Bay City Town Center (formerly Bay City Mall until 2017) is an enclosed shopping mall in Bangor Township, Bay County, Michigan, just outside the city of Bay City, Michigan, United States. Opened in 1991, the mall features Dunham's Sports, Marshalls, Ollie's Bargain Outlet, and PetSmart, with vacancies previously occupied by Younkers, JCPenney, and Target. The mall also features a 10-screen movie theater previously owned by Goodrich Quality Theaters; Bay City Cinemas. It is managed by a partnership of Lormax Stern. It is the second mall in Bay County, Michigan, the first being the defunct Hampton Square Mall.
 Interior of Bay City Mall, December 2013. | |
 | |
| Location | Bangor Township, Bay County, Michigan |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 43°37′37″N 83°53′28″W / 43.627°N 83.891°W |
| Address | 4101 E. Wilder Rd. |
| Opening date | 1991[1] |
| Previous names | Bay City Mall |
| Developer | Homart Development/Robert B. Aikens[2] |
| Management | Bay City Mall Partners, LLC |
| No. of stores and services | 50+[1] |
| No. of anchor tenants | 7 (4 open, 3 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 530,000 square feet (49,000 m2) (GLA) |
| No. of floors | 1 |
| Public transit access |  Bay Metro |
History
edit
Target opened in 1990, and the rest of the mall, including Sears and an H. C. Prange Co. department store (bought out by Younkers in 1992), opened the next year.[3] It was developed by Homart Development, a retail arm of Sears, who sold most of its retail properties to General Growth Properties in 1995.[4] In 2005, the mall received media attention when Bryan Johnson, who was costumed as the Easter Bunny during an Easter event at the mall, was attacked by a 12-year-old customer.[5]
Old Navy opened a store at the mall in 2007.[6] Several tenants at Bay City Mall closed in the first decade of the 21st century, including a B. Dalton bookstore[7] and a classroom maintained by Bay-Arenac Intermediate School District, which had been at the mall since 1995.[8] A Ruby Tuesday restaurant across from the mall also closed in 2009.[9] These closures led to rumors that further stores, or the mall itself, might close.[10] In 2010, the mall owners at the time, General Growth Properties, listed Bay City Mall among its least profitable malls, and announced plans to place it and eleven other malls under management of a new company.[11] In February 2010, ownership of the mall was turned over to a trust of unidentified lenders, who hired Cushman & Wakefield Inc. to oversee the mall.[12] These new owners have planned a $200,000 renovation of the mall property, including a new sign on Wilder Road.[13] Old Navy closed in mid-2012.[14] Planet Fitness opened in October of the same year.[15]
Cushman & Wakefield sold the mall in April 2013 to Bay City Mall Partners LLC, which is a partnership of Lormax Stern and Wayzata Investment.[16] Marshalls and rue21 both joined in late 2013.[17] The movie theater complex was expanded in 2014, adding two new auditoriums with stadium seating for a total of ten screens.[18]
Sears announced that the closure of its store at Bay City Mall store would begin on October 31, 2014. Sears has operated a store in Bay City since at least 1928.[19] Target announced one month later that its store at Bay City Mall would close in 2015.[20]
In 2016, Younkers announced the opening of a home and furniture store in half of the former Sears.[21] Mall owners announced in May 2017 that the mall's food court would be removed for a PetSmart, while Ollie's Bargain Outlet would open in the other half of the vacated Sears.[22] The mall was renamed from Bay City Mall to Bay City Town Center in August 2017.[23]
On August 18, 2018, it was announced a farming supply store called Big R (now known as Stock + Field) would be replacing the former Target.[24] However, these plans were canceled. Later in the month, both Younkers stores closed due to Bon-Ton Stores filing for bankruptcy.[25] Dunham's Sports, which operated a store in the Target wing, moved to the former Younkers Furniture location in September 2019.[26]
On June 23, 2020, JCPenney announced that it would be closing as part of a plan to close 13 stores nationwide.[27] The store closed in October 2020.
References
edit- ^ a b "Center information for Bay City Mall". General Growth Properties. Archived from the original on 25 December 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
- ^ "Stores: the bulletin of the N.R.D.G.A." National Retail Dry Goods Association. 74 (7–12). 1992.
- ^ Marsh, Nicole (31 January 2010). "Years Past: This date in history from The Bay City Times". The Bay City Times. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
- ^ "Sears announces Homart transactions". PR Newswire. 31 July 1995. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
- ^ "Rabbit season: Bad eggs make the Easter Bunny's job risky business". The Southeast Missourian. 27 March 2005. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
- ^ Stanton, Ryan J. (21 February 2008). "Retail: Malls plug vacancies in adverse economy". Mlive.com. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
- ^ Wayland, Michael (14 January 2010). "B. Dalton bookstore in Bay City Mall closes Saturday, everything 50 percent off". The Bay City Times. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
- ^ Dodson, Andrew (17 August 2009). "Classroom getting facelift at Bay-Arenac ISD". The Bay City Times. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
- ^ Waterman, Cole (7 January 2009). "Ruby Tuesday chain closes restaurant across from Bay City Mall". The Bay City Times. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
- ^ Johnson, Amy Jo (14 January 2009). "Officials say there's no truth to rumors that Bay City Mall is closing". The Bay City Times. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
- ^ Lynch-Morin, Kathryn (30 March 2010). "Great Lakes Bay Region malls fight for sales in tough economy". The Bay City Times. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
- ^ Wayland, Michael (17 February 2011). "New owners to tour mall Friday". The Bay City Times.
- ^ Setter, Holly (18 February 2011). "Bay City Mall gets $200,000 investment from new owners". The Bay City Times. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
- ^ "Bay City Mall losing Old Navy; number of empty storefronts grows". mlive. July 19, 2012.
- ^ News, Joshua Roesner | For the Saginaw (October 1, 2012). "Planet Fitness expanding into Bay City Mall with planned October opening". mlive.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Bay City Mall sold for $7.5 million". mlive. April 9, 2013.
- ^ "Marshalls, rue21 stores opening in the Bay City Mall". mlive. April 29, 2013.
- ^ "Construction continues to expand Bay City 8 movie theater at Bay City Mall". 17 February 2014.
- ^ "Sears official: Company to close anchor store at Bay City Mall after holiday shopping season". mlive. October 21, 2014.
- ^ "Target Announces Upcoming Store Closures". Target Corporate.
- ^ "Bay City Mall buys Target building, opening door for new retailer". mlive. May 26, 2016.
- ^ "PetSmart opening in Bay City Mall this fall". mlive. May 4, 2017.
- ^ "Shifts in shopping trends leads to name change for Bay City Mall". mlive. August 10, 2017.
- ^ "Big R store to fill void left by Target at Bay City's mall". mlive. August 18, 2018.
- ^ "Younkers closing across Michigan as malls lose their anchor stores". mlive. April 20, 2018.
- ^ "Dunham's Sports opens new, larger location at Bay City's mall". mlive. September 20, 2019.
- ^ Chris Isidore (23 June 2020). "JCPenney is closing another 13 stores". CNN. Retrieved 2020-06-23.