Metrocenter Mall is a regional shopping mall in southwest Jackson, Mississippi, USA. The largest shopping mall in Mississippi, it is composed of 1,250,000 square feet (116,000 m2) of retail space on two levels. Despite this mall opening with four anchors; its only remaining two anchors are Sears and Burlington Coat Factory. Metrocenter Mall has the only Sears outlet in the Central Mississippi region and the first of two Burlington Coat Factory locations in the state. The mall is bound by Interstates 20 and 220, and U. S. Highway 80.
Metrocenter Mall, developed by Cadillac Fairview of Canada, opened in 1978 with 120 shops on two levels. The anchors included Jackson-based McRae’s, along with Gayfers, Sears, and D.H. Holmes. Two of the department stores had upscale restaurants — McRae’s included Widow Watson’s, while D.H. Holmes offered its Potpourri Restaurant. Metrocenter also once had a Service Merchandise and a 4-screen United Artists theatre in outparcels. Seemingly overnight, Metrocenter quickly killed off its then-only competitor, Jackson Mall, built in 1969 with J. C. Penney, Gayfers and Woolco as its anchors; the property has since been redeveloped as a medical center providing healthcare for the urban poor.
For years, Metrocenter enjoyed success even after the 1984 opening of its primary competitor, Northpark Mall, in comparatively affluent Ridgeland, only 15 miles north of the center and across the county line from Jackson.
Rebrandings
The mall’s south anchor, D.H. Holmes was acquired by Dillard’s in 1989 and its Potpourri Restaurant was closed. In 2006, McRae’s department store was sold and rebranded to Belk. In 1999, Dillard’s acquired Gayfers and after announcing the store would remain open, it was closed the same year. Sears is the only anchor that has remain the same throughout the mall’s life.
Decline
Metrocenter begin to decline in 1999, when Dillard’s acquired Mercantile Stores, the parent company of Gayfers, and closed the mall’s north anchor store, after announcing the store would remain open. By 2004, Metrocenter had lost yet another anchor, as south anchor Dillard’s vacated the former D.H. Holmes anchor space, leaving only Sears and McRae’s. Within the next two years, McRae’s was acquired by and converted to Belk. The long-closed Widow Watson’s restaurant, once part of McRae’s, eventually became Brittyanna’s, an upscale soul food fine dining restaurant but has now since closed.
On June 5, 2009, Belk announced that they would be closing the Metrocenter store in mid- to late-August 2009 to focus its efforts on nearby stores at Northpark Mall in Ridgeland and Dogwood Festival Market in Flowood.
Anchors
Sears (west anchor; 224,136 sq ft.) – the chain’s only full-service location in the area.
Burlington Coat Factory (88,432 sq ft.)
