or TVS, is an international architecture and interior design firm in the areas of planning, architecture, interior design and sustainable design...
. This renovation added a large fountain and amphitheater to the mall's center court. A number of permanent vendor spaces and kiosks were added to the mall's large corridors, as well as living room-like soft seating areas.
In 2002, Dillard's expanded its store by 80000 square feet (7,432.2 m²) and underwent a total renovation. Additionally, all exterior public mall entrances were redesigned over a period of three years following the Dillard's renovation.
In the early 2000s, the closure and demolition of Carolina Circle Mall
Carolina Circle Mall
Carolina Circle Mall was a shopping mall in the northeast section of Greensboro, North Carolina on US 29 and Cone Boulevard, where The Shoppes at Pyramids Village are now....
left Four Seasons as the only enclosed shopping mall in Greensboro.
On December 23, 2006, a shopper was shot just outside of Baby Gap on the second floor of the mall. Due to the large holiday crowd, the event was reported extensively. The incident marked the second shooting at the mall in little more than a month; a man was killed on November 21, 2006, when he was shot in the parking lot outside the mall's J.C. Penney store.
Anchors
- BelkBelkBelk is a department store chain founded in 1888 in Monroe, North Carolina, today part of the Charlotte metropolitan area. After the founding of the first Belk store, the company grew in size and influence throughout the South via the chain in the USA, with its stores primarily located in the...
- 211994 square feet (19,695 m²), three levels. (originally 160000 square feet (14,864.5 m²), two levels.) Interior renovated and expanded to add third shopping level in 1990. Exterior entrances and parts of interior renovated in 2005. The third level was sealed off in 2009 as a result in decline in sales. - Dillard'sDillard'sDillard's, Inc. is a department store chain in the United States, with 330 stores in 29 states. Headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, Dillard's locations are concentrated in Texas and Florida; with a major presence in other states including Arizona, Iowa, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Missouri,...
- 212047 square feet (19,700 m²), three levels. (originally 140000 square feet (13,006.4 m²), two levels.) Interior renovated and store space reconfigured to add third shopping level in 1989. Complete expansion and renovation in 2002 - J. C. PenneyJ. C. Penney-External links:*...
- 217975 square feet (20,251 m²), two levels, third level unoccupied. Interior renovated in 1983 and 1998. Exterior entrances renovated in 2003.