Editor’s Note: Today’s guest post, written by my favorite scincidae, billytheskink, is part two in our Month of Malls! Be sure to check out Part One! -Mike
March 2021 came and went, and we failed to wish First Colony Mall well on its 25th birthday! Sincere apologies for this egregious oversight. Hopefully this belated happy birthday post full of photos and reminiscence (and also more photos!) from a Fort Bend County kid can in some small way help make up for this terrible mistake.
A (kind of) Brief History Of The Mall
While the mall itself opened on March 14, 1996, the history of First Colony Mall begins about a decade prior. Gerald D. Hines Interests, famed developers of Houston’s Galleria, had founded Sugarland Properties (now morphed into Planned Community Developers) in the mid-1970s to develop the master-planned community of First Colony on roughly 10,000 acres then-adjacent to the town of Sugar Land (two words, unlike the development company, or the small mall in the Texas Panhandle town of Hereford). By the mid-1980s, development in First Colony and other communities in north and central Fort Bend County had progressed to the point that Sugarland Properties and Hines proposed a regional mall to be built on First Colony property at the southeast corner of SH6 and US 59, just about 10 miles from then-successful Sharpstown Center and West Oaks Mall and even less than that from Westwood Mall. Reports of the planned mall (then called the “Town Center”) surfaced as early as 1987, calling for three anchors and over 1 million square feet of space, about 300,000 sf to be made available for inline tenants. A potential second phase was also proposed, adding a fourth anchor and another 150,000 sf of inline tenant space. An ice skating rink overlooked by the mall’s food court was also proposed (I wonder where Hines got that idea…) and the developers expected to court affluent shoppers with upscale stores like Lord & Taylor, Macy’s, Foley’s, Marshall Field, and Neiman Marcus all mentioned as potential anchors for the mall. Later plans for the mall’s proposed second phase reduced inline tenant space to 100,000 sf but also called for a move from one to three additional anchors.
The proposed First Colony “Town Center” mall was originally slated to begin construction in 1990 or 1991, but immediately faced delays. Economic growth in the Houston region sputtered during much of the late 80s and early 90s and Hines also had to deal with Lexington Development’s similarly-timed proposal of a mall at the northeast corner of US 59 and the Grand Parkway (then a short and bumpy northern extension of Crabb River Road). Lexington’s proposed mall was planned to be part of their New Territory subdivision then being built just north of the Brazos River, but the plan evaporated in the early 90s and the site was later developed as the River Park subdivision (including a sizable retail component). Above all, the First Colony Mall project struggled for several years to sign up the anchor tenants needed to make the mall a reality. Most of the upscale anchors that the mall initially targeted seemed uninterested in expanding at all in the region while other potential anchors may have been concerned about stores at First Colony cannibalizing sales from their locations at Sharpstown, Westwood, and West Oaks (all of which heavily courted Fort Bend County shoppers in the 80s and early 90s). However, with the 1990 Census showing that nearly one-quarter of the Houston region’s population growth over the previous decade had occurred in Fort Bend County and that this growth consisted heavily of the affluent, white collar commuters that malls of the time catered to, anchors began to sign up and construction of the mall became inevitable.
Hines Interests and Sugarland Properties finally announced plans for what they now officially called First Colony Mall in October of 1994, with Foley’s as its signature anchor and with construction set to start around the end of that year. The project was financed by Connecticut General Life Insurance (now better known as Cigna) and designed by RTKL Associates of Dallas (now CallisonRTKL) with Hines, Sugarland Properties, and Cigna all taking a stake in the mall’s operating company, The First Colony Mall Joint Venture (not to be confused with the First Colony Venture). The mall would finally open in March 1996, just as First Colony’s main residential sections were nearing build out. The completed mall was quite similar to the proposal that first surfaced in 1987, including about 300,000 sf of inline tenant space and over 1 million sf of retail in total, though it had four anchors instead of the originally proposed three and the proposed ice rink became superfluous when the Aerodrome (now the Sugar Land Ice & Sports Center) opened quite literally across the street from the mall site in 1994. Anchored by Foley’s, Dillard’s, JCPenney, and Mervyn’s (under the Mervyn’s California branding), the mall was notable at the time of its opening for its lack of a Sears store (interestingly, one of the last storefronts in the Houston area to bear the Sears name is located less than a mile from the mall).
In its 25 years, First Colony Mall has survived and often thrived through seismic demographic changes, multiple economic recessions and downturns, the decimation of West Oaks and Sharpstown and closure of Westwood (all of which First Colony arguably had a hand in), the rise of online shopping, the retail trend shift to outdoor power center and outlet mall concepts, COVID-19, and perhaps most famously, a 1998 tornado that struck and damaged the mall. The First Colony Mall Joint Venture sold the mall to General Growth Properties in 2002, which was in turn swallowed by Brookfield Properties in 2018. First Colony Mall presently stands as the last traditional department store-anchored mall to have opened in the Houston area, with 1999’s Katy Mills and several subsequently-built outlet malls opening with a much less traditional mall retail tenant mix.
Let’s Go Inside
Now, won’t you all join me for a journey through what my wife, without fail, calls “The Fort Bend Mall” just as it was “waking up” on a late summer Saturday morning in 2021. It will be fun and air-conditioned, I promise.
The Food Court
Out tour begins in the Food Court, which was probably the most visually distinct part of the mall when it opened in 1996 and, I would argue, remains so today. Though none of its tenants have ever really served up diner fare as far as I can recall, the food court was branded as “Sugar Land Cafes” and plastered with décor meant to evoke a 1950s-era American roadside diner. This branding and even much of the original décor remains in place to this day, making the food court the part of the mall that looks the most like it did in 1996.
This food court entrance, wedged between the dumpsters and the fuse box of the Dick’s Sporting Goods that was added to the mall in 2016, was originally much more prominent. Prior to the construction of Dick’s, it was located a few feet further back behind a small courtyard that was used off and on for outdoor dining.
Here is the food court upon entry. The brown tile arc is roughly where the original entrance to the food court was.
The main dining area of the food court is located in this small atrium. The large billboard signs originally contained faux advertisements meant to evoke a Route 66-esque road trip and its classic roadside diners. These were replaced in the 2000s when the mall sold the space for actual advertisements.
While they are presumably still for sale to advertisers, all four billboards in the atrium are presently being used to advertise the mall itself using computer puns.
These delightful little diner-themed signs ring the atrium just as they did in 1996.
While I suppose Chick-Fil-A might cover “southern fried chicken”, to my knowledge there has never been a restaurant that served up “western bar-b-q” in the food court.
Wholesome treats for the entire family! Like those ice cream sandwiches I see on the next sign over? Not sure the Marble Slab in the food court sells them.
The mall is not above monetizing these little signs just as they have the billboards in the atrium, though it appears there have been no takers thus far… unless I missed the grand opening of Texas Hamburger.
All of the restaurants in the food court (except for Chick-Fil-A) are branded with this fun Sugar Land Cafes diner sign.
The floor near the food court entrance promises us Texas cuisine. The food court’s actual offerings don’t quite meet that definition.
This floor inlay is located where the food court meets the rest of the mall, reminding us of a time before the Interstate 69 designation.
“Jack Guthrie” is a fine name for a fictional butcher. A fictional butcher shop advertisement inlaid into the floor of a mall food court is a stranger choice.
This is the only floor inlay showing its age, though I can personally attest that the crack in that coffee cup has been there for well over a decade now.
No, this photo is not in the wrong section. Once dead Houston-based accessories retailer Charming Charlie really does have a location in the mall’s food court (and they are not the only non-food retailer in the ostensible “food court”). This space was originally Cafe Express, the mall’s only restaurant with its own dining area when it first opened. Cafe Express would leave the mall for the Sugar Land Town Square a few hundred yards to the north in 2003.
Can you guess what this jewelry store on the edge of the food court originally was? If you said “a Cinnamonster”, you are correct and I am both impressed and a little worried that you recall Cinnamonster. It was later appropriately converted into a Cinnabon… before being oddly repurposed as a jewelry store.
A Tour Of The Mall
Now that we have thoroughly examined the food court, let’s go take a look at the rest of the mall. It appears to have a pretty high and healthy occupancy and a solid level of traffic for a mall in this day and age. While some of the mall’s interior has been replaced or updated since its opening, much of it does not look appreciably different than it did in 1996, though it all appears to be pretty well-maintained and little of the mall looks especially worn or out-of-date. Over the years, the mall has seen two additions to and no real subtractions from its original structure and layout. I will briefly cover those additions, but will not explore them as much as the rest of the mall. Maybe I can revisit them when they turn 25 years old.
How nice, a directory that hasn’t been sacrificed to advertising or the digital touch-screen age (which, naturally, allows directories to show advertisements when not being touched).
A closer look at the mall directory shows its distinct crescent/boomerang shape. Section D, the outdoor section with the Barnes & Noble, was added to the mall in 2006. It was originally a parking lot. So too were the parking garages attached to Dillard’s and Macy’s, added in 2006 and 2008, respectively. Also note the inclusion of the AMC First Colony 24 theater in the directory. The AMC opened in 1997 and has long been listed in the mall directory despite not being attached to the mall or even connected to the mall’s parking lots.
This entrance is just to the left of the food court entrance shown earlier. The eyebrow-shaped awning predates McDonald’s recent fascination with the aesthetic by decades.
The eyebrow awnings also appear inside the mall, seen here in the Macy’s wing.
The central section of the mall’s main corridor has an expansive skylight, with “blinds” printed on to the glass to keep the natural light from shining too directly into the mall.
Only a sharp-eyed mallgoer can find the way to Dick’s Sporting Goods…
There are 11 of these fun conical skylights, 6 in the Dillard’s corridor and 5 in the Macy’s corridor. They are not as prominent on the mall’s exterior as they would seem to be when viewed from the interior.
The central section linking the Macy’s and Dillard’s corridors has no need for conical skylights, but keeps the theme of circles on the ceiling going.
This grand piece of wayfinding lets you know what is in store (pun intended) for you should you venture through the doors below to the mall’s outdoor “wing”.
Here is a look at the mall’s outdoor wing in the Houston summer heat. Barnes & Noble is located to the right.
A view of the mall entrance from the outdoor wing. This is probably the mall’s most prominent entrance. Since I’m already sweating and since this outdoor part of the mall is only 15 years old, let’s step back inside.
Heading down towards the Dillard’s corridor we see this hallway to the restrooms and… to Dick’s and the food court too?! This calls for investigation.
I don’t see any restrooms, sporting goods, or food. Is this a trap?
Walking a few more miles down this long hallway reveals that it is not a trap. There’s light (and food) at the end of the tunnel, and restrooms to my left.
Here is where that restroom corridor empties out into the food court. When the mall first opened, this hallway felt like a cool secret shortcut that only local shoppers knew about.
Anchors
Three of First Colony Mall’s four original anchor spaces have been continuously occupied since the mall opened, a fairly impressive feat for a Houston-area mall (though one aided greatly by the fact that the mall has never had a Sears or Montgomery Ward location). Both Dillard’s and JCPenney remain where they were in 1996 while Foley’s took on the Macy’s name in 2006 without interrupting operations. The fourth anchor, Mervyn’s (sans “California” at this point), left the mall in January 2006. The space did not see a long-term occupant again until 2009 when Dillard’s moved its men’s and home departments to the former Mervyn’s, expanding the women’s and children’s departments in its original space. A fifth anchor, Dick’s Sporting Goods, was built on a parking lot between the Mervyn’s and the mall’s food court entrance and opened in October 2016. One might also consider the Barnes & Noble, which opened in 2006 in the mall’s outdoor wing, as a sixth anchor.
The Macy’s was originally a Foley’s, of course (see what I did there?), which is apparent by the burgundy facade that the store still sports. Macy’s opens an hour earlier than the other anchors in the mall. I still have a scar on my right pinky finger from when it got slammed in the door at this store.
This part of Macy’s houseware department is set off in a sort of side pocket area… because it was once the Foley’s electronics department.
Well, that’s not Sugar Land’s skyline, but don’t think I’m passing up a chance to photograph some neon that is inexplicably hanging out in the Macy’s men’s department.
JCPenney’s First Colony location is largely unchanged since the store opened in 1996. It is a fairly compact store, even for a JCPenney.
One unique feature of the JCPenney is that it has two entrances that open up to the mall, one of which is down this short and lightly-used corridor across from the food court exit. The Hollister store on the left was originally the Houston Public Television Store Of Knowledge, a purveyor of educational knick knacks that was once visited by both Wallace AND Gromit.
This is the Dillard’s men’s and home department store, originally Mervyn’s. Very little about the store is indicative of its original occupant, which I believe was the only Mervyn’s in the Houston area to have ever had the full “Mervyn’s California” branding and decor.
An outdoor shot of the former Mervyn’s. Dillard’s remodeling of the facade both inside and out makes it look as if this store has always been a Dillard’s.
The entrance to the original Dillard’s, now the women’s and children’s departments.
Here is an exterior shot of the original Dillard’s. This is the wall that was heavily damaged by the 1998 tornado that hit the mall.
Newest mall anchor, Dick’s Sporting Goods, opens up to the food court. Dick’s were built in several malls in the state during the mid-2010s.
The 25 Club! – Charter Tenants
The two (or three, depending on your opinion of the Foley’s-Macy’s transition) charter anchors aren’t the only original tenants still operating at First Colony Mall. While the mall’s opening day directory included a who’s who of long-gone retailers that mallgoers of a certain age will remember well, from 9 West and Bag’N Baggage to Ritz Camera and Y’all’s Texas Store (and a Buiyahkah on top of that), there are several stores in the mall today whose names have never left the directory. From what I was able to determine, a remarkable 20 inline tenants at First Colony Mall have been operating there since the spring of 1996 (if anyone knows of any original tenants that I missed, please let me know in the comments). Most of these stores are operating out of the same spaces they originally did, but a few have moved around the mall over the years. Congratulations and kudos to these stores for surviving the tumultuous tenant turnover that affects even the most successful of malls.
Ah, Sbarro! My favorite New York pizza joint… and I’m going to go get me a New York slice!
Bracketed by a Vans store and a Things Remembered, Chick-Fil-A is the only restaurant remaining on its side of the food court.
Spencer’s Gifts is one of only two retail spaces located entirely on the short corridor to JCPenney’s second in-mall entrance.
Most of the mall’s jewelers have been in business for a while, but Zales is one of only two that has been here since the beginning.
I suspect I would have been asked a lot more questions had I been photographing Victoria’s Secret when it was open.
Bath & Body Works has ensured that this corner near the main JCPenney entrance has smelled nice since 1996.
Helzberg is the other original jeweler in the mall, located catty-corner from the Bath & Body Works.
If this is not the same GNC facade from 1996 then the new one was made to look like the old one. Well, maybe the old one still said “General Nutrition Center”.
While the neon has been replaced by LED and toned way way down… This Visible Changes retains the classic 80s/90s logo and sharp black-and-green color scheme.
This Foot Locker may predate the mall itself. I mean, not really, but doesn’t every mall have a Foot Locker, even the closed ones?
I have bought glasses here, but not since it was called Eyemasters.
Some photo bombers disturbing a peaceful Sunglass Hut.
Express did not look anything like this in 1996, but in the mall they most certainly were.
A&F was originally located where the Apple Store is now.
The tile facade at Great American Cookies likely dates back to the mall’s opening. The cookie cakes on display are newer, but only slightly.
For several years, First Colony Mall not only had Claire’s, but also Claire’s sister store Icing, which was essentially the same store but aimed at older teens.
Formerly FootAction USA. I guess the chain went international.
Fort Bend County skateboarders have been well-supplied by Journey’s since 1996.
Lenscrafters has been a more frequent stop for me than Eyemasters, though my prescription has not been fillable in an hour in a long long time.
Pac Sun was Pacific Sunware in 1996, and also located down between JCPenney and Macy’s. This location near the food court exit was originally a Waldenbooks.
Misc-mall-aneous Memories
Charter tenants aren’t the only thing interesting lying along the mall’s concourse. As someone who has been going to First Colony Mall since it opened and was a teenager during much of its early life, here are a few other things that I though merited a mention.
Barnes & Noble technically entered First Colony Mall for the first time in this space in 1999, when they acquired Dallas-based software and video game retailer Babbage’s. Nearly every major mall-based video game chain was absorbed into what B&N would eventually spinoff as GameStop: Babbage’s, Software Etc., Electronics Boutique, Funcoland. I believe the black tile facade survives from this store’s days as Babbage’s.
This elegant Swarovski store is quite the contrast to its original occupant, Gadzooks, a Texas-based teen clothing retailer probably best known for a grunge-influenced decor package that included a full-size Volkswagen on the sales floor. A pioneer in selling graphic t-shirts (the various designs plastered on a back wall, a practice now common at many retailers), Gadzooks was well known by 90s teen mallrats as a place that sold t-shirts with “rude” words on them. I bought a purple Atari logo t-shirt at this very store when I was in high school, which was my favorite shirt for years. I actually still have it. Don’t tell my wife…
Just missing the cut as a member of the 25 Club is Prestige Newsstand, a convenience store located right next to Macy’s. Sadly, Prestige closed early in 2021, taking with it its original neon sign from 1996. Curiously, it appears it will be replaced soon by essentially the same kind of store.
Charming Charlie is not the only retailer in the mall to emerge from the grave, this sizable Charlotte Russe closed in 2019 along with all of the chain’s locations. It would reopen months later in the same location. Several other locations in the Houston area also reopened, but not all of them.
Is this a broom closet? Maybe now, but this tiny space wedged behind Great American Cookie and next to a little-used entrance was once an eyeglasses store called Modern Optical. Modern Optical, which closed in 2001, was where I bought the first of many pairs of glasses purchased at this mall. The glasses were Garfield brand (yes, the comic strip) and were comically oversized on my middle school face.
And so we bid First Colony Mall farewell for now. Don’t forget to wipe your feet on the way out, don’t want to track any mall out into the parking lot.
That was Bui Yah Kah, an eclectic women’s clothing retailer that was based here in Houston. The chain went out of business in 2014, closing all 5 of the Houston-area stores it had open at the time.
A true treasure of a mall, and a true treasure of a post! It’s crazy to see your “childhood mall” done up, but this is a great record of First Colony Mall. I had actually forgotten about Gadzooks until you mentioned the Beetle!
Great work, billytheskink, I enjoyed reading this post! Your wife may call this the Fort Bend Mall, but I usually call it the Sugar Land Mall! But, hey, at least I don’t call it the Sugarland Mall, right? Lol, that little Sugarland mall in Hereford looks pretty neat. Maybe Je will be able to visit it one day on one of his small Texas mall adventures!
In some ways, it’s harder to believe that First Colony Mall is 25 years old than it is to believe that Willowbrook Mall is 40 years old. As you say, First Colony is the oldest department store-anchored mall in the Houston area and it really does not feel like it is a quarter of a century old, but it most certainly is. I suppose it’s now old enough that those around in the mall’s earliest days have to dust off the memory vault before opening it, lol.
I must admit that of all the Houston malls, First Colony is one that I probably know the least about. I think I only visited the mall once and that was when the mall was new. I don’t spend much time on the SW side so that’s a big part of it. I must admit that I was biased against this mall for many years. In my mind, a great mall was a mall that had a Sears and a Montgomery Ward. A merely passable mall had one or the other. I made exceptions for Almeda and Northwest Malls due to their age, but First Colony Mall always seemed lacking to me since it didn’t have either Sears or Wards! Now that both are gone from Houston, I suppose that’s not as big of a deal now.
Why Sears was not at this mall is one of the biggest Houston mall mysteries around. The two prevailing thoughts are that either 1) Sears decided to stick with their Westwood and West Oaks locations and skipped on building a location at First Colony or 2) Hines did not want a store like Sears at First Colony Mall in order to maintain an upscale image not unlike what Hines did at The Galleria.
The problem with explanation 1 is that surely Sears knew that Westwood and even West Oaks didn’t have a chance against First Colony. Sugar Land had already become such a prestigious area by the time First Colony was being planned and the areas around Westwood and West Oaks had already begun to suffer from image problems. The problem with explanation 2 is that if Hines was so interested in prestige, why did they allow JCPenney and Mervyn’s?
I tend to lean towards explanation 2. I think JCPenney and Mervyn’s were probably allowed due to them being fashion stores. Although Sears was trying to turn around their image during those days, they were still more associated with tools, tires, car batteries, and stuff like that than fashions.
There is also the mystery of Foley’s announcing they were moving their Sharpstown location to Westwood after the First Colony store opened, but then that move never happened. Why it was even announced is about as big of a mystery as the lack of Sears at First Colony!
One final note, those ads in the food court remind me of the fake storefronts the Mall of the Mainland had. At least if First Colony had a fake postcard about how there’s so much to do at the mall, it would seem a lot more credible than the fake postcard that was actually painted on the walls at the Mall of the Mainland!
Very well written post, and a great addition to the Month of Malls! Happy belated 25th to First Colony Mall! Tons of fun photos and history here.
Wolfchase Galleria in Memphis has very similar billboards overlooking its food court, and they too were sold off to advertisers at one point. Last time I was there, though, they were back to the old generic posters, if I remember correctly. The computer puns seen at this mall are cool.
Was there a store there called “buyaga”? I can barely remember. Loved this post
That was Bui Yah Kah, an eclectic women’s clothing retailer that was based here in Houston. The chain went out of business in 2014, closing all 5 of the Houston-area stores it had open at the time.
A true treasure of a mall, and a true treasure of a post! It’s crazy to see your “childhood mall” done up, but this is a great record of First Colony Mall. I had actually forgotten about Gadzooks until you mentioned the Beetle!
Great work, billytheskink, I enjoyed reading this post! Your wife may call this the Fort Bend Mall, but I usually call it the Sugar Land Mall! But, hey, at least I don’t call it the Sugarland Mall, right? Lol, that little Sugarland mall in Hereford looks pretty neat. Maybe Je will be able to visit it one day on one of his small Texas mall adventures!
In some ways, it’s harder to believe that First Colony Mall is 25 years old than it is to believe that Willowbrook Mall is 40 years old. As you say, First Colony is the oldest department store-anchored mall in the Houston area and it really does not feel like it is a quarter of a century old, but it most certainly is. I suppose it’s now old enough that those around in the mall’s earliest days have to dust off the memory vault before opening it, lol.
I must admit that of all the Houston malls, First Colony is one that I probably know the least about. I think I only visited the mall once and that was when the mall was new. I don’t spend much time on the SW side so that’s a big part of it. I must admit that I was biased against this mall for many years. In my mind, a great mall was a mall that had a Sears and a Montgomery Ward. A merely passable mall had one or the other. I made exceptions for Almeda and Northwest Malls due to their age, but First Colony Mall always seemed lacking to me since it didn’t have either Sears or Wards! Now that both are gone from Houston, I suppose that’s not as big of a deal now.
Why Sears was not at this mall is one of the biggest Houston mall mysteries around. The two prevailing thoughts are that either 1) Sears decided to stick with their Westwood and West Oaks locations and skipped on building a location at First Colony or 2) Hines did not want a store like Sears at First Colony Mall in order to maintain an upscale image not unlike what Hines did at The Galleria.
The problem with explanation 1 is that surely Sears knew that Westwood and even West Oaks didn’t have a chance against First Colony. Sugar Land had already become such a prestigious area by the time First Colony was being planned and the areas around Westwood and West Oaks had already begun to suffer from image problems. The problem with explanation 2 is that if Hines was so interested in prestige, why did they allow JCPenney and Mervyn’s?
I tend to lean towards explanation 2. I think JCPenney and Mervyn’s were probably allowed due to them being fashion stores. Although Sears was trying to turn around their image during those days, they were still more associated with tools, tires, car batteries, and stuff like that than fashions.
There is also the mystery of Foley’s announcing they were moving their Sharpstown location to Westwood after the First Colony store opened, but then that move never happened. Why it was even announced is about as big of a mystery as the lack of Sears at First Colony!
One final note, those ads in the food court remind me of the fake storefronts the Mall of the Mainland had. At least if First Colony had a fake postcard about how there’s so much to do at the mall, it would seem a lot more credible than the fake postcard that was actually painted on the walls at the Mall of the Mainland!
Very well written post, and a great addition to the Month of Malls! Happy belated 25th to First Colony Mall! Tons of fun photos and history here.
Wolfchase Galleria in Memphis has very similar billboards overlooking its food court, and they too were sold off to advertisers at one point. Last time I was there, though, they were back to the old generic posters, if I remember correctly. The computer puns seen at this mall are cool.