Bowie Town Center
An outdoor shopping center in Bowie, Maryland, serving the surrounding suburban Washington, D.C., market.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
Bowie Town Center is an outdoor shopping mall in Bowie, Maryland, United States. The center is situated on Emerald Way near the interchange of U.S. Route 301 and U.S. Route 50, giving it access to residents of Bowie and nearby communities in Prince George's County. It opened in November 2001 as a mixed-use-style suburban retail destination organized around a broad tenant mix rather than a single specialty category. At opening, the center's principal tenants included Sears, Hecht's, Barnes & Noble, Old Navy, and Bed Bath & Beyond. Safeway and Best Buy were also part of the early commercial lineup, with Safeway opening in early 2002 in a large-format store that included an in-store Starbucks, prepared-food facilities, and a dry-cleaning service. The combination of department stores, grocery, books, home goods, apparel, electronics, dining, and services positioned Bowie Town Center as a convenient regional shopping destination for routine household and discretionary purchases. The tenant roster changed as the U.S. department-store and specialty-retail sectors evolved. Hecht's ceased operating at the center in September 2006 and its space was converted to Macy's. Bed Bath & Beyond left in September 2012, and the former store was subsequently redeveloped for LA Fitness, which opened there in November 2013. Sears remained an anchor for many years, but ownership of the Sears property was separated from Sears Holdings in 2015 when the site became part of the portfolio spun off to Seritage Growth Properties. Sears announced its closure in October 2018 during the company's Chapter 11 restructuring, and the store shut permanently on January 6, 2019. Best Buy, another original-era tenant, closed on September 21, 2023. United Furniture Warehouse became a current tenant in 2024. The center continues to operate as an active retail and service complex. Its current tenant profile includes Macy's, Safeway, LA Fitness, and United Furniture Warehouse, while the broader center is described as containing approximately 79 stores. Bowie Town Center's role is primarily local and regional: it combines grocery shopping, department-store retail, fitness, furniture, food, and other services in an open-air suburban format. Because the property is a physical shopping center rather than a publicly traded operating company, detailed information about its corporate ownership, management team, financial performance, and investment structure is not established in the supplied reference material.
History
Bowie Town Center opened in November 2001 as an open-air shopping center in Bowie, Maryland. Its location on Emerald Way, close to the junction of U.S. Route 301 and U.S. Route 50, was intended to serve the growing suburban population in and around Bowie. The original retail concept combined large department-store anchors with national specialty retailers, a supermarket, books, apparel, home goods, and electronics. The opening-era anchor lineup included Sears and Hecht's, alongside Barnes & Noble, Old Navy, and Bed Bath & Beyond. Safeway and Best Buy were also associated with the center's initial development. Safeway opened in early 2002 in a roughly 65,000-square-foot store featuring an in-store Starbucks, prepared-food facilities, dry-cleaning services, and a revised store layout. This helped establish the center as a destination for both everyday grocery needs and broader consumer shopping. The property experienced several significant tenant transitions. Hecht's closed on September 9, 2006, and the space became a Macy's store. Bed Bath & Beyond closed on September 7, 2012. Its former premises were subsequently adapted for LA Fitness, which opened on November 15, 2013, reflecting the broader shift in shopping centers toward service, fitness, and experiential tenants as some specialty retailers contracted. In 2015, Sears Holdings separated 235 properties from its operating portfolio through a transaction that placed them with Seritage Growth Properties. The Sears property at Bowie Town Center was included in that group. Sears later announced on October 15, 2018, that the Bowie store would close as part of a nationwide closure program associated with its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The store ceased operations on January 6, 2019. Best Buy, another tenant dating to the center's early years, closed its Bowie Town Center store on September 21, 2023. United Furniture Warehouse was listed as a current tenant from 2024. The center's current lineup includes Macy's, Safeway, LA Fitness, and United Furniture Warehouse, while the shopping center as a whole is described as having 79 stores. The available reference material does not identify the center's present owner, property manager, detailed financial results, or a named executive team.
- 2024
United Furniture Warehouse listed as tenant
[1]United Furniture Warehouse became part of the center's reported current tenant lineup.
- 2023
Best Buy closes
[1]Best Buy closed its Bowie Town Center location on September 21.
- 2019
Sears closes
[1]The Sears store permanently closed on January 6 following the closure announcement made during the retailer's Chapter 11 restructuring.
- 2015
Sears property enters Seritage portfolio
[1]The Sears property at Bowie Town Center was among 235 properties separated from Sears Holdings and transferred into Seritage Growth Properties.
- 2013
LA Fitness opens
[1]LA Fitness opened on November 15 in the former Bed Bath & Beyond location.
- 2012
Bed Bath & Beyond departs
[1]Bed Bath & Beyond closed its store at the center on September 7.
- 2006
Hecht's is replaced by Macy's
[1]Hecht's closed on September 9, and its anchor space was converted to Macy's.
- 2002
Safeway begins operations
[1]Safeway opened an approximately 65,000-square-foot store with grocery, prepared-food, Starbucks, and dry-cleaning services.
- 2001
Bowie Town Center opens
[1]The outdoor shopping center opened in November in Bowie, Maryland, with Sears, Hecht's, Barnes & Noble, Old Navy, and Bed Bath & Beyond among its principal tenants.
Products and positioning
A convenient open-air suburban shopping center combining essential grocery retail, department-store shopping, furniture, fitness, and complementary services for Bowie-area consumers.
Department store · 2006
Macy's
Macy's is the principal department-store anchor identified at Bowie Town Center. It occupies the former Hecht's anchor position and provides apparel, accessories, beauty products, home merchandise, and other general department-store categories for the center's regional customer base.
Grocery retail · 2002
Safeway
Safeway provides full-service grocery shopping and everyday household provisions. The Bowie Town Center store opened in the early 2000s and was described as including prepared foods, an in-store Starbucks, and dry-cleaning services in addition to its supermarket departments.
Fitness and wellness · 2013
LA Fitness
LA Fitness operates a health and fitness club in the former Bed Bath & Beyond space. Its presence adds membership-based services, exercise facilities, and wellness-related visits to the shopping center's predominantly retail-oriented tenant mix.
Furniture retail · 2024
United Furniture Warehouse
United Furniture Warehouse is a furniture retailer listed among Bowie Town Center's current tenants from 2024. It broadens the center's home-related offering beyond department-store and grocery merchandise.
Brand decisions
2019
Sears closes after bankruptcy-related restructuringOtherBackground
Sears announced in 2018 that the Bowie store would be included in a nationwide closure program connected with its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
Action taken
The Sears store closed permanently on January 6, 2019.
Aftermath
The center lost one of its original anchor tenants.
2013
Replace Bed Bath & Beyond with LA FitnessStrategyBackground
Bed Bath & Beyond left the center in 2012, creating a large vacant retail space.
Action taken
LA Fitness opened in the former Bed Bath & Beyond premises on November 15, 2013.
Aftermath
The center added a service and fitness use to its tenant mix.
2006
Convert the Hecht's anchor to Macy'sStrategyBackground
Hecht's closed its Bowie Town Center store during a broader brand transition affecting the department-store portfolio.
Action taken
The former Hecht's anchor space was converted for Macy's, preserving a major department-store presence at the center.
Aftermath
Macy's remains identified as a current anchor tenant.
Sources2 sources
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