The Mall at Westlake

The Mall at Westlake, commonly known as Westlake Mall, was an enclosed shopping center in Bessemer, Alabama, United States. It was developed on a former lake bed along U.S. Highway 11 and opened in 1969 with three principal anchor stores: Sears, Grant's, and Loveman's. The center was established during a period when enclosed malls were becoming important regional retail destinations, offering shoppers a concentrated mix of department stores, smaller specialty shops, and mall services. The mall also acquired a degree of political visibility. In 1970, former Alabama governor George Wallace held a campaign event at Westlake during his reelection effort. Attendance was estimated at approximately 10,000 people, making the gathering one of the largest events associated with that gubernatorial race. This political use reflected the mall's role as a prominent public gathering place in the Bessemer area during its earlier years. By the late 1970s and 1980s, Westlake entered a prolonged decline. The center faced competition and population movement associated with continued suburban expansion toward the southwest and the Tuscaloosa County line. The source material also links its deterioration to increasing crime and poverty in Bessemer. An effort was made in the mid-1980s to reposition the property as a factory outlet center, although conventional stores continued to operate for a time. The strategy did not restore the mall to its earlier level of activity. All three original anchor stores had closed by 1989. Their departures left the property with a diminished tenant base and contributed to its reputation as a dead or deserted mall. The former anchor spaces were later used by other retailers. In 1994, Bruno's Supermarkets opened what was described as its flagship and largest store in the former Sears location. A Goody's Family Clothing store operated in the former Loveman's space, while a smaller assortment of retailers continued elsewhere in the center. The remaining retail presence weakened further in the late 2000s. Goody's relocated to another site, and Bruno's filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and closed its Westlake store. The shuttered property was subsequently sold to Anthony Underwood, a Bessemer used-car dealership owner, who sought to revive it as an outlet-oriented retail development. Those efforts did not return the mall to sustained operation. By the time of a 2025 redevelopment announcement, the center had reportedly been vacant for 16 years. In 2025, the property was announced for redevelopment as Marvel City Business Park, an industrial park. This plan marks a transition away from the site's original enclosed-retail identity. The Mall at Westlake is therefore best understood as a defunct regional shopping center whose history follows the broader pattern of aging American malls: an initially successful anchor-based retail complex, a period of repositioning, long-term vacancy, and eventual conversion to a different land use.

The Mall at Westlake was an enclosed shopping mall in Bessemer, Alabama. The property was built on a former lake bed beside U.S. Highway 11 and opened in 1969. Its initial configuration followed the dominant regional-mall model of the period, with three anchor department stores—Sears, Grant's, and Loveman's—supported by smaller shops and mall services. The center's location and enclosed format gave it a prominent role in local retail and community life. Westlake's public profile extended beyond shopping. In 1970, former Alabama governor George Wallace used the mall as the venue for a reelection campaign event. The gathering was estimated to have attracted approximately 10,000 people, reportedly one of the largest turnouts during that gubernatorial campaign. The event illustrates how major malls could function as civic and political gathering spaces as well as commercial properties. The center began to lose momentum in the late 1970s and 1980s. The historical account attributes the decline to several overlapping conditions: southwestward urban sprawl toward the Tuscaloosa County line, increasing crime and poverty in Bessemer, and the resulting deterioration of the mall's retail environment. In November 1983, an 18-year-old woman was kidnapped near the mall and sexually assaulted by masked abductors. This crime is recorded in the mall's history and contributed to the negative public context surrounding the property, although the available material does not establish it as the sole or primary cause of the mall's commercial decline. During the mid-1980s, owners or operators attempted to reposition Westlake as a factory outlet center. Conventional stores continued to operate during this period, but the outlet strategy did not reverse the larger trend. By 1989, Sears, Grant's, and Loveman's had all closed. The loss of every original anchor severely reduced the mall's ability to attract shoppers and left it with the characteristics of a dead or deserted mall. The property continued to receive intermittent commercial use. In 1994, Bruno's Supermarkets opened a major store in the former Sears location. It was described as Bruno's flagship and largest store. The former Loveman's space later housed a Goody's Family Clothing store, and a limited group of smaller retailers remained active elsewhere in the mall. These occupancies represented attempts to reuse large vacant anchor spaces rather than a restoration of the original department-store model. Westlake's remaining retail activity weakened in the late 2000s. Goody's relocated to another location, and Bruno's filed for bankruptcy in 2009, closing its Westlake store. The center was then sold to Anthony Underwood, identified in the source material as a Bessemer used-car dealership owner. Underwood hoped to revive the property as an outlet mall, but the available account does not indicate that this plan produced a sustained operating retail center. By 2025, the former mall had reportedly been vacant for 16 years. That year, redevelopment plans were announced under the name Marvel City Business Park, with the site intended for industrial use. The proposed conversion represents a decisive change in the property's function, from an enclosed consumer-retail destination to a business and industrial park. Westlake's history consequently reflects a common American retail-landscape cycle: rapid growth around department-store anchors, vulnerability to suburban development and changing shopping patterns, failed adaptive-reuse efforts, prolonged vacancy, and eventual redevelopment for a non-retail purpose.

• 2025

  Industrial redevelopment announced

  [1]The Mall at Westlakeen.wikipedia.org

  The vacant former mall site is announced for redevelopment as Marvel City Business Park.

• 2009

  Bruno's bankruptcy and store closure

  [1]The Mall at Westlakeen.wikipedia.org

  Bruno's files for bankruptcy and closes its Westlake location.

• 1994

  Bruno's opens in the former Sears space

  [1]The Mall at Westlakeen.wikipedia.org

  Bruno's Supermarkets opens a flagship store in the former Sears anchor location.

• 1989

  All original anchors have closed

  [1]The Mall at Westlakeen.wikipedia.org

  Sears, Grant's, and Loveman's have all left the property, accelerating the center's transformation into a largely deserted mall.

• 1983

  Kidnapping and sexual assault near the mall

  [1]The Mall at Westlakeen.wikipedia.org

  An 18-year-old woman is kidnapped near the mall and sexually assaulted by masked abductors in November.

• 1970

  Large George Wallace campaign event

  [1]The Mall at Westlakeen.wikipedia.org

  Former Alabama governor George Wallace holds a reelection campaign event at the mall, with estimated attendance of approximately 10,000.

• 1969

  Mall opens in Bessemer

  [1]The Mall at Westlakeen.wikipedia.org

  The enclosed shopping mall opens along U.S. Highway 11 on a former lake bed with Sears, Grant's, and Loveman's as its three anchor stores.

Former regional enclosed shopping center serving Bessemer and surrounding communities; later repositioned unsuccessfully toward factory-outlet retail before becoming vacant.

• Retail property · 1969

  Enclosed shopping mall

  Westlake's principal offering was a regional enclosed-shopping environment combining department-store anchors, smaller specialty retailers, and general mall services. Its original anchor lineup consisted of Sears, Grant's, and Loveman's. The property later attempted to broaden its commercial model through factory-outlet positioning and reuse of former anchor spaces.

• Supermarket · 1994

  Bruno's Supermarkets flagship store

  Opened in 1994 in the former Sears location, Bruno's store was described as the supermarket company's flagship and largest store. It provided a major grocery use within a mall whose original department-store anchors had already disappeared. The location closed after Bruno's filed for bankruptcy in 2009.

• Apparel retail

  Goody's Family Clothing store

  Goody's Family Clothing occupied the former Loveman's anchor location during the mall's later operating period. The store represented an adaptive reuse of a large department-store space, but it eventually relocated elsewhere in the late 2000s.

• 1983

  Kidnapping and sexual assault near Westlake Mall

  An 18-year-old woman was kidnapped near the mall and sexually assaulted by masked abductors in November 1983. The incident is included in historical accounts of the property and is associated with the wider crime concerns cited in explanations of the mall's decline.

  Source

Read more

• 1970George Wallace reelection campaign event

  United States

  Former Alabama governor George Wallace held a campaign event at Westlake Mall during his reelection campaign. The event was estimated to have drawn about 10,000 attendees.

  Outcome. The event became one of the largest reported turnouts of Wallace's final gubernatorial race and highlighted the mall's role as a major community gathering place.

  Source

• 2025

  Conversion of the former mall into Marvel City Business ParkStrategy

  Background

  The former shopping center had reportedly been vacant for 16 years and earlier attempts to restore outlet-oriented retail had not produced a sustained operating mall.

  Action taken

  Redevelopment was announced to convert the property into Marvel City Business Park, an industrial park.

  Aftermath

  The announced plan represents a shift from enclosed retail to industrial and business use. The available source does not provide further completion details.

  Source

• 1994

  Bruno's flagship supermarket opens in former Sears spaceProduct launch

  Background

  The mall had lost its original anchor stores and needed new uses for its large vacant spaces.

  Action taken

  Bruno's Supermarkets opened a flagship location in the former Sears anchor, described as the company's largest store.

  Aftermath

  The supermarket provided a substantial tenant presence, but it later closed following Bruno's 2009 bankruptcy.

  Source

• 1985

  Attempted repositioning as a factory outlet centerStrategy

  Background

  The mall was experiencing decline during the 1980s, while urban expansion, economic hardship, and crime affected the surrounding retail environment.

  Action taken

  An effort was made to convert or reposition the property as a factory outlet center, although conventional stores continued operating for some time.

  Aftermath

  The repositioning did not restore the mall's earlier vitality. All three original anchors had closed by 1989.

  Source

1. 1The Mall at Westlakeen.wikipedia.org
2. 2West Lake Mall, Bessemer, Alabamaskycity2.blogspot.com