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North County Mall

Main Atrium as seen from 3rd floor.
Location	Escondido, California
Address	272 East Via Rancho Parkway, Escondido, CA 92025
Opening date	February 1986
Developer	The Hahn Company/ 55M Revitalization 2013: Westfield LLC
Management	Spinoso Real Estate Group
Owner	Bridge Group Investments/Steerpoint Capital
No. of stores and services	160
No. of anchor tenants	4 (2 vacant)
Total retail floor area	1,300,000 square feet (120,000 m)
No. of floors	2-3 (2 in JCPenney and former Sears, 3 in Macy's, Target, and former Nordstrom)

North County Mall (formerly known as North County Fair, Westfield Shoppingtown North County, & Westfield North County) is a shopping mall in Escondido, California, owned by Steerpoint Capital. The mall includes Target, JCPenney, and Macy's, and 24 Hour Fitness.

History

1980s

The mall originally opened in February 1986 with JCPenney, May Company, Nordstrom, J.W. Robinson's, Sears, and The Broadway as its original anchors. Two separate bank buildings were part of the development and located on the northern side of the mall but have since been demolished and replaced with additional parking.

1990s

In 1993, both the Robinson's and May Company anchors became Robinsons-May locations. In 1996, The Broadway became Macy's.

2000s

Westfield dropped the “Shoppingtown” from the names of all centers they operated in June 2005. In 2006, following Federated Department Stores' merger with May Company, the two Robinsons-May locations closed. The former Robinson's location has been subdivided into Forever 21, H&M and Old Navy, while the former May Company location is now Target.

2010s

North County Tavern + Bowl opened on the second level of the mall in December 2010, replacing Oggi's Pizza & Brewing Co. and three adjacent stores. The 15,000 square foot facility encompassed a 300-seat restaurant, a 30-foot bar, and eight bowling lanes. The tavern closed in 2017 and was replaced by a Comic Book and Memorabilia store.

In 2012, Westfield announced a $55 million revitalization plan and included renovating the mall's interior, updating the exterior mall entrances, and resurfacing the parking lot.

2020s

The dawn of the 2020s saw several storied traditional department store retailers update its brick-and-mortar formats after being encroached upon to a degree by several digital retailers in recent years in addition to the COVID pandemic.

On May 7, 2020, Nordstrom, which also maintains several additional outposts in San Diego, announced plans to shutter along with several additional locations as a direct result of pulling back because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On June 22, 2020, it was announced Sears would shutter as part of an ongoing decision to eliminate its brick-and-mortar format. Plans were announced for Costco Wholesale to lease the previous Sears outpost however a year later those plans were canceled.

On February 7, 2023, it was announced that Westfield had sold the mall to a joint venture of Bridge Group Investments, LLC and Steerpoint Capital, with Spinoso Real Estate Group taking over management duties. As part of the sale the mall was renamed to North County Mall.

Anchors

• JCPenney (2 floors)
• Macy's (3 floors)
• Target (3 floors)

Former anchors

• J.W. Robinson's (3 floors) (became Robinsons-May North (Mens/Childrens/Home))
• May Company (3 floors) (became Robinsons-May South (Womens))
• Nordstrom (3 floors) (closed in June 2020 due to restructuring plan from COVID-19 pandemic)
• Robinsons-May (North and South) (3 floors) (closed due to Federated's acquisition of May Department Stores Co.)
• The Broadway (3 floors) (became Macy's)
• Sears (2 floors) (closed on September 6, 2020 due to chain's struggles)

See also

• Westfield Plaza Bonita
• Fashion Valley Mall
• Westfield UTC
• The Shoppes at Carlsbad

References

1. https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/north-county-news/new-owners-of-former-westfield-north-county-plan-to-revitalize-the-escondido-mall New owners of former Westfield North County plan to revitalize Escondido mall, ABC 10 News. Published 2-23-2023
2. "Shoppers to see double over merger". The Press-Courier. January 25, 1993. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
3. "Business: If you didn't call them 'shoppingtowns,' don't". 2005-12-21. Archived from the original on 2005-12-21. Retrieved 2021-06-21.
4. "North County Robinsons-May stores to be closed, sold". North County Times. July 29, 2005. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
5. "Malls buy into retooling". The San Diego Union-Tribune. August 30, 2009. Retrieved September 6, 2009.
6. "Target Store at Westfield Mall slated to open in October". North County Times. January 30, 2012. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
7. "Bowling returns to Escondido, but now at the mall". The San Diego Union-Tribune. December 11, 2010. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
8. "Tavern+Bowl North County Closes in Escondido". NBC San Diego. August 28, 2017. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
9. "Council Approves Westfield North County Revitalization Plans" (Press release). City of Escondido. January 12, 2012. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
10. "Nordstrom closes in Escondido | Escondido Times-Advocate". 12 June 2020.
11. "Sears closes at Westfield Mall | Escondido Times-Advocate". 3 July 2020.
12. "Costco coming to Westfield Mall". Escondido Times-Advocate. Times-Advocate. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
13. "Costco pulls out of North County Mall deal - Escondido Times-Advocate". Escondido Times-Advocate - The hometown newspaper of Escondido, California. 2023-11-21. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
14. "New owners, new name for mall - Escondido Times-Advocate". Escondido Times-Advocate - The hometown newspaper of Escondido, California. 2023-02-08. Retrieved 2023-02-22.

• Escondido, California
• Shopping malls in San Diego County, California
• Shopping malls established in 1986