Tacoma Mall, Tacoma, WA

 An extant asset

-UPDATE BELOW-

6 June 2025

(Source)

The silhouette of Mount Rainier stood watch over Tacoma as I stepped out onto the city streets of the south Sound city on a crisp morning not too long ago. Seattle's blue collar, industrial neighbor down Interstate 5 holds neither the recognition nor the affluence of its much larger companion to the north, but it's a nice little community in its own right.

-UPDATE- 1 to 3- Inside Tacoma Mall’s original center court with its distinctive columns. (Source for all)  4- Tacoma Mall’s original 1960s overall layout. (Source)

Previous to my recent outing to the nearly fifty year-old shopping complex, I had only been able to catch glimpses of the Tacoma Mall from the abutting freeway as we quickly passed through. All that my eyes were able to catch would be very difficult to miss; there was a hulking off-white block of a building adorned with rather pedestrian access point ornamentation and the brand name JCPenney just off center.  To the north of that monstrous structure was the dark burnt sienna shaded exterior of the Sears anchor.

-UPDATE- Tacoma Mall lease plan ca. 1966. View the full PDF version here.

The chilly and overcast morning gave way to a comfortable and mostly sunny early afternoon as I traversed the acres of asphalt toward Pierce County's oldest and most sizable extant retail complex. From my limited vantage point, the facility seemed to be anything but noteworthy, but I was hoping for a few surprises on my initial up close trek.

1- The main entrance plaza.  2- Forever 21, in Nordstrom's former location, is the mall's newest anchor.  3- One of the peripheral mall entryway's design motif.  4 & 5- The newish façade of Nordstrom.  6- Tacoma Mall’s main rear entrance.

In proximity to the front entrance was the obligatory open air collection of storefronts surrounding an outdoor plaza. Luckily, just behind the plain and mainly subdued newer construction and hidden from prominent view were remnants of the mall's long forgotten original façade. There, the masonry consisting of varying shades of crimson and cherry still stood proudly in all of their dated luster.

-UPDATE- Tacoma Mall lease plan ca. 1980. View the full PDF version here.

Under its roof, the Tacoma Mall conspicuously displayed the vintage trademarks that it shares with its sister developments closer to Seattle. The ceilings, painted white, of course, were vaulted upward while at certain intervals incorporated modern, new build skylights that actually permitted a significant amount of sunlight to illuminate the corridors.

1 to 3- The rusty Sears contains a unique second level bridge connecting the main structure to the auto center, with room for automobiles to pass underneath.  4 & 5- JCPenney, yeah...  6- The eastern mall entrance between JCPenney and Sears.

Tapered white columns with sandy colored brick bases were distributed all about the concourse, culminating at the complex's soaring central focal point adjacent to Macy's frontage of the mall. Nordstrom, located at the plaza's far western edge, used a perfect combination of subtlety and class to mark their access to the common area.

-UPDATE- Tacoma Mall lease plan ca. 2003. View the full PDF version here.

The food court is a relatively recent addition to the Tacoma Mall, but its decor already seemed a bit tired and dated. The selection of food retailers was average at best, with standard fare like Subway, Sarku and Orange Julius offering their calorie and preservative laced products. What made this particular food court notorious, however, was how it had the most consistently aggressive sample givers with whom I've ever crossed paths.

1- Patrons gather outside of Nordstrom's well designed and inviting court.  2- The enclosed portion of the mall leading to the main entrance.  3- The tapered columns lined up in front of the former Bon Marché.  4- Macy's and its extravagant court.  Does this photo look familiar?  It’s at the top of every page on this site.

Each business offering some sort of plate lunch wanted me to try the dozen or so slightly differing ways they had prepared their chicken, with each complexly named dish in no way distinguishable from the next. I gave up after a couple of rounds and ended up getting a pretzel dog at Auntie Anne's which, after a couple of bites, I proceeded to drop on the floor. Damn gravity.

Tacoma Mall Mallmanac ca. 2013. View the full PDF version here.

Tacoma Mall opened in 1965 as the second of three Allied Department Store built venues to be constructed in the Puget Sound region. Northgate Mall, in Seattle, was the first while Southcenter, in Tukwila, was the most recent. In contrast with its peers, information on the history of this center has been difficult to locate, so I really don't have that much to go on. Bon Marché, JCPenney, Nordstrom-Best and a Thiftway supermarket were part of the premiere anchor lineup.

Besides the logo on the walls, the original Bon Marché anchor has thankfully changed minimally as the years have passed.

A westward extension capped by Liberty House debuted in 1974 while Sears opened in a new building in 1981.  The Liberty House name didn’t last long and was soon replaced by Seattle-based Fredrick & Nelson. This nameplate was replaced by that of Mervyn's in 1993.  Nordstrom then took over that idle pad and switched their position after either an extensive renovation or a complete rebuild of the old Mervyn's spot. Forever 21 eventually took control of Nordstrom's vacated smaller, yet more prominently placed location.

-UPDATE- Tacoma Mall Mallmanac ca. 2015. View the full PDF version here.

The signature of each Allied venue is their flagship store locations. Each is located prominently on the flanking side of their respective malls. All originally opened as The Bon Marché and have since been converted to the Macy's brand. Virtual clones of one another, the façade of each structure is endowed with uninterrupted faces of scarlet brick immediately fronted by a series of repeating, identically tapered white concrete columns. The store's label is always placed saliently at the highest point accented by three flagpoles rising directly above. And though the remainder of each of these venerable retail destinations may go through numerous updates as trends and preferences evolve, one can only hope that they'll keep doing what they've done in the past, which amounts to zilch. I really hope that nothing is ever done to alter the famed and unique outward appearances of the vintage Allied stores.

-UPDATE-

-6 June 2025

My recent trip to Tacoma Mall was the first time I had visited the facility in almost a decade.  Although I had read about and was aware of many of the mall’s changes, I had yet to see them for myself.  And I have to say, I rather liked them.

1- The main entrance of Tacoma Mall.  2- The usual Dick’s Sporting Goods exterior covers what was originally Nordstrom Best.  3 to 5- The “lifestyle” addition outside of the main entrance.  6 to 8- The restaurants and outdoor plaza next to the entrance to the food court.

Forever 21 moved from their perhaps oversized anchor location in the former Nordstrom Best store to a smaller footprint within the main eastern concourse.  Just a year later, Dick’s Sporting Goods took their place and have remained in the same spot since.

1 & 2- The eastern mall entrance and JCPenney, whose entrance “adornments” have been greyed out from their more colorful former palette because, of course.  3- Jollibee!  4 & 5- Where Sears once stood.  The new exterior entrance used to be Sears mall egress.  6- A section of the new mini power center where Sears once stood featuring Nordstrom Rack and Total Wine.  7- Temporary security towers and cameras have been places throughout the parking lot.  8 & 9- Construction on the new “lifestyle” element to be called Tacoma Mall Village.  10- The unmistakable Allied façade of Macy’s.

Sears, with their distinctive drive-under portion, closed up shop in 2018 after 37 years in business.  The bland, mud brown building was soon demolished in 2019 to make room for Tacoma Mall’s redevelopment of its northeastern side.

Tacoma Mall lease plan ca. 2022. View the full PDF version here.

In place of the former Sears store, Simon, Tacoma Mall’s longtime owners, embarked on a reimagining of the facilities rear face.  A small power center today featuring Nordstrom Rack, Kohl’s, Ulta and Total Wine was erected on the site of the former anchor.

1 to 3- Originally The Bon Marché, the exterior of Macy’s still looks much the same as it did in 1965.  4 to 6- The western rear face of Tacoma Mall.  7- Nordstrom.  8 to 10- The front western façade of the mall with the unlabeled west side of Dick’s in the background.

Several years later, and still under construction on my latest trip, was a “lifestyle” element being constructed in the rear of the complex.  Located between the former Sears and Macy’s, it will add an additional 10 retail spaces.

1- Nordstrom’s mall entrance, originally belonging to Fredrick & Nelson followed by Mervyn’s.  2 to 7- Inside the western end of the main concourse of Tacoma Mall.  8- The mall entrance for Dick’s Sporting Goods, first leading to Nordstrom Best then Forever 21.

This “lifestyle” element, to be named The Village At Tacoma Mall, is set to mainly feature eateries. Some of the expected tenants are Simply Thai, Happy Lamb Top Pot, Dave’s Hot Chicken and Shake Shack.

Another difference I noticed outside of Tacoma Mall’s walls on this visit were all of the temporary security accoutrements placed throughout the parking hour.  Consisting of security towers and camera stands, they were added as a response to increasing crime in the area.

The sixties fabulous center court area of Tacoma Mall.

Inside of Tacoma Mall’s distinctive mid twentieth century façade, not a whole lot has changed.  It remains mostly white on white on gray, but I still admire the rather large skylights allowing an abundance of natural light into its corridors, a departure from other Allied malls built in the area.

Inside the eastern and original portion on Tacoma Mall’s main concourse.

Fortunately enough, Tacoma Mall’s array of distinctive, T shaped columns remained throughout the facility’s center court.  These features are so admired that they can be seen prominently placed on every page on this site.

Tacoma Mall Mallmanac ca. 2025. View the full PDF version here.

My favorite addition, however, was also one of the smallest.  Built right on the spot where Sears 1981 addition met the original build of Tacoma Mall is one of my favorites, Philippine burger joint Jollibee.  It was nice to enjoy some Chickenjoy down in Tacoma.

1- A the short hallway leading to the entrance from the under construction Tacoma Mall Village.  2- The corridor that at one time led to Sears now opens up to the mini power center taking its place.  3 to 5- JCPenney’s mall entrance.  6- A rendering of the Tacoma Mall Village outdoor element.

The sun was threatening to finally break through the clouds as I departed Tacoma Mall close to noon, with the snowcapped top of Mount Rainier peeking through the mist.  I almost wanted to stay, but it was a holiday weekend and I wanted to spend it home in Seattle.

1 to 3- The corridor running from the main concourse to the food court.  4 to 8- The food court, originally the home of Thriftway Supermarket.

For the most part, malls in the Seattle-Tacoma region seem to be doing pretty well.  North of Seattle is owned by Alderwood while King County boasts both Southcenter and Bellevue Square.  I can say with certainty that Tacoma Mall will rule the retail scene in Pierce County for a long time.

Tacoma Mall official website