Saint Louis Galleria

"Westroads Shopping Center" redirects here. For the mall in Omaha, Nebraska, see Westroads Mall.
Saint Louis Galleria
Saint Louis Galleria at night, December 2017
Map
LocationRichmond Heights, Missouri
Coordinates38°38′06″N 90°20′50″W / 38.6350°N 90.3473°W / 38.6350; -90.3473
Address1155 Saint Louis Galleria
Opening date1955 (as Westroads Shopping Center)
DeveloperStix, Baer & Fuller
Hycel Properties
ManagementBrookfield Properties
OwnerBrookfield Properties[1]
No. of anchor tenants3[2]
Total retail floor area1.2 million square feet (110,000 m2)[3]
No. of floors2 in the main mall area, 3 in the food court area and Macy's. 5 in Dillard's.
Public transit accessBus interchange MetroBus
Light rail interchange  Blue 
At Richmond Heights
Websitewww.saintlouisgalleria.com

Saint Louis Galleria is a shopping mall in Richmond Heights, Missouri.

History

Originally the site of the Westroads Shopping Center anchored by Stix, Baer & Fuller, the property was sold in 1984 to Hycel Properties, which demolished most of the mall except the Stix north wing, including Walgreens (demolished and now a recently closed Weber Grill restaurant),[4] and built the Saint Louis Galleria.

Dillard's, which had acquired the Stix chain, expanded the existing location at the same time, while retailer Mark Shale opened a major store. In 1991, the building was expanded south of the Atrium. The Clayton Famous-Barr store (now Macy's) moved to the mall, and luxury department store Lord & Taylor opened on the south end. The addition also included an emergency electric generator that can supply limited lighting and monitoring functions (but not full operations) during a power failure. The mall receives external electric service from four points. It adopted the enclosed delivery corridor concept (but very little of the actual structure) from the Westroads design. Trucks enter on the south end and exit on the north end. The original loading dock for the Stix store (which remains in operation) is very similar in design to the loading dock at River Roads Mall, another Stix-developed shopping mall.

The first Build-A-Bear location was opened in October of 1997.[5] It was the second mall in the area to have an Apple Store (and formerly the area's only Apple mini store), hosts the area's only Urban Outfitters, and along with West County Center is seen as a more upscale shopping mall. On October 8, 2002, The Cheesecake Factory opened at the mall, becoming the area's first location.[6]

Beginning April 20, 2007, after two incidents between teenagers and rampant shoplifting, anyone under 16 is required to be accompanied by someone at least 21 years old on Fridays and Saturdays after 3 pm.[7] Around the same time, the Richmond Heights MetroLink station opened a short distance from the mall. The two incidents, along with many shoplifting and brawling cases, were blamed on MetroLink, simply due to the spike in the number of such cases at the mall in August 2006 compared to the previous month. This brought fear into shoppers about their safety in the mall and caused a decline in patronage.[7]

In 2006, Nordstrom announced plans to open a store at the mall. In December 2008, Nordstrom said that due to the economy, it would delay the opening from 2010 until 2011.[2] The store opened to the public on September 23, 2011.[8]

The recession hit Galleria sales hard in 2008, as Jimmy'z and Mark Shale closed. Richmond Heights, which gets half its revenue from sales taxes and for which the Galleria is the largest taxpayer, saw sales-tax receipts drop from $10.1 million in fiscal 2007 to $9.1 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2008.[9] Mark Shale has since been replaced with two restaurants, Weber Grill Restaurant (now closed) and Texas de Brazil, and Helium Comedy Club.

In 2017, the mall was the site of protests after the acquittal of a white police officer in the shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith.[10] There were arrests of 22 people.[11]

In June 2018, a customer was stabbed by another customer at the mall.[12]

In July 2020, a shooting inside the Galleria took place leaving one man dead and one man injured.[13]

Anchor stores

  • Dillard's,[14][15] opened 1955 as Stix, Baer and Fuller and became Dillard's in 1984, 330,000 sq ft (31,000 m2)
  • Macy's,[14] opened 1991 as Famous-Barr, became Macy's 2006, 265,000 sq ft (24,600 m2)
  • Nordstrom, opened September 2011, on site of demolished Lord & Taylor; 143,000 sq ft (13,300 m2)

References

  1. ^ "Saint Louis Galleria". Brookfield Properties.
  2. ^ a b "Nordstrom delays Galleria store opening". American City Business Journals. December 11, 2008.
  3. ^ "Galleria sold to General Growth Partners". American City Business Journals. June 2, 2003.
  4. ^ "Weber Grill Restaurant permanently closes at the St. Louis Galleria".
  5. ^ "History".
  6. ^ "First area Cheesecake Factory to open Oct. 8".
  7. ^ a b Garrison, Chad (August 20, 2008). "Out-of-control shoplifting at the St. Louis Galleria. Violent attacks in the Delmar Loop. Is MetroLink a vehicle for crime?". Riverfront Times.
  8. ^ "Nordstrom Opens New Store at Saint Louis Galleria in St. Louis, Missouri".
  9. ^ Brown, Lisa R. (May 24, 2009). "Recession intersection: Brentwood and Clayton". American City Business Journals.
  10. ^ Jost, Ashley (December 4, 2017). "Protesters again march through the St. Louis Galleria; no arrests this time". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
  11. ^ Gooden, Christian; Benchaabane, Nassim; Hollinshed, Denise (September 24, 2017). "22 arrested in Galleria protest". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
  12. ^ "Stabbing, fight keep police busy at Galleria mall". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. June 23, 2018.
  13. ^ Currier, Joel. "St. Louis man charged in double shooting that killed one at Galleria mall". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 2020-08-21.
  14. ^ a b Saint Louis Galleria Store Directory; Saint Louis Galleria web site; retrieved December 28, 2006
  15. ^ "MALL HALL OF FAME".