Mall St. Vincent

Mall St. Vincent is an enclosed shopping mall located at 1133 St. Vincent Avenue near Interstate 49 in Shreveport, Louisiana. The property opened on February 2, 1977, after being developed by General Growth Properties, the shopping-center company now associated with Brookfield Properties through its later corporate history. The mall takes its name from the original St. Vincent's Academy, a Catholic girls' school established on the site by the Daughters of the Cross. The shopping center was built on approximately 100 acres formerly associated with the academy. The mall's principal surviving anchor is Dillard's. For much of its operating history, the center also included Sears as a major anchor, but Sears announced in June 2018 that it would close the Mall St. Vincent location in September of that year. The closure followed Sears Holdings' Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and left a substantial vacant department-store space. New York & Company later closed its Mall St. Vincent storefront in 2020 after the company entered bankruptcy and shut all of its stores. Other tenants, including Grimaldi's Pizzeria and Gymboree, had departed in 2017. Mall St. Vincent reflects the pressures affecting many traditional enclosed malls: competition from online commerce, changes in consumer shopping behavior, anchor-store bankruptcies, and the difficulty of repurposing large-format retail space. In 2014, Shreveport's city government approved a taxpayer-funded proposal to direct $16.5 million toward the mall. A remodeling project included an outdoor fountain, but reporting in 2017 described the fountain as deteriorating and no longer operating, illustrating the continuing maintenance and redevelopment challenges facing the property. The most significant recent change concerns the former Sears building. In 2026, the LSU Health Sciences Foundation purchased the vacant anchor building for $3.5 million and planned to convert it into a biomedical research facility operated by LSU Health. The proposed facility is described as approximately 181,000 square feet. On February 27, 2026, the Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors voted to provide the project with the next level of approval. This proposed adaptive reuse would shift part of the site from conventional department-store retail toward healthcare and research use while preserving Mall St. Vincent as a recognizable commercial property in Shreveport. The mall's long-term retail configuration and broader ownership structure are not fully documented in the supplied sources.

Mall St. Vincent opened on February 2, 1977, in Shreveport, Louisiana. General Growth Properties developed the enclosed shopping center on a roughly 100-acre site that had previously been associated with St. Vincent's Academy, a Catholic girls' school founded by the Daughters of the Cross. The academy supplied the mall with its name and gave the development a local historical association distinct from a purely commercial identity. The mall was designed around the conventional regional-shopping-center model of its era, using department stores and specialty retailers to attract customers from Shreveport and nearby communities. Dillard's became its principal anchor. Sears also operated as a major anchor for many years, helping provide the broad merchandise range traditionally expected of an enclosed mall. By the 2010s, Mall St. Vincent was operating in a retail environment increasingly shaped by e-commerce, changing consumer preferences, and the weakening of department-store chains. In 2014, Shreveport officials approved a proposal for $16.5 million in taxpayer-funded support for the mall. The associated remodeling work included an outdoor fountain. Within several years, however, the fountain was reported to be deteriorating, without water, and surrounded by dead plants. The condition of the feature became a visible sign of the maintenance and investment difficulties affecting the property. Tenant turnover became more apparent in 2017, when Grimaldi's Pizzeria and Gymboree closed their locations. Contemporary local reporting presented those departures in the context of broader pressure on enclosed malls and the shift of shopping activity toward online channels. The decline of traditional anchor retailers created an additional challenge. On June 6, 2018, Sears announced that it would close its Mall St. Vincent store in September. The decision followed Sears Holdings' Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and removed one of the center's largest retail occupants. The mall experienced another notable departure in 2020, when New York & Company closed its storefront after entering bankruptcy and shutting all of its stores. These closures reduced the breadth of the mall's tenant mix and reinforced the question of how older enclosed shopping centers could maintain relevance as department stores and specialty chains contracted. The former Sears building subsequently became the focus of an adaptive-reuse proposal. In 2026, the LSU Health Sciences Foundation purchased the building for $3.5 million. The plan called for conversion of the approximately 181,000-square-foot structure into a biomedical research facility to be operated by LSU Health. On February 27, 2026, the Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors voted to advance the proposal to its next level of approval. If completed, the conversion would introduce a substantial healthcare and research use into a property historically organized around retail anchors. Mall St. Vincent therefore represents both the persistence and transformation of the regional enclosed-mall format. It remains identified with retail and anchored by Dillard's, while the planned LSU Health project could diversify the surrounding site and give a long-vacant department-store building a new institutional function. Detailed information about current ownership, management, tenant occupancy, and the final status of the redevelopment is not established in the supplied reference material.

• 2026

  Former Sears building purchased for LSU Health redevelopment

  [1]Mall St. Vincenten.wikipedia.org

  The LSU Health Sciences Foundation bought the former Sears building for planned conversion into a biomedical research facility.

• 2020

  New York & Company store closes

  [1]Mall St. Vincenten.wikipedia.org

  New York & Company closed its Mall St. Vincent location as part of a company-wide store shutdown following bankruptcy.

• 2018

  Sears anchor closes

  [1]Mall St. Vincenten.wikipedia.org

  Sears announced the closure of its Mall St. Vincent store after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

• 2017

  Multiple tenants depart

  [1]Mall St. Vincenten.wikipedia.org

  Grimaldi's Pizzeria and Gymboree closed their Mall St. Vincent operations amid broader pressure on enclosed shopping malls.

• 2014

  Public investment proposal approved

  [1]Mall St. Vincenten.wikipedia.org

  Shreveport's city government voted for a taxpayer-funded proposal involving $16.5 million for Mall St. Vincent.

• 1977

  Mall St. Vincent opens

  [1]Mall St. Vincenten.wikipedia.org

  The enclosed shopping mall opened on February 2 in Shreveport, Louisiana, after development by General Growth Properties.

A regional enclosed shopping center serving Shreveport and the surrounding northwestern Louisiana market, with a traditional department-store anchor model and an emerging role as a mixed retail, healthcare, and research property.

• Department store anchor

  Dillard's

  Dillard's is the principal department-store anchor identified for Mall St. Vincent. Its merchandise category typically includes apparel, accessories, beauty products, home goods, and related department-store offerings. Within the mall's tenant structure, the store provides a broad destination intended to draw customers beyond individual specialty shops.

• Former department store anchor

  Former Sears anchor

  Sears formerly occupied a major anchor position at Mall St. Vincent. The store closed in 2018 after Sears Holdings entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The building was later purchased by the LSU Health Sciences Foundation for planned conversion into an approximately 181,000-square-foot biomedical research facility.

• 2026

  Adaptive reuse of former Sears buildingStrategy

  Background

  A large vacant department-store building was identified for a non-retail institutional use as enclosed-mall anchor space became more difficult to operate conventionally.

  Action taken

  The LSU Health Sciences Foundation purchased the former Sears building and proposed converting it into an LSU Health biomedical research facility.

  Aftermath

  The proposed project would bring healthcare and research activity to the mall property. The LSU Board of Supervisors advanced the project to the next approval stage on February 27, 2026.

  Purchase price for former Sears building. $3.5 million (2026)

  Source

• 2018

  Sears anchor closureOther

  Background

  Sears announced the closure of its Mall St. Vincent location after its parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

  Action taken

  The Sears store was scheduled to close in September 2018.

  Aftermath

  The mall lost a major department-store anchor and the former Sears space became a candidate for later redevelopment.

  Source

• 2014

  Publicly supported mall investment proposalStrategy

  Background

  Shreveport officials considered the mall important enough to support a taxpayer-funded investment proposal during a period of uncertainty for traditional enclosed retail.

  Action taken

  The city government voted for a proposal involving $16.5 million in public funding for Mall St. Vincent.

  Aftermath

  The investment was followed by remodeling work that included an outdoor fountain, although later reporting described the fountain as deteriorated and nonoperational. The mall's longer-term retail prospects remained uncertain.

  Proposed taxpayer-funded investment. $16.5 million proposed (2014)

  Source

1. 1Mall St. Vincenten.wikipedia.org