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East Towne Mall

Coordinates: 43°07′30.5″N 89°18′17.5″W / 43.125139°N 89.304861°W / 43.125139; -89.304861
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East Towne Mall
Map
LocationMadison, Wisconsin
Coordinates43°07′30.5″N 89°18′17.5″W / 43.125139°N 89.304861°W / 43.125139; -89.304861
Address89 East Towne Mall, 53704-3711
608-244-1387
Opening dateOctober 14, 1971, renovated 2003
DeveloperJacobs, Visconsi, and Jacobs Co., Cleveland, Ohio
OwnerCBL Properties
No. of stores and services115
No. of anchor tenants7
Total retail floor area839,608 square feet (78,002.1 m2)
No. of floors1
Parking4,964
Websitewww.shopeasttowne-mall.com

East Towne Mall is a shopping mall located in the northeast side of Madison, Wisconsin.

History

The mall opened for business October 14, 1971 with a small ribbon cutting ceremony, a year after West Towne Mall. It was Madison's largest enclosed mall, and initially had four large anchor stores, Sears, J. C. Penney, H.C. Prange Co., and Gimbel's.[1] Prange Way and Aeropostale took up a large section at the back of Pranges' space, so it could be considered a fifth anchor.

Gimbel's would become Boston Store in 1987 upon Gimbels' collapse a year earlier, and closed in 2003. This space was razed, and rebuilt in 2003 with the Boston Store name moving replacing Younkers. It is now a Dick's Sporting Goods and new mall space.

Prange's switched to Younkers upon the buyout of the chain in 1992. Before this buyout, Prange Way closed, allowing Younkers to expand into the large section the discount store had originally taken. Younker's would be switched to the Boston Store nameplate at this, as well as the West Towne Mall and Regency Mall's locations in 2003 when then-owners Saks Inc. decided to consolidate all southern Wisconsin stores into one banner. They had closed both Milwaukee-area Younker's stores at Northridge Mall and Southridge Mall in 2000 previous to East Towne's location.

Present

The mall now comprises over 100 shops and services, a food court (opened as part of an expansion in 1989) with about a dozen eateries to choose from, and a small format Barnes & Noble store adjacent to the food court. From the mall's opening until around 2003, the mall also had a 6-screen movie theatre, which from the middle of the '80s to about 2003 was called Budget Cinemas owned by Silver Cinemas. It closed in 2003 because Budget Cinemas Mall Wing Entrance, as well as some other stores by the entrance, was bought by Steve & Barry's University Sportswear, and the mall entrance was turned into the Entrance for Steve & Barry's.

The mall and its sister mall, West Towne, were originally developed by Jacobs, Visconsi, and Jacobs Co. of Cleveland, Ohio.[1] It is now a part of CBL Properties who has, since purchasing the mall in 2002, remodeled the structure inside and out, and has brought in new tenants to give the mall more of its own identity, rather than bring in the same tenants that West Towne has. There is a greater emphasis on regional names and gift shops, plus some national apparel shops that West Towne does not have.

Anchors

References

  1. ^ a b Wisconsin State Journal. East Towne Supplement. Wednesday, October 13, 1971.