The Great Mall of the Great Plains

The Great Mall of the Great Plains

Entrance to The Great Mall of the Great Plains, May 2012
Coordinates	38°51′29″N 94°49′16″W / 38.85806°N 94.82111°W / 38.85806; -94.82111Coordinates: 38°51′29″N 94°49′16″W / 38.85806°N 94.82111°W / 38.85806; -94.82111
Address	20700 West 151st Street Olathe, Kansas 66061
Opening date	August 14, 1997 Dillard's, Marshalls, Oshman's SuperSports USA, and Burlington: July 25, 1997
Closing date	September 18, 2015 (demolished July 11, 2016)
Developer	Glimcher Realty Trust and Jordan Robert Perlmutter & Co.
Management	Mark Levin
Owner	Great Olathe Center, LLC.
No. of anchor tenants	5
Total retail floor area	783,010 sq ft (72,744 m2)[1]
No. of floors	1
Parking	Parking Lot

The Great Mall of the Great Plains was formerly a shopping mall located in Olathe, Kansas, United States. The largest outlet mall in the state of Kansas,^[2] the Great Mall in 2007 had over 80 stores and restaurants.^[1] Burlington Coat Factory is the mall's last remaining anchor store;^[1] amenities included indoor glow-in-the-dark miniature golf course, a food court, a Game Zone arcade, and a Dickinson Theatres movie theater with sixteen screens. Great Mall of the Great Plains was owned & managed by Glimcher Properties Trust until January 2009.^[1] On September 18, 2015, the mall permanently closed its doors. Demolition was scheduled to begin on the mall in June 2016. Demolition commenced on July 11, 2016, and as of January 1, 2017, all that remains is Burlington Coat Factory.

History

Great Mall of the Great Plains was co-developed by Glimcher Realty Trust and Jordan Robert Perlmutter & Co. The mall was intended to feature a "value oriented megamall" with a mix of outlet stores, traditional mall stores, big box retail, and entertainment venues, comparable to malls developed by the former Mills Corporation.^[3][4] Construction began on the Great Mall of the Great Plains in 1996.^[5]

Originally scheduled to open in March 1997, the mall did not open until August 14 of that year, due to leasing issues.^[4][6][7] Upon its opening, the mall had several anchor stores: Linens 'n Things, Burlington Coat Factory, Oshman's SuperSports USA, Marshalls, Group USA Clothing Company, Foozles Bookstore, and Dillard's clearance center.^[3] Other original features of the mall included a family entertainment center called Jeepers, later to become Zonkers. A food court, and a Dickinson movie theater was also in the mall.^[3] Great Mall of the Great Plains opened with 150 stores laid out in a half-mile "racetrack" pattern.^[3] The mall was the largest outlet mall in the state of Kansas.^[2]

Closures

Despite a highly successful opening which attracted more than 1.5 million visitors,^[3] some analysts' assert that the Great Mall of the Great Plains saw its success waning with time, due in part to a retail saturation in the market.^[8] Others point out that its anchor store tenants were of a variety usually relegated to strip malls that did not require the higher rents of a large enclosed destination shopping mall.

Although Off 5th opened as an additional anchor store in 1999,^[9] the mall lost three anchor stores soon afterward. Dillard's closed its clearance center in 2001, and was soon replaced with VF Outlet.^[10] A year later, both Oshman's and Linens 'n Things closed as well,^[2] as did Off 5th. Marshalls also relocated to a nearby strip center in 2005,^[11] while Steve & Barry's opened in 2005, and Famous Labels opened in 2007 but soon closed at the end of 2009. The food court had few restaurants in it. In early 2009, The Steve & Barry's closed as part of a national bankruptcy.

In an early 2008 Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Glimcher Realty Trust expressed a desire to sell the Great Mall of the Great Plains.^[12] On January 6, 2009, Glimcher sold the Great Mall of the Great Plains to focus on more valuable assets to Cecil Van Tuyl of the Van Tuyl Group. The mall is currently managed by MC Realty Group, LLC.

On Monday, February 16, 2015, the mall announced that it would be closing in fall 2015 due to a lack of tenants and customers. At that time, less than half of the malls stores were open.^[13]

By June of 2015, all of the restaurants in the food court were closed and only about half of the mall remained open. Cosmic Mini Golf closed on June 13, 2015. By mid July 2015, only 5 tenants inside the mall were left - Burlington Coat Factory, B & B Theatres, Sportibles, Zonkers Family Entertainment Center, and the Kansas Driver License Bureau. Zonkers Family Entertainment Center closed on August 2, 2015 and B & B closed on August 17, 2015. Sportibles closed about a week later than that. By September 1, 2015, the mall was completely vacant with the exception of Burlington and the Driver License Office. The mall was shuttered on September 18, 2015. The Driver License Office closed on December 16, 2015, leaving Burlington Coat Factory as the only store left as of that date.

As of October 2018 the only remaining tenants are 54th Street Grill And Bar Restaurant, Burlington Coat Factory Department Store, Chili's Grill And Bar Restaurant, Days Inn And Suites Hotel, La Quinta Inn And Suites Hotel, and Taco Bell Restaurant.

The minimum vacancy of The Great Mall of the Great Plains in percent was 30% due to the low amount of leasing. These vacant spaces have been taken over by other stores over the years.

On January 2, 2018, developers announced redevelopment plans that called for a small town center that would include a 4,000 to 5,000 seat arena, an ice rink, interactive golf, and rock climbing in addition to many stores, restaurants, hotels, and office spaces.

References

External links

• Official website - Dead link