North Hills Mall: North Richland Hills, Texas on DeadMalls.com

NORTH HILLS MALL: NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TX

Giselle Jenkins' Commentary

Posted July 9, 2007 (user submitted)

North Hills Mall was a 584,000 square foot mall located at 7624 Grapevine Hwy, in North Richland Hills, TX, near the intersection of Grapevine Highway and Northeast Loop 820. It opened in 1979, and provided an excellent boost to the growing city of North Rich land Hills, bringing in an average of $120 million per year in sales. North Hills Mall's anchors were Sanger-Harris (later to become Foley's in 1987 due to May Department Stores acquisition), Mervin's (opened 1981), and Striplings and Cox, as well as a General Cinema 8 movie Theater. It featured a patio style indoor food court, a Pearle Vision Center, Reg is Hair Salon, and many other standard "mall" stores. One of its more unique features was the Hemisphere Children's Museum located inside the mall. It featured science and nature rotating exhibits. In addition, during the Texas Sesquicentennial of 1986, North Hills Mall housed a store that sold Texas Historical items, run by local volunteers.

North Hills Mall's main competitor was another regional mall, Northeast Mall, located in the nearby town of Hurst, which is only about 5 miles away. All the way from its opening in 1970 up until about 1998, Northeast Mall was seen as the more rundown of the two malls. (I recall as a child, my mother not letting me go to Northeast Mall alone for fear of kidnapping, while she had no such concern with letting me spend time at North Hills Mall, as long as I was with a friend or my sister).

Two big events were the nails in the coffin for the once thriving North Hills Mall. First off, in 1997, plans went under way for lower-tier competitor Northeast Mall to expand. How? Well, it took out a whole housing subdivision of 127 homes that were located directly south of the mall using the principle of eminent domain. With that extra real estate "freed up", Nostrum signed a contract with Simon mall developers and opened a Nostrum and a Nostrum Rack. Northeast Mall suddenly was poised to become a destination mall, not just a "mere" regional mall, as this would be the only Nostrum in Tar rant county.

Second, at nearly the same time, the highway running directly in front of North Hills Mall, Loop 820, was expanded. Off and on for 2 years, the area there was a nightmare, coupling construction, lane closures, etc...with an already congested area. It became difficult for anyone other than local residents to get to North Hills Mall in a timely manner, what with endless detours due to construction. Faced with these challenges, and declining sales, the anchors started defecting. First, Striplings and Cox closed its doors in 2000, followed by Foley's moving down the road to Northeast Mall in a brand new building in Fall 2001. Northeast Mall completed its renovation in 2001, and is now known as the "Galleria of Tar rant County" by some local shoppers due to its luxurious stores and shops. Mervin's was the last holdout at North Hills Mall, staying until the mall closed its doors in late 2004.

Various ideas were thrown around for the fate of the defunct mall, but due to a variety of reasons, none panned out. In the Fall of 2006, the North Rich land Hills city council implored the owners of the mall property to demolish the mall due to the fact it was dilapidated and was violating various city health and safety codes. In Feb 2007, the city began tearing down the mall, and by May 2007, it was all but completed. The North corner of the mall, formerly home to Foley's, will become a Medical Center,an 80,000 sq. foot facility called the "Medical Center at Calloway Creek". According the the city's website, "specific plans for redeveloping the property have not been announced at this time."

Sources: http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=432

http://www.worldfreeinternet.net/news/nws79.htm

The History of North Richland Hills: Where Families Live, Work, Worship, and Play (Hardcover)
by George N. Green (Author)

http://www.nrhtx.com/pdf/Buzz/Redevelopment%20of%20North%20Hills%20Mall.pdf

Angela Miller’s Commentary:

User submitted Aug 2007

http://www.deadmalls.com/malls/north_hills_mall.html

In the narrative about the malls history, the following changes should be made in order to be factually correct:

"Nordstrom" and "Nordstrom's Rack" in place of "Nostrum" and "Nostrum Rack"

"Tarrant" County in place of "Tar rant" County

"Richland" Hills in place of "Rich land" Hills

Thank you!

Matt J. McCullar’s Commentary:

User submitted Jul 2007

Howdy! I just saw the updates page and read Giselle Jenkins' article on North Hills Mall. I admit to
being a tad disappointed that my article on the very same mall wasn't used, but
I must admit that she did a much better job than I did on reporting about
it. She must live much closer to the site than I do. Hopefully, I'll
be able to provide some useful data to your web site in the future before
someone else can beat me to the punch again! :)

Now, where did I
park my car?

Matt J. McCullar
Arlington,
TX

Matt J. McCullar’s Commentary:

User submitted Jun 2007

North Hills Mall, located just inside the northeast corner of Loop 820 surrounding the Fort Worth, Texas area, was demolished in early 2007. The city of North Richland Hills, where the property is actually located, ordered the dead mall's demolition.

The 584,000-square-foot mall, which opened in 1979, closed in October 2004. Once a flourishing retail venue anchored by Mervyn's and Foley's, the mall's hallways became more known as a haven for recreational walkers than shoppers.

According to newspaper ads, stores that existed in North Hills Mall in 1980 included, among others: Kay-Bee Toys, American Vision Center, Upstage (a shoe store), Joyce Selby Shoes, Webster Men's Wear, Showcase of Fine Fabrics, Sunday's Child (a children's clothing store), The Shoe Box (maybe having too many shoe stores killed off this mall), Hickory Farms, Bag 'n Baggage, Rings & Things, The Fieldhouse (a sporting goods store), Pier 1 Imports, Sanger-Harris, and Video Concepts.

Stripling & Cox left in 2000, and Foley's closed the next year.

In June, 2005 the mall held a liquidation sale to unload fixtures such as clothing racks, mirrors, and even outside plants.

Two major factors sealed the fate of North Hills Mall: the expansion of North East Mall just down the road in Hurst, and the expansion of the Loop 820/Airport Freeway interchange. Both began in 1998. The ongoing road construction rerouted traffic for ages, making it difficult for shoppers to reach NHM easily. The "new" North East Mall continues to be a local retailing powerhouse, sitting literally right next to the aforementioned highway interchange.

The precise ownership of the property has been a source of legal dispute for some time, leading to the difficulty of getting the mall restored. Since little or no upkeep had been performed since 2004, the site fell into disrepair very quickly. An inspection in August 2006 revealed that: the mall's fire sprinkler and alarm systems had been turned off, thus making the place a fire hazard; the plumbing was not working, nor was the electricity; and vandals had been getting inside and doing their dirty work. In November 2006 the city of North Richland Hills found so many code violations that they declared the mall unfit for human habitation, and ordered it demolished within 75 days. NRH said that if the owners didn't do the job, the city would and send them the bill.

The site may be redeveloped into an 85-acre "mixed-use" development with shops, restaurants and bike trails.

-- Matt J. McCullar. Arlington, TX

Steven Martin’s Commentary:

User submitted Jun 2007

The demolition of North Hills Mall of North Richland Hills, Texas is complete. The North Hills Mall was one of two shopping malls by the interchange of the Interstate 820 and Highway 183 freeways northeast of Fort Worth that served the residents of the mid-cities area of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. As recently as the early 1900s, North Hills Mall was one of the Metroplex's major malls, drawing even more shoppers than its competing neighbor, the Northeast Mall in Hurst. All of that changed in the latter part of the '90s when the 820-183 interchange underwent a major reconstruction project. Off and on ramps to the freeways from the access roads were closed from time to time, making access to the mall difficult. Then toward the end of the '90s, the Northeast Mall underwent a major expansion which drew ret
ailers and shoppers from the North Hills Mall. By 2001, when the 820-183 interchange construction and the Northeast Mall expansion project were completed, the North Hills Mall was only a shell of itself. Few shoppers came and few stores remained. In 2003, the North Hills Mall's owners ordered the remaining stores closed since they had announced redevelopment plans. The mall was shuttered once Mervyn's, the last tenant, pulled out. The North Hills Mall remained shuttered while redevelopment plans fell through. Finally, in late 2006, the city of North Richland Hills found numerous code violations and condemned the mall building, ordering its demolition. The demolition of the North Hills Mall was completed by May 2007. Other than a nearby medical center expanding onto part of the former mall's property, there are no current plans to develop the property.

Matt J. McCullar’s Commentary:

User submitted Apr 2007

Heard on the local news earlier this week that the closed/abandoned Forum 303 Mall (later renamed Festival Marketplace) will be demolished. No details as yet on exactly when this will take place, but the city of Arlington wants it gone and is putting the demolition on the fast track.

Also, did you decide not to use my story I sumbitted to you about the North Hills Mall closing and demoltion in North Richland Hills, Texas?

Thanks!

Matt J. McCullar
Arlington, TX

Matt J. McCullar’s Commentary:

User submitted Feb 2007

Thanks for getting back to me so soon! Here is the article I
wrote, plus a little update at the bottom. I'm also enclosing a small
digital photo. I appreciate it and am glad to be able to add something to
the site.
***********************

North Hills Mall, located just inside the northeast corner of
Loop 820 surrounding the Fort Worth, Texas area, may not see the end of
2007. The city of North Richland
Hills, where the property is actually located, has ordered the dead mall's
demolition.

The 584,000-square-foot mall, which opened in 1979, has been
closed since October 2004. Once a
flourishing retail venue anchored by Mervyn's and Foley's, the mall's hallways
became more known as a haven for recreational walkers than shoppers.

Stripling & Cox left in 2000, and Foley's closed the next
year.

In June, 2005 the mall held a liquidation sale to unload
fixtures such as clothing racks, mirrors, and even outside plants.

Two major factors sealed the fate of North Hills Mall: the
expansion of North East Mall just down the road in Hurst, and the expansion of
the Loop 820/Airport Freeway interchange.
Both began in 1998. The
ongoing road construction rerouted traffic for ages, making it difficult for
shoppers to reach NHM easily. The
"new" North East Mall continues to be a local retailing powerhouse, sitting
literally right next to the aforementioned highway interchange.

The precise ownership of the property has been a source of
legal dispute for some time, leading to the difficulty of getting the mall
restored. Since little or no upkeep
had been performed since 2004, the site fell into disrepair very quickly. An inspection in August 2006 revealed
that: the mall's fire sprinkler and alarm systems have been turned off, thus
making the place a fire hazard; the plumbing is not working, nor is the
electricity; and vandals have been getting inside and doing their dirty
work. In November 2006 the city of
North Richland Hills found so many code violations that they declared the mall
unfit for human habitation, and ordered it demolished within 75 days. If the owners don't do the job, the city
will and send them the bill.

The site may be redeveloped into an 85-acre "mixed-use"
development with shops, restaurants and bike trails.

UPDATE: Demolition began in mid-February, 2007.

-- Matt J. McCullar.
Arlington, TX

Wayne Hightower’s Commentary:

User submitted Apr 2006

Have information on this mall's history, current conditions, future plans, personal memories, corrections or general comments?

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Thank you to all the contributors to DeadMalls.com!

Luke Williamson’s Commentary:

User submitted in 2024

i rember buying certain things at kaybee and the other stores.i wish kay bee toys was still around.

i remember going with my grandmother and cousins. really sad that kay bee toys does not exist in the malls anymore including music land and sam goody and suncoast.