Metrocenter Mall

On March 1, 1978, Metrocenter Mall opened in Jackson, Mississippi to great fanfare as the state’s largest indoor shopping mall. With more than 100 services and stores on two levels, its impressive footprint spanned 1.25 million square feet, offering a new world of retail possibilities. The strategic position of Metrocenter Mall at the junction of Highway 80 and the newly constructed Interstate 220 played a crucial role in its accessibility, making it a prime destination for shoppers from across Mississippi.

Metrocenter Mall opened with four anchor department stores that included Jackson-based McRae’s, Alabama-based Gayfer’s, and national retailer Sears. The fourth anchor, New Orleans-based D. H. Holmes opened its store the next year. Surrounding the mall is Metro Center Drive, a circular mile-long road that connects more than 70 acres of parking lots with 6,000 parking spaces. Out parcels of Metrocenter Mall included Service Merchandise, which is a specialty outlet of the Jackson-based Jitney-Jungle supermarket chain, and a General Cinema theater. Jim Wilson & Associates were the developers.

While Metrocenter Mall was a new entrant in Jackson’s retail landscape, it wasn’t the only player. Jackson Mall, which opened in 1970, was its predecessor and competition. Both malls managed to thrive, carving out their niches in the local economy. Adding the D.H. Holmes store in 1979 further elevated Metrocenter Mall’s status. In two department stores, there were restaurants – Potpourri Restaurant in D. H. Holmes, and Widow Watson’s in McRae’s. Metrocenter was joined by two major out parcels: Service Merchandise and a multi-screen movie theater. After the single-screen cinema at Deville Plaza closed in 1996, the Metrocenter cinema was the only theater left in Jackson. The out parcels were later demolished.

The 1980s marked the golden era for Metrocenter Mall. During this period, the mall flourished and established itself as a go-to destination for shopping, dining, and entertainment. The opening of Northpark Mall in Ridgeland in 1984 expanded the region’s retail offerings. In 1989, mall staple D.H. Holmes was acquired by and converted to Arkansas-based Dillard’s, bringing with it the closure of the Potpourri Restaurant.

As part of a broader effort to revitalize the mall, the mall underwent a significant renovation in 1993, which included a new center court with a skylight, redesigned facades, and a revamped food court. In 1999, Metrocenter Mall’s first anchor store closed, signaling the mall’s decline. That year, Dillard’s, which had acquired two of the mall’s anchor spaces, continued to operate in the former D.H. Holmes space, and closed Gayfers.

Almost a decade later, Dillard’s closed its anchor store at Metrocenter Mall in 2006, leaving two active anchors. The same year, one of the last anchors—McRae’s—was sold to Belk, which rebranded and renamed the store’s restaurant Brittyanna’s. A steady pattern of vacancies continued until August 2007, when Burlington Coat Factory opened to large crowds on the first level of the former Gayfers property, drawing patrons from more than 90 miles away. Statistics show that traffic at Metrocenter Mall increased by as much as 3,000 cars per day. Despite the addition of Burlington, changing demographics in the Jackson metropolitan area contributed to substantial vacancies at Metrocenter.

In June 2009, Belk announced it was closing the company’s Metrocenter location in August to focus on its suburban properties at Ridgeland’s Northpark Mall and Flowood’s Dogwood Festival Market. Later that year, in December 2009, the Jackson City Council approved the purchase of the former Dillard’s department store for $39,500. The sale included a 172,000-square-foot anchor building and nine acres of parking lots. Mayor Harvey Johnson said the purchase would allow the city to attract developers to the property by offering incentive packages that include tax breaks and infrastructure improvements. A potential investment that could kick off Johnson’s hopes of revitalizing West Jackson.

The former McRae’s/Belk property was sold in July 2010 to Retro Metro, LLC., with plans to divide the one-time anchor between offices for the City of Jackson on the first level, and a mixed-use redevelopment on the second level that included offices, restaurants, and retail space. Watkins Partners, a Jackson-area real estate developer, announced intentions to move forward with Project Retro Metro in December 2010 and begin redevelopment in January 2011. David Watkins, president of Watkins Partners, said, “Metrocenter has plummeted.” Despite many efforts to redevelop Metrocenter, Sears announced in December 2011 that over 100 of its properties would close, including the Sears store at Metrocenter. Sears, the last of the mall’s department store anchors, closed in 2012. This marked the total departure of Sears from Jackson, Mississippi.

By the fall of 2012, the mall’s conditions had deteriorated due to budget cuts, despite attempts to reduce operating costs by partitioning sections of the mall. The effort backfired when many of Metrocenter’s national tenants refused to relocate without financial concessions and simply closed their stores. This left the majority of the lower levels of the building abandoned. In response, mall management suspended janitorial and maintenance services in the area.

In October 2012, First Credit Bank of Los Angeles foreclosed on Jackson Metrocenter Mall LTD, a Texas-based company. First Credit Bank hired management firm Oversight LLC, to bring the mall up-to-date and get it ready for sale. Under Oversight’s management, available space for new tenants doubled from 175,000 to 350,000 square feet. Manager Scott Overby oversaw the creation of the 60,000-square-foot La Plaza de Metrocenter, an area geared toward Latino-owned and operated stores. Burlington Coat Factory sealed off its mall entrance in 2013, which significantly impacted the mall’s business. The food court added several new vendors, including Mac’s Pizza and Sameerah’s (a health-food store), and local chef Tina Funches opened a soul-food joint called Southern Kitchen that served breakfast, blue-plate lunches and dinner. Metrocenter Mall was placed on the market for $6.5 million after undergoing a year of renovation and revamping. The Sears department store was still owned by Sears and was listed separately. Oversight management reopened the lower level; however, more than 50% of the store spaces remained vacant.

After 39 years, Metrocenter Mall closed its doors in August of 2018, although the Burlington anchor store and parts of the building that held city offices remained open. The following year, in November 2019, a new developer purchased Metrocenter Mall with big plans for the state’s largest enclosed mall. Jackson Commons LLC said their initial plans included substantial infrastructure improvements, including upgrades to the mall’s exterior, signage and roads. Plans for the interior were to blend the mall’s enclosed format with medium and big-box retailers. At the time, Burlington Coat Factory was the largest retailer of the 60 remaining stores at the mall. The former Belk store housed some Jackson city offices.

In January 2020, local news reported that the interior of the Metrocenter Mall, which had been shuttered since 2018, had been purchased by Ashley Sanders & Seiferth Holdings LLC for an undisclosed amount. According to the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office, Emily Seiferth-Sanders, who posted a video to Facebook about the mall property purchase, is listed as a registered agent for Ashley Sanders & Seiferth Holdings, which was formed the same day as the sale. The purchase covered about half of the total space of the mall or 592,000 square feet. Emily Seiferth-Sanders laid out her plan on social media including the return of the food court and retail outlets as well as studio apartments.

The day after it was announced that Metrocenter Mall had been sold to Emily Seiferth-Sanders, a local news station reported on Sanders’ prior arrest record. She was accused of taking an investor’s money and never putting it into a legitimate business. Sanders served two years in prison for the crime. Then, months after the purchase, there were still no developments at Metrocenter Mall. When asked if the pandemic had postponed everything, Sanders said. “This project is far greater than you or me,” she stated in a video on the mall’s Facebook page. Even so, tenants were getting frustrated with the lack of information. Sanders referred them to their leasing agreement if they were interested in canceling. Nearly two years after Seiferth-Sanders announced her initial plan, Metrocenter Mall remained empty.

By 2021, Emily Sanders faced two federal civil suits from people claiming she owed them $175,000. Later that year, it was announced that Sanders owed thousands of dollars in taxes on Metrocenter. She was a year behind on taxes, and the State of Mississippi could take ownership if she did not pay within two years. Furthermore, court records show her attorneys representing her in the civil lawsuit have asked to be removed from the case.

Metrocenter Mall was eventually seized from Emily Sanders and transferred to the State of Mississippi due to unpaid taxes. If she paid the $99,000 owed within a certain amount of time, she could reclaim ownership of the mall. Former vendors at Metrocenter Mall claimed Sanders had failed to pay them for months. In December 2022, the Adams County Sheriff’s Office arrested Sanders at a family member’s home. She was picked up on a warrant out of Jefferson County connected to a false pretense conviction in a 2013 business scheme. In March of 2012, Sanders was arrested on charges of embezzlement under contract in Jefferson County. The grand jury changed the charges against her to false pretenses. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison but only served two and ordered to pay $132,000 in restitution. According to Jefferson County Circuit Court documents, Sanders failed to comply with the sentencing order and has yet to pay “the majority of the restitution.” Sanders still owes Mississippi $107,569.50.

In 2023, the City of Jackson vacated the office space it had been using at the Metrocenter Mall due to deplorable conditions. Retro Metro, who owned the space, filed a lawsuit against the city for breach of lease, seeking an additional 10 years of payments, which would have totaled more than $4.5 million. The city reported several issues with the move, including massive potholes in the parking lot, pests inside the building, mold, and broken air conditioning units. Mayor Chokwe Lumumba said the move was not personally motivated but was an effort to do what’s best for the city. The court previously dismissed the breach of lease claims. In January 2025, the court dismissed additional claims.

The City of Jackson no longer has a financial stake in the old Metrocenter Mall. In April 2024, the Jackson City Council voted unanimously to sell the former Dillard’s department store to film producer Curtis Nichouls for $360,000. After overcoming the hurdle of acquiring the location, Nichouls said he is now focused on two new challenges: securing the 172,000-square-foot building from copper thieves and navigating opinions Jacksonians have about the latest promise to re-imagine what was once the largest mall in the state.

Nichouls said he hopes to have the first phase of his film studio open for business by October 2024, but it will take at least two years and cost $20 million for his full vision to materialize. In September 2024, armed thieves broke into the second floor of the Dillard’s building and stole copper, cameras, drones, construction equipment, and more. The Jackson Police Department informed Nichouls that the thieves were part of the Aryan Brotherhood and transporting the copper to Houston for a Mexican cartel. While the Dillard’s department store continues to be renovated into a film studio, the rest of the mall, more than one million square feet, remains abandoned.

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