West Lake Mall
West Lake Mall is a 300,000 square foot former shopping mall located north of Bessemer Superhighway and south of I-20/59 in Bessemer, near the Cedar Hill Cemetery. The mall, managed by Mac Mitchell, is vacant except for a Food World store that is set to close.
The mall was constructed in 1969 by Indianapolis, Indiana developer Mel Simon.
In the mid-1980s Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company made an effort to transform the mall into a factory outlet center.
The Bruno family made efforts toward revitalization of the shopping center when it placed one of its flagship stores in the former Sears location. The grocery store was later converted to a the Food World brand.
The Magic City Railroad Club used a portion of the mall for a semi-permanent model train installation from 1993 to 2007.
Auto dealer Anthony Underwood purchased the remainder of the mall in 2007 and is pursuing plans to lease space to discount retailers which he hopes to attract by starting a flea market in the 91,000 square-foot northeastern anchor space. Other possibilities include converting part of the mall into a business operations center or call center, or for warehouse distribution. He currently operates a party room in the mall.
Former tenants
- Sears
- New Ideal
- Pizitz
- Loveman's
- Aland's
- Sokol's
- Goody's
- Radio Shack
- Lorch's Diamond Center
- Handy TV and Appliance
- Consumer Warehouse Foods
References
- Tomberlin, Michael (March 19, 2009) "West Lake mall's owner dreams of revival in Bessemer, Alabama." Birmingham News