The Woodlands Mall
A two-story super-regional enclosed shopping mall in The Woodlands, Texas, north of Houston.
Last updated August 24, 2026
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Overview
The Woodlands Mall is a large, two-story enclosed shopping mall at the intersection of Interstate 45 and Lake Woodlands Drive in The Woodlands, an unincorporated master-planned community in Montgomery County, Texas. Located north of Houston, the mall serves The Woodlands and a broader regional trade area that includes surrounding Montgomery County communities and areas farther north. It is managed by Brookfield Properties and has approximately 1,350,000 square feet of gross leasable area, placing it in the super-regional mall category. The mall opened on October 5, 1994, with more than 120 stores. Its original development was a joint project of The Woodlands Corporation and Homart Development Company, and formed part of the Town Center development strategy for the growing master-planned community. Before the mall opened, local retail was concentrated primarily in grocery-anchored village centers and the smaller Wharf center in Grogan's Mill. Residents seeking a broader department-store and specialty-retail selection often traveled to malls elsewhere in the northern Houston area. The Woodlands Mall therefore became a significant retail and traffic destination for the community and intensified competition with nearby regional malls, particularly Greenspoint Mall. The original anchor lineup included Dillard's, Foley's, Mervyn's, and Sears. JCPenney was added in 1998 in a previously vacant anchor location. The property expanded in 2004 with a 150,000-square-foot outdoor component containing Barnes & Noble, upscale shops, Class A office space, and a 1.4-mile waterway served by a water taxi. This combination of enclosed retail, restaurants, entertainment, offices, and outdoor public-realm features gave the complex a broader role within The Woodlands Town Center than a conventional enclosed mall. The property has undergone several significant anchor transitions. Mervyn's departed the Greater Houston market in 2005, and its former space was subsequently used by the Woodlands Children's Museum and Woodlands Xploration Station before being converted into a large Forever 21 store in 2010. Foley's became Macy's in September 2006 after Federated Department Stores acquired Foley's parent company. Sears left at the beginning of 2013, and its former location was redeveloped for Nordstrom, which opened in September 2014 with additional specialty retail space. Dick's Sporting Goods opened a two-story store in 2016, completing the mall's current five-anchor configuration alongside Dillard's, JCPenney, Macy's, and Nordstrom. Forever 21 permanently closed its location in 2025 as part of the retailer's cost-reduction and downsizing program. The Woodlands Mall's retail offer spans department stores, sporting goods, fashion, specialty retail, dining, services, and family-oriented leisure. Its scale, highway access, anchor mix, and proximity to the community's employment, entertainment, and residential districts support its position as a regional shopping destination rather than a neighborhood center. The mall also experimented with digital shopping tools: in April 2007, it partnered with NearbyNow to let shoppers search for merchandise through mobile phones or home computers. The property remains active, although its tenant mix continues to evolve in response to department-store restructuring, specialty-retail changes, and the wider transformation of enclosed malls.
History
The Woodlands Mall emerged from the expansion of The Woodlands, a master-planned community established in 1974 by developer George P. Mitchell. During the 1980s and early 1990s, the community attracted families and gained wider recognition through developments and events including the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, which opened in 1990, and the Shell Houston Open. Population and commercial growth eventually created demand for a large regional shopping center that could serve residents locally rather than requiring regular trips to northern Houston malls. The Woodlands Corporation pursued the mall as part of the community's Town Center development. Homart Development Company joined the project, and the resulting two-story enclosed center opened on October 5, 1994, with more than 120 stores. Its initial anchors were Dillard's, Foley's, Mervyn's, and Sears. The opening materially expanded the area's retail capacity. Prior shopping options in The Woodlands were mainly grocery-anchored village centers and the smaller Wharf center in Grogan's Mill. For department stores and a broad specialty-retail selection, residents of The Woodlands, Montgomery County, and even Huntsville commonly traveled to Greenspoint Mall or to Willowbrook and Deerbrook malls farther south. The new center changed the competitive geography of the northern Houston retail market. Greenspoint Mall was especially exposed because The Woodlands Mall drew from much of its more affluent and geographically relevant customer base. Greenspoint had already faced pressure from competing regional malls and concerns about crime in its surrounding area, but the opening of The Woodlands Mall accelerated the loss of its importance for shoppers from The Woodlands and nearby communities. JCPenney expanded the anchor lineup in 1998 by opening in an empty anchor position between Sears and Dillard's. In 2004, the property added a substantial outdoor component. The 150,000-square-foot expansion included Barnes & Noble, upscale shops, Class A office space, and a 1.4-mile waterway with water-taxi service. These additions connected the mall more closely with the wider Town Center environment and gave visitors reasons to combine enclosed shopping with dining, leisure, and outdoor activities. The property subsequently experienced the broad department-store and specialty-retail restructuring that affected malls throughout the United States. Mervyn's left the Greater Houston market in 2005 and later ceased operations nationally. Its former space was used temporarily by the Woodlands Children's Museum and Woodlands Xploration Station, a satellite facility of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. In August 2010, the space was converted into a large Forever 21 store. Foley's was rebranded as Macy's in September 2006 after Federated Department Stores acquired Foley's parent company. Sears, an original developer and anchor tenant, closed its store at the beginning of 2013 as the national chain began a long decline and large-scale store reduction. The location was redeveloped rather than left as a conventional vacant anchor. Much of the structure was demolished to make room for a newly built Nordstrom store, which opened in September 2014 as Nordstrom's second full-service Houston-area location. The redevelopment also created additional specialty-retail space. In 2016, Dick's Sporting Goods opened a two-story store in the final remaining anchor space at the southeast corner, between the principal mall entrance and Dillard's. The mall also pursued early digital-retail initiatives. In April 2007, it partnered with NearbyNow, a California-based digital applications company, to provide merchandise-search functionality through mobile phones and home computers. This effort reflected the mall's attempt to make its physical tenant base more searchable and convenient as consumers increasingly used digital tools before visiting stores. The Woodlands Mall is managed by Brookfield Properties. Its approximately 1.35 million square feet of gross leasable area, highway location, five-anchor configuration, and relationship with the surrounding Town Center establish it as a super-regional destination. Its current anchor group consists of Dick's Sporting Goods, Dillard's, JCPenney, Macy's, and Nordstrom. In 2025, Forever 21 permanently closed its store at the property amid the company's effort to downsize and reduce costs. The closure illustrates the continuing turnover in enclosed-mall specialty retail, while the mall's large anchors and mixed retail, dining, office, and outdoor components continue to support its regional role.
- 2025
Forever 21 store closes
[1]Forever 21 permanently closes its mall location during a company-wide downsizing and cost-reduction effort.
- 2016
Dick's Sporting Goods opens
[1]Dick's Sporting Goods opens a two-story anchor store at the mall's southeast corner.
- 2014
Nordstrom opens
[1]A newly built Nordstrom opens in September after redevelopment of the former Sears location.
- 2013
Sears closes
[1]Sears leaves the mall at the beginning of the year, creating the opportunity for a major anchor redevelopment.
- 2010
Forever 21 opens in former Mervyn's space
[1]The former Mervyn's location becomes a large Forever 21 store after interim museum and educational uses.
- 2007
NearbyNow digital search service launches
[1]The mall introduces a partnership enabling shoppers to search participating stores for merchandise online or by mobile phone.
- 2006
Foley's converts to Macy's
[1]The Foley's anchor is rebranded Macy's after a corporate acquisition involving Foley's parent company.
- 2005
Mervyn's exits the Greater Houston market
[1]Mervyn's closes its Greater Houston stores, beginning the transition of its former anchor space.
- 2004
Outdoor expansion is completed
[1]A 150,000-square-foot outdoor section adds retail, offices, restaurants, and a waterway with water-taxi service.
- 1998
JCPenney opens
[1]JCPenney occupies a previously empty anchor space between Sears and Dillard's.
Products and positioning
A super-regional enclosed shopping and lifestyle destination serving The Woodlands and the wider northern Houston-area trade region.
Department stores · 1994
Department-store retail
The mall's department-store offer is anchored by Dillard's, JCPenney, Macy's, and Nordstrom. These stores provide broad assortments spanning apparel, accessories, beauty, home goods, seasonal merchandise, and related services, and serve as major traffic generators for the enclosed center.
Sporting goods · 2016
Dick's Sporting Goods
Dick's Sporting Goods operates a two-story anchor location opened in 2016. The store extends the mall's offer beyond traditional department-store categories with sporting equipment, athletic apparel, footwear, outdoor products, and related recreational merchandise.
Fashion and specialty retail · 1994
Specialty retail
The Woodlands Mall includes specialty retailers across fashion, accessories, books, beauty, technology, services, and other consumer categories. Tenant composition has changed over time as former anchors and large specialty spaces have been redeveloped.
Food and beverage · 1994
Dining and restaurants
Restaurants, peripheral dining venues, and food-court facilities complement the mall's retail offer. The later outdoor expansion broadened the dining environment and connected it to the Town Center's waterway and public spaces.
Leisure and placemaking · 2004
The Woodlands Waterway
The outdoor expansion added a 1.4-mile waterway with water-taxi service, creating a leisure and circulation feature that links mall-related retail and dining with the surrounding Town Center environment.
Marketing campaigns
- 2007NearbyNow merchandise-search partnership
United States
The mall partnered with NearbyNow to make merchandise in participating stores searchable through mobile phones and home computers, linking digital discovery with in-person shopping.
Outcome. The documented initiative provided a digital convenience feature, but no quantitative performance result is available in the supplied sources.
Brand decisions
2025
Accommodate the closure of Forever 21StrategyBackground
Forever 21 pursued company-wide downsizing and cost reductions.
Action taken
Forever 21 permanently closed its location at The Woodlands Mall.
Aftermath
The closure created a further specialty-retail vacancy within the mall; no replacement tenant is identified in the supplied sources.
2016
Fill the remaining anchor space with Dick's Sporting GoodsProduct launchBackground
The mall had a remaining anchor position at its southeast corner between the main entrance and Dillard's.
Action taken
Dick's Sporting Goods opened a two-story store as part of its entry into the Houston-area market.
Aftermath
The opening completed the mall's five-anchor configuration described in the reference material.
2014
Redevelop the former Sears anchor for NordstromGeneration changeBackground
Sears closed its location as the chain entered a prolonged period of store closures and decline.
Action taken
The former Sears area was demolished and redeveloped into a newly built Nordstrom store with additional specialty-retail space.
Aftermath
Nordstrom opened in September 2014, replacing a declining anchor with a new full-service department-store destination.
2004
Add an outdoor lifestyle componentStrategyBackground
The enclosed mall was expanded as The Woodlands Town Center developed into a broader mixed-use destination.
Action taken
A 150,000-square-foot outdoor section with shops, Barnes & Noble, office space, restaurants, a waterway, and water-taxi service was added.
Aftermath
The property gained a stronger connection to outdoor leisure, dining, office, and public-realm uses.
Sources2 sources
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