Country Club Centre

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Country Club Centre (Arden-Arcade)
LocationEl Camino & Watt Avenues, Sacramento, California, United States
Coordinates38°36′32″N 121°23′05″W / 38.608806°N 121.384661°W / 38.608806; -121.384661Coordinates: 38°36′32″N 121°23′05″W / 38.608806°N 121.384661°W / 38.608806; -121.384661
Opening date1952
DeveloperJames J. Cordano Company, Blumenfeld Enterprises
OwnerTourmaline Capital Management
No. of stores and services9
No. of anchor tenants3 (2 vacant)
Total retail floor area370,353 square feet (34,406.9 m2)
(GLA)
No. of floors1 (2 in the rear of the main building)
This article is about the shopping center in Sacramento, California. It is not to be confused with the shopping center located in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada.

Country Club Centre is a shopping center in the Arden-Arcade area in unincorporated Sacramento County, California, United States in the Sacramento area. It is located at the southwest corner of El Camino and Watt Avenues, diagonally across from what was the first stand-alone Tower Records store. It originally opened as a small strip shopping center in 1952 that was later expanded into a regional mall and then later converted into a mixed use of office and retail. The shopping center is currently anchored by the Sacramento area’s only Costco Business Center.

History[]

As one of the first suburban shopping centers in the Sacramento area, Country Club Centre opened on August 21, 1952, with a 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m2) JCPenney and a Lucky supermarket anchoring the shopping center.[1] Later additions included Joseph Magnin, Walgreens, Woolworth and a three-story Rhodes department store in 1954, which later became a Liberty House in 1976, anchoring the west end of the mall.

In 1971, JCPenney closed its store, relocating across Watt Avenue to the newer Country Club Plaza with a much larger store (it was later relocated to Arden Fair Mall in 1994 over 3 miles (4.8 km) away, where it's still operating to this day). Other retailers also withdrew from Country Club Centre, including Woolworth, which also relocated to Country Club Plaza.

In 1976, after experiencing a small decline, a Montgomery Ward opened up as the new east end anchor (which replaced Lucky), as well as a Longs Drugs, extension of the covered mall and addition of 6 acres (24,000 m2) of parking facilities, sparking the Sacramento Bee to comment on its "strong comeback." At that time, store space totaled 680,790 square feet (63,247 m2), 89% of which was leased.[2]

In the 1980s, Country Club Centre saw a much sharper decline when Liberty House shuttered its store in 1984, followed by Joseph Magnin when the chain declared bankruptcy and shuttered all their remaining stores. By the early 1990s, much of the interior mall shops were vacant, further hampered by Country Club Plaza across Watt Avenue and the huge expansion of Arden Fair Mall. The interior wing that connected Liberty House was later torn down for additional parking and access to the rear of the shopping center and the old Liberty House was later repurposed into a office building. Most of the mall’s interior shops were then converted to office space. In 1992, Pace Membership Warehouse opened in the southwest corner of the shopping center. It was later rebranded to Sam's Club in 1994 when parent company Walmart acquired Pace from Kmart in 1993. In the later years, Longs Drugs shuttered their store and relocated about 1 mile (1.6 km) south on nearby Arden Way, where it is still in operation today as a CVS Pharmacy after the chain acquired Longs in 2008 and was converted to CVS in 2009.

In 2001, Montgomery Ward shuttered its store as the chain went out of business. A full renovation of the shopping center occurred in 2002, to bring it and its look up to date, which included the opening of an Office Depot store (it would later relocate across Watt Avenue to Country Club Plaza in 2013, before shuttering altogether a few years later). Walmart opened in 2004 in the old Montgomery Ward, becoming the Sacramento area's only 2-level Walmart, complete with specialized escalators for shopping carts.

In 2015, Country Club Centre was sold to San Diego investors Tourmaline Capital Management for $56 million. At that time, in addition to Walmart and Sam’s Club, the shopping center was also anchored by Michaels and Anna’s Linens.

In 2018, the shopping center lost two of its major anchors. Sam’s Club shuttered its warehouse store on January 26 and Walmart shuttered its store on February 9.[3] Michaels soon followed suit when their store relocated to a shopping center about 3 miles (4.8 km) away on Arden Way. This, in effect, left Country Club Centre anchorless for the first time in its history.

On June 4, 2020, the center gained back an anchor store as the first Costco Business Center in the Sacramento area opened in the former Sam’s Club.

In 2021, the old 2-story Walmart/Montgomery Ward building was razed and two smaller single story anchor buildings were erected in its place.[4]

As of 2022, with the exception of Costco and a handful of smaller businesses, the center is mostly vacant including the aforementioned anchors. Fast-food restaurant chain Raising Cane's is slated to open later in 2022 in front of the former Walmart. Despite Country Club Centre's ups and downs over the past several decades, a See's Candies shop is the only remaining store left from its 1950s original opening still in operation.[5][6]

External links[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Shopping Center Rises on Part of Old Rancho". Sacramento Bee. August 20, 1952. pp. 45 ff.
  2. ^ Burns, John (December 6, 1976). "Strong Comeback (Country Club Centre)". Sacramento Bee. p. 42.
  3. ^ Glover, Mark (January 16, 2018). "Walmart Supercenter in Sacramento slated to close Feb. 9". Sacramento Bee.
  4. ^ Sorich, Sonya (August 3, 2021). "5 things to know: Demolition of former Walmart store underway in Arden-Arcade". Sacramento Business Journal.
  5. ^ Google Maps, retrieved October 10, 2020
  6. ^ "Country Club Centre has experienced many changes". Valley Community Newspapers. September 30, 2012.
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