West Ridge Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in Topeka, Kansas. The mall has three open anchor stores: Dillard's, Furniture Mall of Kansas, JCPenney. There are two vacant anchors that were formerly Sears and Burlington. It is the third largest enclosed mall in the state of Kansas, behind Oak Park Mall in Overland Park and Towne East Square in Wichita.
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| Coordinates | 39°02′00″N 95°45′58″W / 39.03323°N 95.76619°W |
|---|---|
| Address | 1801 SW Wanamaker Road Topeka, Kansas 66604 |
| Opening date | March 2, 1988 |
| Developer | Melvin Simon & Associates |
| Owner | Advisors Excel |
| No. of stores and services | 50+ |
| No. of anchor tenants | 5 (3 open, 2 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 992,000 square feet (92,160 m2)[1] |
| No. of floors | 2 |
| Public transit access |  Topeka Metro |
| Website | westridgemall |
History
editThe mall opened in 1988 under the development of Melvin Simon & Associates. Vanna White made a guest appearance at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.[2] Original tenants included JCPenney, Dillard's, Sears, which closed in September 2018, and The Jones Store. Montgomery Ward would add a store in 1990. It also included a movie theater called the West Ridge 6, which had a Baskin-Robbins inside.[3]
Montgomery Ward closed at the mall in 2001, due to their bankruptcy.[4] Another original tenant, Old Country Buffet, closed in 2003,[5] followed by the movie theater in 2005.[3] The Montgomery Ward building was briefly used for an exhibit by the Kansas International Museum, and became Burlington Coat Factory in 2007 and closed in January 2018.[4] Macy's acquired The Jones Store's parent company in 2006, thus returning Macy's to Topeka after the chain's downtown store closed in 1986.[6] The Macy's closed in 2012.[7] The former Macy's became Furniture Mall of Kansas in late 2013.[8]
The mall was sold to the Kohan Retail Investment Group in late 2021.[9] The mall was sold to Advisors Excel, a local company in Topeka, in September 2023.[10] On January 25, 2025, it was announced that JCPenney would close on May 25, leaving Dillard's and Furniture Mall of Kansas as the only anchors left.[11]
References
edit- ^ "Leasing sheet" (PDF). Simon Property Group. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ^ Hart, Megan (March 1, 2013). "West Ridge Mall turns 25 Saturday". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ^ a b Hooper, Michael (April 20, 2005). "Theaters in mall to close: West Ridge 6, ice cream store were original tenants". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ^ a b Hooper, Michael (September 29, 2007). "Burlington Coat Factory will open next Friday". Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ^ Hooper, Michael (November 15, 2003). "Old Country Buffet to close: Customers say they are 'devastated'". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ^ "Macy's is back — Retailer returns". Topeka Capital-Journal. September 10, 2006. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ^ Hrenchir, Tim (January 4, 2012). "Macy's closing Topeka store". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ^ "Discovery Furniture, partners taking over anchor spot at mall".
- ^ Donahue, Kimberly (January 3, 2022). "West Ridge buyer talks plans for mall". WIBW. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
- ^ Brunner, Melissa; Cassell, Victoria (September 8, 2023). "New owners for Topeka's West Ridge Mall". www.wibw.com. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
- ^ Lately, Keishera. "JCPenney store in Topeka is shuttering. See when it will close its doors". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved January 29, 2025.