Published October 2005

Snohomish County Business Journal/JOHN WOLCOTT Borders Book & Music is among the new retailers joining the Everett Mall this year. Others include Old Navy inside the mall and Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond and Sleep Country USA in The Village nearby.

Construction under way
as mall adds new retailers

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

The major expansion under way at the Everett Mall is significantly changing the outer appearance of the longtime shopping venue and adding major new merchandisers, changes that seem destined to attract larger crowds and grab public attention.

Two new front entrances, leading separately to Old Navy and Borders, will open soon, preceding next year’s rebuilding of the main entrance at the center of the mall, a two-month project.

Several new stores are expected to open at the 33-year-old mall before the end of the year, part of the $30 million dollar renovation and expansion program that the Steadfast Cos. launched soon after buying the mall in mid-2004 for $50.2 million.

Just a year earlier, the Newport Beach, Calif.-based company bought the SeaTac Mall, began upgrading the shopping center and renamed it The Commons at Federal Way.

At the Everett Mall, Old Navy and Borders Book & Music expect to open by early November in the mall, with Best Buy and Bed Bath & Beyond opening in The Village, a new array of stores on the west side of the mall. Other stores due to open before the Christmas season include Sleep Country USA and Quiznos Sub, also in The Village.

Next year should see the arrival of PetsMart in The Village and a new 16-screen Regal Cineplex movie theater, now under construction on the south side of the mall. Sears will be upgrading its building on the west end of the mall as well.

With the arrival of Borders, B. Dalton plans to close its mall store by mid-October, and WaldenBooks, owned by the parent company for Borders, also may close soon.

New stores at the Everett Mall will add nearly 800 full-time and part-time jobs to the local economy, according to Linda Johannes, the mall’s general manager. The mall will promote its new stores at grand-opening ceremonies Nov. 17.

S.D. Deacon Corp. of Bellevue is the general contractor for the Everett Mall project.

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