The Esplanade

Location	Kenner, Louisiana, United States
Opening date	October 9, 1985
Developer	Cadillac Fairview
Owner	Kohan Retail Investment Group
No. of stores and services	28
No. of anchor tenants	4 (3 open, 1 vacant)
Total retail floor area	900,000 sq.ft.
No. of floors	2 (1 in Target and Dillard’s Clearence center)
Website	The Esplanade

The Esplanade, also known as Esplanade Mall, is a suburban shopping mall located in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner, Louisiana, United States. Its anchors are Dillard's Clearance Center, 3.6.5+ by image, Target, and Regal Cinemas' Regal Grand Esplanade & GPX. Its former anchors are D. H. Holmes, Macy's (the first Macy's in Louisiana), and Mervyn's.^[1] It opened in September 1985 and was owned by the Simon Property Group, who acquired it when they acquired the Mills Corporation in 2007. It is now owned by Kohan Retail Investment Group.

History

20th century

The mall was built and opened on October 9, 1985. The original owners were Cadillac Fairview. The mall's original anchors were D. H. Holmes, Leon Godchaux, and Mervyn's. A Macy's was added in 1986.

21st century

The Mills acquired the mall in 2003, and planned to add new retail including two new anchors, Target and Bass Pro Shops, and a new movie theater, but the plan fell through as a result of financial difficulties.^[2] Dillard's acquired the former D. H. Holmes anchor in 1989, and opened a men's store in the mall after the Godchaux's anchor closed in 1992.

The mall closed in August 2005 after sustaining damage from Hurricane Katrina, reopening by October 2005.

In 2006, Macy's closed its store in the Esplanade,^[3] but re-opened in October 2008.^[4] Mervyn's closed in 2006 and the former Mervyn's anchor sat vacant until 2010. In July 2010, it was announced that the former Mervyn's anchor would be demolished. Since then, a 138,000 sq ft (12,800 m²) Target has been built in its place. The new store officially opened July 24, 2011.^[5]

In late 2011, Dillard's Men's Store closed, and in February 2012, the other Dillard's location was converted into a clearance center.^[6] Closing off the second floor of the store and blocking the second floor mall entrance to Dillard’s.

Macy's closed again in 2017 as part of a nationwide downsizing.^{[citation needed]}

On October 5, 2020, Cineworld announced it would close all Regal, Cineworld, Picturehouse Cinemas, and Grand Cinemas locations in the US, UK, Ireland temporarily. The mall as of 2021 owes various back taxes totaling $320,000. While investigating the back taxes, it was found by Jefferson Parish, Louisiana that taxes had been missed on the empty Macy's in 1992, totaling an additional $480,000 owed. Parts of the mall went to tax sale but went unsold, and were taken over by Jefferson Parish.^[7] The Esplanade closed again due to Hurricane Ida in late 2021 and has not re-opened.^[8]

Anchor Stores

Current

• Dillard's Clearance Center (1989–present)
• Target Corporation (2011–present)
• 3.6.5+ by image (2016–present, temporarily closed since 2021)

Former

• D. H. Holmes (1985–1989)
• Leon Godchaux (1985–1992)
• Macy's (1986-2006, 2008–2017)
• Mervyn's (1985–2006)