Brownsville Retail History — A Brief Tour Around the Sunrise Mall

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon

Among the many things I'm interested in is retail history and abandoned structures. I wrote an article that was featured on the deadmalls.com website. I wrote about the Amigoland Mall. The other day, while on a friend's blog, someone made a comment about the Amigoland Mall and began asking questions about what stores were in the mall. I realized I had written the article about the Amigoland Mall but I had not written one about the Sunrise Mall. I figured I'd write something about the Sunrise Mall before the memory begins to fade. 

The Sunrise Mall's current layout and floorplan

The Sunrise Mall was opened in 1979. The mall was originally built to compete with the Amigoland Mall that opened a few years before. The Sunrise Mall was originally half the size it currently is. The mall ended right where JC Penney begins. 

The Sunrise Mall's layout before the 1999 renovation

The Sunrise Mall dead-ended into a KMart. If you were facing the KMart and turned to the right, there was a three-screen Cinemark Movie theater. If you were facing the KMart and turned to the left, a hallway led you to an exit and a Chinese restaurant. There was no formal "food court," but there were a few other restaurants in the area, including a Chick-Fil-A, a Dino's Pizza, and in the mid 1990's a Branding Iron would open to the right of the Dino's. Other eateries in the restaurant included Scott's Deli (later Sunrise Deli) towards the center of the mall, along with a Mexican restaurant called La Fuente, and an Orange Julius on the way towards the Sears wing. Eventually, a Luby's Cafeteria would be built as well.

Other stores that once populated the mall include a Radio Shack, a Kay Bee Toys store, and a couple of local retailers, including Nick's Sports (I bought my first New Era 5950 fitted baseball cap there) and Nino's Sports Cards and Comics (Nino once operated an aquarium store on Boca Chica before going into the sports cards and comic business). The mall also had a Waldenbooks and a music/record store (I think it was called Musicland). In addition to the #1 Fun arcade next to Dino's, there was another arcade (named Jolly Time, I think) at the other end of the mall just before entering Sears. The original anchors were Sears, Bealls, and Kmart.

1999 saw a radical transformation sweep through the mall. The KMart would be demolished and a new KMart would move to the Sunrise Commons shopping plaza just to the north of the mall. The mall would now split in two directions from where the KMart once was. To the right, you'd see a brand new food court and 16-screen movie theater. To the left, a new wing that would end in a Dillard's. Original plans called for a Macy's to be built on site (I once saw the preliminary blueprints showing the Macy's built where the A'GACI is on the map), however Dillard's, being one of the majority stakeholders in the property, quickly put an end to that idea.

The mall would go through some other transformations and additions. Eventually, a Dick's Sporting Goods store would open in the Sears wing. For some reason, the Sears wing was always the least popular end of the mall. Most of the action was happening on the other end where the food court and Dillard's were. The Sears end of the mall was hurting for tenants so badly that the mall management had plans to build a hotel at that end. These plans were created around 2007, but that plan never came to fruition. To date, with the announcement that Sears will soon be closing its doors, the only real reason to go to that end of the mall is to visit the Dick's. However, Dick's has its own dedicated entrance — many people just go get what they need at Dick's and leave. 

The mall is thriving, and nowhere near a "dead" mall. The mall has an upscale bar/restaurant near the food court, and many days that end of the mall is bustling with people eating, playing chess, and visiting the Dallas Cowboys Pro Shop, GameStop, Hot Topic, or the movies. The Dillard's wing is equally as busy with jewelry stores and Victoria's Secret close by. Luby's Cafeteria fans also ensure the middle of the mall is busy, since the only other Luby's in Brownsville closed down. However, the further in you go towards the Sears wing, the more desolate things become.

If you have any memories of the Sunrise Mall, or if you remember any of the other stores that are no longer around, please feel free to leave a comment.