West Town Mall renovations complete as new Regal Cinebarre movie theater with restaurant and bar concept opens.
West Town Mall is dressed up for a new generation of customers.
The results of 10 months' renovation were on display Thursday afternoon, as mall officials and guests touted West Town's multi-generational appeal. Mall Manager Robert O'Grady said shoppers tell him they came to the mall at 7600 Kingston Pike as children, and now bring their own kids.
"I even know one gentleman, one of our mall walkers, who used to farm this piece of land," O'Grady said.
Unrelated but parallel to the mall renovation, the former West Town Mall 9 theater reopened as a Cinebarre theater offering a full-service restaurant and bar. Its first movie showings began at 4 p.m. Thursday.
Mall work included adding a fifth entrance next to the food court, which has been renamed The Dining Pavilion, plus new seats and TVs in the food court itself.
Entrances got new signs and lights, while the mall interior has new tile and carpets, LED lights throughout, new signs and a new color scheme. A new play area has been built in front of the internal J.C. Penney entrance.
New tenants include Saw Works Brewing Co., Old Harbor Seafood, and Pop Cult toy store. Haagen Dazs ice cream and Cinnabon will open soon, followed by Poke Bros. fish restaurant and Highway 55 burgers, O'Grady said.
The major investment signals mall owner Simon Property Group's confidence in the mall's long-term prospects, O'Grady said.
Under a glass dome in front of J.C. Penney, he thanked the city, construction company, mall retailers and staff for their work. O'Grady and his staff, joined by the family of original mall developer Oliver Smith Jr., stood on a temporary stage to toast West Town Mall's future.
Oliver Smith IV, president of Oliver Smith Realty & Development Co. and grandson of Oliver Smith Jr., presented mall representatives with a miniature golden shovel trophy from the 1970 groundbreaking.
"My grandfather spent 10 laborious years putting the mall together," Smith said. Its 1972 opening moved Knoxville's commercial center out of downtown and was a catalyst for West Knoxville's ongoing growth, he said.
The mall still draws millions of visitors and dollars, Smith said, and he's proud to see the region's "retail crown jewel" renovated for another generation.
The mall will hold a public celebration of its new features from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 21. Festivities include live performances from 12:30 p.m. to after 4 p.m. on a stage in the J.C. Penney court, including a 2 p.m. back-to-school fashion show and 3 p.m. routine by local comedian Leanne Morgan, according to a news release.
At that spot, mall patrons can register from noon to 4:55 p.m. to win a prize an hour. Free snacks and drinks will be available, provided by several restaurants in the food court; and the new play area will offer crafts, balloon twisting and face painting during the event.
Five "Fashion Stops" throughout the mall will offer makeup, fashion tips and other services sponsored by mall stores, the news release said. The first 100 people to hit all five and return to the J.C. Penney stage will get a free tote bag and promotional gift.
O'Grady attributed the mall's continued success, even as malls elsewhere shrink or fail, in part to an excellent location by Interstate 40; but also to offering a varied "family experience" with diverse attractions.
"I think remaining relevant is not just a matter of having retailers only, but also of having a place where families can come spend the day, eat," O'Grady said.
He expects further diversification of mall tenants.
The new mall entrance by the food court is also adjacent to Cinebarre. The theater has been thoroughly redone, from two new digital ticket kiosks and digital movie posters at its mall entrance to its 4,000-square-foot two-level arcade with video games, pool and darts.
A full-service restaurant and bar has 100 seats, with another 100 in the adjacent lounge area, said Richard Grover, vice president of communications for Regal.
"People can come and enjoy just the restaurant. They don't have to see a movie," he said.
The open area has 30 TVs, with 24 beers on tap at the bar; while the restaurant has a full menu of appetizers, burgers and pizza, salads, desserts, cocktails and "boozy shakes," many with names playing on movie titles.
"My favorite is 'To Kill A Mockingburger,'" Grover said.
Another bank of automated ticket kiosks is inside the restaurant area. There is also a guest services counter, and tickets can be bought on the Regal mobile app.
"We don't have a traditional box office at this location," Grover said.
Converting the traditional theater to a Cinebarre, Regal's ninth, took seven months. The theater still has nine screens, but with fewer seats.
The old chairs have been replaced by electronically-controlled recliners, each with a tray table.
Moviegoers can place a food order and enter the theater 40 minutes before showtime; a server will bring the food in, Grover said. Or guests can order right from the theater up to 10 minutes before the movie starts.
Once a film has begun, anyone who wants to order more can step out to the bar, from which workers will text the guest when the order is ready, Grover said.
The Sears at West Town Mall shows no indication of imminent closure, even as Sears has announced many other closings nationwide, including the one at Knoxville Center mall. But documents filed with the Knoxville-Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission hint that the anchor store may soon be gone – building and all.
O'Grady didn't directly address talk of a replacement for Sears, but was aware of the discussion.
"As much as it'd been a negative for some, I think it's going to be an opportunity for us," he said.
While smaller companies find it hard to keep their space full, Simon Property Group – the nation's largest mall owner – has the resources to treat a retail anchor tenant's departure as an opportunity to bring in new uses, he said.
In March, mall owner Simon Property Group asked the Knoxville-Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission to allow many non-retail uses on the mall's 72-acre site, including vehicle sales, a hotel, multi-family residential, sporting and fitness facilities, medical offices and facilities, and outdoor entertainment.
West Town Mall opened in 1972, and several expansions in the 1990s doubled its size to the current 1.3 million square feet. Now it has more than 150 stores, of which more than 40 are exclusive to the Knoxville area, according to the mall's website. Its anchor stores are Belk, Dillard's, J.C. Penney and Sears.