Location Bessemer, Alabama No. of anchor tenants 3 Opened 1969 Closing date 2009 | Opening date 1969 No. of floors 1 Number of anchor tenants 3 | |
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Total retail floor area 300,000 square feet (28,000 m) Owner Anthony Underwood Automotive Similar Southgate Mall, Heart of Huntsville Mall, Century Plaza, Selma Mall, Montgomery Mall | ||
The Mall at Westlake, almost always referred to as Westlake Mall is a vacant and closed community mall in Bessemer, Alabama.
History
Westlake Mall was built on a former lake bed, along US Highway 11. The mall opened in 1969 with three anchors, Sears, Grant's, and Loveman's.
In the late 1970s and 1980s, the mall saw decline. Its three original anchors closed by 1989, making it a dead mall or deserted mall. Continuing urban sprawl southwestward toward the Tuscaloosa County line and increased crime and poverty in the city of Bessemer all contributed to the mall's demise.
During the mid 1980s, there was an effort to turn the mall into a factory outlet center, though many regular stores were still open.
In 1994, Bruno's Supermarkets opened a flagship store in the former Sears anchor location. It was the company's largest store. The mall continued to operate with a small assortment of stores, including a Goody's Family Clothing store in the former Grant's anchor location.
The Goody's store relocated elsewhere in the late 2000s, and Bruno's filed bankruptcy in 2009, closing its store at the mall.
The center was sold to Bessemer used-car dealership owner Anthony Underwood, who wants to revive the center once again as an outlet mall. As of 2013, the mall sits vacant and sealed, with several of its entrances blocked.