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Northgate Mall (Seattle)
Encyclopedia
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 the Northgate
Northgate, Seattle, Washington
Northgate is an informal district of neighborhoods in north urban Seattle, Washington, named for and surrounding Northgate Mall, the first covered mall in the United States....
district of north urban Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
. It is currently anchored by Bed Bath & Beyond
Bed Bath & Beyond
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. was formed in 1971 and today operates a chain of domestic merchandise retail stores across United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. They feature mostly medium-ranged, but also a limited selection of high quality, domestic merchandise: items for the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen,...
, Toys "R" Us, JCPenney, Macy's and Nordstrom
Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. is an upscale department store chain in the United States, founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin. Initially a shoe retailer, the company today also sells clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances, and in some locations, home furnishings...
.
History
An open-air retail hub in the northern environs of Seattle was one of the first post-war, suburban mall-type shopping center in the United States. Originally known as Northgate Center, it began business with eighteen stores in April of 1950. By 1952, the fully leased structure housed over seventy tenants.Northgate was the first of three Puget Sound-area malls developed by Allied Stores (parent company of The Bon Marché
The Bon Marché
The Bon Marché, whose name means "the good deal" or "the good market", was the name chosen for a department store launched in Seattle, Washington, United States, in 1890 by Edward Nordhoff. The name comes from Le Bon Marché, a noted Paris retailer and one of the world's first department stores,...
) and designed by Seattle architect John Graham, Jr. The development was built over part of Thornton Creek
Thornton Creek
Thornton Creek is 18 miles of urban creeks and tributaries from southeast Shoreline through northeast Seattle to Lake Washington. The creek is the largest watershed in Seattle, draining a region of relatively dense biodiversity for an urban setting, home to frogs, newts, ducks, other birds, and...
, on land that had been a cranberry
Cranberry
Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus Oxycoccus of the genus Vaccinium. In some methods of classification, Oxycoccus is regarded as a genus in its own right...
bog
Bog
A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....
in Maple Leaf
Maple Leaf, Seattle, Washington
Maple Leaf is a mostly residential neighborhood in Seattle, originally a rural suburb named Maple Leaf Addition to the Green Lake Tract or Green Lake Circle...
neighborhood. Northgate was the first regional shopping center in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to be described as a mall, in this instance a double row of stores facing each other across a covered pedestrian walkway.
(also the first mall to have public restrooms.)
In 1952, Redmond sculptor Dudley C. Carter designed and carved the 59 feet (18 m) cedar totem pole that decorated the grand entrance to the central retail corridor, known as the "Miracle Mall". The shopping center was originally anchored
Anchor store
In retail, an anchor store, draw tenant, anchor tenant, or key tenant is one of the larger stores in a shopping mall, usually a department store or a major retail chain....
by The Bon Marché (renamed Macy's 2005). There were also a J.J. Newberry 5 and 10, Butler Brothers variety store and an A & P Supermarket.
Other tenants signing on early that still exist were National Bank of Commerce (bought by Norwest
Norwest
Norwest Corporation was a banking and financial services company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. In 1998, it merged with Wells Fargo & Co. and since that time has traded under the Wells Fargo name.-Early formation:...
, renamed Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
) and locally owned Nordstrom's Shoes. This was expanded into a full line clothing store in 1965. Opened as a Best's Apparel, a division of the Nordstrom Company since 1963, it was rebranded as Nordstrom Best in 1967 and Nordstrom
Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. is an upscale department store chain in the United States, founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin. Initially a shoe retailer, the company today also sells clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances, and in some locations, home furnishings...
in 1973. The 1965 expansion that added the Best's Apparel store also included an extension of the south end of the complex. This was anchored by a new JCPenney
J.C. Penney
J. C. Penney Company, Inc. is a chain of American mid-range department stores based in Plano, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas. The company operates 1,107 department stores in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. JCPenney also operates catalog sales merchant offices nationwide in many...
and [QFC] (Quality Food Center) grocery.
The "Miracle Mall" concourse had been partially enclosed with a "SkyShield" structure in 1962. This was replaced in 1973-1974, with the mall corridor being fully enclosed. The official name of the shopping complex was changed to Northgate Mall at this time. Seattle-based Lamonts
Lamonts
Lamonts was a chain of department stores founded in Seattle, Washington. The chain was started in 1970 when Pay 'n Save renamed its suburban branches of Rhodes, a department store chain the company acquired in 1965. Lamonts remained a division of Pay 'n Save until 1985...
added a store to the northern end of the concourse in 1977. After the acquisition of the Lamonts department store chain by Gottschalks
Gottschalks
Gottschalks was a middle-tier American department store that operated 58 department stores and three specialty apparel stores in six western states ; some locations ran as Harris-Gottschalks stores...
in 2000, Gottschalks was located at Northgate Mall until September 2006. It closed after six years due to underperforming sales, and the former location is currently the home to DSW Shoes and Bed Bath and Beyond.
On September 12, 1983, Tracy Ann Wilson was abducted from Northgate Mall and murdered by Gary Ridgway
Gary Ridgway
Gary Leon Ridgway is an American serial killer known as the Green River Killer. He murdered numerous women in Washington during the 1980s and 1990s, earning his nickname when the first five victims were found in the Green River. He strangled them, usually with his arm but sometimes using ligatures...
, the Green River Killer.
Capitalizing on Northgate's success, Allied Stores commissioned Graham to design the fully enclosed Tacoma
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
Mall, which opened in 1964, and Tukwila
Tukwila, Washington
Tukwila is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The northern edge of Tukwila borders the city of Seattle. The population was 19,107 at the 2010 census.-History:...
's Southcenter Mall
Westfield Southcenter
Westfield Southcenter, formerly known as Southcenter Mall, is a shopping mall located in Tukwila, Washington, USA. It is currently anchored by JC Penney, Macy's, Nordstrom, and Sears and owned by the Westfield Group. A Rainforest Cafe is also at the mall...
in 1968. By 1980, there were 123 stores at Northgate Mall. Construction began in the summer of 2006 on a 100000 square feet (9,290.3 m²) lifestyle-type addition to the mall. This was completed in early 2008. Anchor store
Anchor store
In retail, an anchor store, draw tenant, anchor tenant, or key tenant is one of the larger stores in a shopping mall, usually a department store or a major retail chain....
s are Toys "R" Us, Nordstrom
Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. is an upscale department store chain in the United States, founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin. Initially a shoe retailer, the company today also sells clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances, and in some locations, home furnishings...
, Macy's
Macy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
, J.C. Penney
J.C. Penney
J. C. Penney Company, Inc. is a chain of American mid-range department stores based in Plano, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas. The company operates 1,107 department stores in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. JCPenney also operates catalog sales merchant offices nationwide in many...
, and Bed Bath and Beyond.
Northgate Mall Remodeling Project
In 2006, Simon Properties embarked on an expansion of Northgate Mall in part because of the city's plan for revitalizing the Northgate neighborhood. The expansion plans included a new outdoor "urban-village" on the western end of the mall facing Interstate 5. This village opened in November 2007 and is now home to the following new shops and restaurants:- Stanford's Restaurant and Bar
- Panera Bread
- The Ram Restaurant
- Barnes and Noble Booksellers
- Blue Fin Seafood and Sushi Buffet
- Starbucks Coffee
- Verizon Wireless
- Romano's Macaroni Grill
- Gene Juarez Salon and Spa Expansion
- Ulta Beauty
- Subway
- Chipotle Mexican Grill
Inside the mall, Simon has broadened its retail line by opening Icing, DSW Shoes, Wet Seal, Skechers USA, Sarku Japan, XXI Forever, Vans, Lids, and Bed, Bath and Beyond.
A new five level parking garage at the south end of the mall provides parking for mall users as well as additional transit parking. The totem pole at the north entrance of the mall was removed in September 2007.
Anchors
- Macy's (319,000 ft²)
- J.C. PenneyJ.C. PenneyJ. C. Penney Company, Inc. is a chain of American mid-range department stores based in Plano, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas. The company operates 1,107 department stores in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. JCPenney also operates catalog sales merchant offices nationwide in many...
(168,800 ft²) - NordstromNordstromNordstrom, Inc. is an upscale department store chain in the United States, founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin. Initially a shoe retailer, the company today also sells clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances, and in some locations, home furnishings...
(122,187 ft²)' - DSW Shoes
- Bed, Bath and Beyond
- Toys "R" Us
Former
- GottschalksGottschalksGottschalks was a middle-tier American department store that operated 58 department stores and three specialty apparel stores in six western states ; some locations ran as Harris-Gottschalks stores...
(now vacant) - LamontsLamontsLamonts was a chain of department stores founded in Seattle, Washington. The chain was started in 1970 when Pay 'n Save renamed its suburban branches of Rhodes, a department store chain the company acquired in 1965. Lamonts remained a division of Pay 'n Save until 1985...
(later Gottschalks) - The Bon MarcheThe Bon MarchéThe Bon Marché, whose name means "the good deal" or "the good market", was the name chosen for a department store launched in Seattle, Washington, United States, in 1890 by Edward Nordhoff. The name comes from Le Bon Marché, a noted Paris retailer and one of the world's first department stores,...
(now Macy's)
Location
The mall is bounded on the north by NE Northgate Way (formerly NE 110th Street), on the west by 1st Avenue NE, on the south by NE 103rd Street, and on the east by 5th Avenue NE. The Northgate informal district and Northgate Way were both named after the mall. The original mall has itself become the anchorAnchor store
In retail, an anchor store, draw tenant, anchor tenant, or key tenant is one of the larger stores in a shopping mall, usually a department store or a major retail chain....
for development of surrounding apartment buildings, retail and light commercial blocks eric, and community spaces, all now part of a more comprehensive plan for such as the opportunities and impacts of transit facilities and the light rail station for the district nenette.
Express bus
The first express busExpress bus
An express bus service is a bus service that is intended to run faster than normal bus services between the same two commuter points....
service in Washington State was launched with service between Northgate and Downtown (1970). The "Blue Streak" served as a model for dozens of additional park-and-ride routes implemented by Metro Transit over western King County
King County, Washington
King County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population in the 2010 census was 1,931,249. King is the most populous county in Washington, and the 14th most populous in the United States....
and linking with Snohomish
Snohomish County, Washington
Snohomish County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. It is named after the Snohomish tribe. Since 2000, the county's population has grown from 606,024 to 713,335 residents , making it one of the fastest-growing in the state, ranking third in overall population after King and...
and Pierce
Pierce County, Washington
right|thumb|[[Tacoma, Washington|Tacoma]] - Seat of Pierce CountyPierce County is the second most populous county in the U.S. state of Washington. Formed out of Thurston County on December 22, 1852, by the legislature of Oregon Territory...
counties.