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Sunrise Mall in 2002. Source: caller.com
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With the recent closure of Sears and the mall interior, I'd thought it'd be a good time to look back on the history of Sunrise Mall and why it got to where it is now.
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Joske's was one of the original anchors when the mall opened in 1981. Source: caller.com |
Ground was broken for the mall on November 1, 1979 with the build process spanning over 15 months. The grand opening was February 4, 1981 with Joske's, Frost Bros, and Sears (which had pre-dated the mall by seven years) as the malls anchor tenants. There was also an HEB grocery store on the site that also opened around the same time as Sears did.
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The Foot Locker store in 2003. Source: sunrise-mall.net via Internet Archive |
Other tenants the mall had over the years are The Peanut Shack, Casual Corner, Gap, Contempo Casuals, Whataburger, B Dalton Bookseller, Benjamin's Surf & Skate, Susann's Jewelers, Banana Republic, Benetton, James Avery Craftsman, Ray's Mexican Restaurant, Carlyle & Co. Jewelers, 5-7-9, J. Rigging's, Cristine's, Buster Brown Shoes, Your Fathers Mustache, Sanborn International Travel, Florsheim Shoes, Sweeney's Jewelers, The Strawberry Patch, Holograms Unlimited, The General Store, and The Limited.
Here's an archived version of the mall's website from 2001 that showed their then current tenant list.
In the early 80's the mall competed very well with neighboring Padre Staples Mall with retailers choosing to duplicate locations at Sunrise rather than leaving Padre Staples. As some longtime residents have stated, "Sunrise Mall was THE place to be in the 80's". The mall's popularity would hit it's peak in 1984 when the mall was used for filming several scenes including a chase scene down the escalators for the movie The Legend Of Billie Jean which would be released the following year. Although the movie wasn't a huge box office hit when it first came out, it is now a cult classic today and helped raise awareness of the mall in recent years due to the fact that it still looks the same as it did back then.
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Mervyn's (shown in 2005) was added as a fourth mall anchor in 1987. Source: caller.com
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Not wanting to rest on it's Hollywood stardom and to keep up with the renovations and expansion Padre Staples made in 1985, Sunrise would also follow suit and make their own renovations and expansion in 1987. One of them was to add Mervyn's as a fourth mall anchor which, unlike Foley's would have a second floor that opened up to the upper level of the mall.
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The food court Chick-Fil-A in 2003. Source: sunrise-mall.net via Internet Archive
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The other changes mirrored that of Padre Staples' updates. Two multi story parking garages were added to replace the older rooftop parking, while a nautical themed food court and a Dollar Cinema were added to the upper level of the mall. Unfortunately, these changes would be what sealed the mall's fate.
In 1987, Joske's was purchased by Dillard's who elected to keep the Padre Staples store open and closed the one at Sunrise. Montgomery Ward however, stepped in and took over the location in November of that year. After the renovations were completed in 1988, Frost Bros would close their store in April of that year due to financial issues. This would mark the end of the upscale feel the mall had and many of the national retailers would ether close or retreat to Padre Staples Mall.
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Sunrise Mall in 1993. Photo credit: caller.com
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In the 90's, the mall started to become more discount orientated. The now closed HEB store was connected to the mall by a long corridor and became Stein Mart in 1990. Frost Bros would become Burlington Coat Factory in 1992. The only other national tenants the mall would get around this time were Oshman's SuperSports USA and Wendy's.
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The mural in the passageway between Stein Mart and the mall. Source: caller.com |
One of the more interesting things the mall got during this time was a huge 11x130 foot mural done by Eric Penn of Vrigina Beach in the passageway between Stein Mart and the mall. The wall depicted the sea with various marine life as a reference to Corpus Christi nature as a "city by the sea" while the top depicted the sky. This and the food court were one of my favorite parts of the mall.
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The Montgomery Ward in 1996. Source: caller.com
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In the 2000's, things kept getting worse for the mall. Montgomery Ward would file for bankruptcy in 2000 and close all of their stores while Mervyn's would close their store in 2006 due to budget cuts. Wilcox Furniture would end up occupying a part of the former Wards store. By this time, most of the mall was vacant with a lot of non traditional tenants occupying it. GNC, the last original non-anchor tenant, would close in 2008. That same year, the mall owners would file for chapter 11 bankruptcy. It would be purchased in September of that year by IBC Bank.
The 2010's would mark the final years of operation for the mall. Planet Fitness would occupy the lower level of the former Mervyn's store in 2011. Stein Mart would also close that year and later become a church. By this time the mall had become nearly empty with only one tenant in the food court. In January 2018, the Dollar Theaters would cease operation while 2019 would see both the mall interior and Sears close. As of August 2020, the only businesses operating outside of the mall are Planet Fitness, Freedom Fitness, Burlington Coat Factory, Wilcox Furniture, and Workforce Solutions. Even though I never got a chance to see the mall in it's heyday, I'm grateful to have gone to it when I lived in Corpus.