SeaTac Mall/Commons at Federal Way

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Super S
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SeaTac Mall/Commons at Federal Way

Post by Super S »

I visited this mall yesterday for the first time in several years. A lot has changed, most notably the addition of a new Target store and new Century Theatres. I believe the Target was originally a Mervyn's, which appeared to have been demolished and rebuilt. However, I have no idea waht tenant originally occupied the Theater space, which also appears to have been demolished and rebuilt. Sears and Macys (former Bon Marche) are still in the original locations.

I actually like the simple, one-story layout of this mall.
marshd1000
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Re: SeaTac Mall/Commons at Federal Way

Post by marshd1000 »

The theatre space was originally Lamonts then Gottschalks. Gottschalks left as it was pulling out of the Seattle metro area. In other words, before the whole company went bankrupt.
tkaye
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Re: SeaTac Mall/Commons at Federal Way

Post by tkaye »

The Target space was originally occupied by Peoples. When Mercantile Stores folded Peoples in early 1984, their mall locations (Federal Way, Lacey, and Yakima) were acquired by Mervyn's.

Here's a flashback from YouTube: a 1981 SeaTac Mall commercial, with shots of the interior entrances to all the anchor stores and the faux-Indian motif. That jingle was the most memorable (and I'd say the longest-lived) of all the Seattle-area malls.
Super S
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Re: SeaTac Mall/Commons at Federal Way

Post by Super S »

When did Lamonts become Gottschalks? I do not remember seeing a Lamonts sign with that style of L before.

Those overhead "faux-Indian" lights are now gone. But there are many places in the ceilings shaped like that still.
VibeGuy
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Re: SeaTac Mall/Commons at Federal Way

Post by VibeGuy »

Lamonts rebranded to Gottschalks rapidly after the buyout, which would put the conversions mid-2000.

The curlicue L was still in use at a few locations at that point; I'm not sure when they switched the the simplified cursive L, but I know none of the former F&N/Lipman's/Crescent locations (Valley River Mall in Eugene, Lloyd Center, Jantzen Beach and Corvallis) ever had it, so that would put the change sometime between that 1981 ad and 1988.

As for jingles, the one that WILL NOT DIE in my head is from when Northgate, Southcenter and Tacoma Mall were still under common ownership, ca. 1983...."Shoppin' around, go for a while! Shoppin' around, goin' in style! (lost to sands of time) .... good things happen shoppin' around! Shoppin' around! North-gate, South-center, Ta-co-ma Maaaaall, there's no better place for shoppin' around! Shoppin' AROUND!"

Make it stop. It's almost as bad as the holiday jingle from Payless Drug....

E
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Brian Lutz
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Re: SeaTac Mall/Commons at Federal Way

Post by Brian Lutz »

Super S wrote:When did Lamonts become Gottschalks? I do not remember seeing a Lamonts sign with that style of L before.

Those overhead "faux-Indian" lights are now gone. But there are many places in the ceilings shaped like that still.
I believe that at least some (possibly all) of the Lamonts stores were liquidated and closed before Gottschalks acquired the assets and reopened them. I recall the one at Crossroads in Bellevue being vacant for several months before Gottschalks moved in.

I recall that Sea-Tac Mall jingle (in a different, slightly downtempo version) being used in radio commercials in the late Nineties, just a couple of years before the remodel/name change took place.
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tkaye
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Re: SeaTac Mall/Commons at Federal Way

Post by tkaye »

VibeGuy wrote:The curlicue L was still in use at a few locations at that point; I'm not sure when they switched the the simplified cursive L, but I know none of the former F&N/Lipman's/Crescent locations (Valley River Mall in Eugene, Lloyd Center, Jantzen Beach and Corvallis) ever had it, so that would put the change sometime between that 1981 ad and 1988.
The trademark registration for the more recent Lamonts logo says that it was first used in July 1984.

If I remember right, the Lamonts at the Kitsap Mall in Silverdale (built 1985) had the new logo signage but had the ornate "L" engraved into the wooden door handles. I don't recall if Gottschalks had those handles removed or just left them.
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submariner
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Re: SeaTac Mall/Commons at Federal Way

Post by submariner »

tkaye wrote:
VibeGuy wrote:The curlicue L was still in use at a few locations at that point; I'm not sure when they switched the the simplified cursive L, but I know none of the former F&N/Lipman's/Crescent locations (Valley River Mall in Eugene, Lloyd Center, Jantzen Beach and Corvallis) ever had it, so that would put the change sometime between that 1981 ad and 1988.
The trademark registration for the more recent Lamonts logo says that it was first used in July 1984.

If I remember right, the Lamonts at the Kitsap Mall in Silverdale (built 1985) had the new logo signage but had the ornate "L" engraved into the wooden door handles. I don't recall if Gottschalks had those handles removed or just left them.
Gottschalks removed those handles. When I lived there 2004-2008 they were ordinary handles (until the Gottschalks closed and converted to a Barnes & Noble and Cost Plus).
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