Century Plaza - History

History

Century Plaza opened in 1975 on the eastern side of Birmingham, Alabama, on U. S. Route 78 (Crestwood Blvd.) near Interstate 20, across from the existing Eastwood Mall. The mall's original anchor stores included Sears (which opened in 1974), Rich's, Loveman's of Alabama and JCPenney. Loveman's later was replaced by Pizitz, which in turn became McRae's in 1987.

Rich's was dual-branded as Rich's-Macy's in 2003 when Macy's acquired the Rich's chain. The Rich's-Macy's store at Century Plaza, however, closed after only one year in operation and was never rechristened as "Macy's". A Piccadilly Cafeteria in the mall also closed that same year.

When plans were announced to demolish Eastwood Mall across the street in 2004, two of the mall's tenants (Books-A-Million and Parisian) had announced preliminary plans to relocate to Century Plaza, with the latter taking over the McRae's space. McRae's was eventually converted to Belk in 2006 when the chain was acquired, but closed later that same year. JCPenney also closed in 2006, and many inline tenants began to close as well. In February 2009, it was announced that Sears, the last remaining anchor, would close its store by May 31.

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