Loews Southwest

rivest266 on January 25, 2024 at 6:21 pm

Grand opening ad posted.

dallasmovietheaters on August 11, 2025 at 8:47 pm

Loews buddied up with Deauville Development Corp. on a four-mall leasing deal to lock in what could be big profits ahead. Generally, the average U.S. shopping mall could report strong initial success based on 20-year, 25-year, or 30-year leases that ensured financial stability for the first generation of such retail centers. In the second leasing cycle, however, the average mall stumbled when they couldn’t re-sign tenants or signed ones who couldn’t survive in the “.com” era and reached greyfield status (less than 50% occupancy on the path to what is referred to a “dead mall"). But by that point, a mall cinema’s lifecycle was concluded with the dollars in the bank.

In 1984, Loews was hoping for similar luck when it signed on to leases at all four announced, suburban Houston Deauville Malls or Deauville Fashion Malls or Deauville Fashion Outlet Malls - whatever they finally called them - in the Houston area. This entry is for the Loews' Deauville Southwest Fashion Outlet Mall location. And the symbiotic relationship predicted for the pair didn’t materialize.

Loews had contracts with Deauville North (where Loews opened the Spring Ten on December 7, 1984), Deauville Gulf (where Loews opened the Bay Area 6 the same day), and Deauville Kingwood (Loews Kingwood 8 started with Christmas 1985 announced opening date that was delayed and still waiting). Give Deauville Corp. credit because they reached greyfield here at the Southwest location within two years, giving the property back to the bank in October of 1986, and the place was auctioned off by the bank not too long after. At 50% occupancy two years in, the Mall was a “dead mall” by January of 1987. A name change to Meadows Center Mall took place in 1987 continuing until 1991 - more exercise - fashion had left the building - than it was marketing by its new holding company.

It wasn’t Loews fault here, per se. They built a nice six-plex with 70mm capability to the plans of Charles Thompson & Associates. They had strong enough clearances to compete in the marketplace. And Deauville Development Corp., itself, gave Loews a nice onramp promotional plug. High profile “Let’s Make a Deal” host Monty Hall appeared at the Mall at its grand opening in early September of 1984. So how did Deauville not have people dressed as they are come from all over the world to its mall(s)? Well, everything seem to lead to this D’ohville zonk.

The first problem came in the third season for the property. The Deauville Fashion Malls were hoping to get a bounce from Sunday sales where restrictive Blue Laws were not widely enforced outside of Houston. That was great in the first season of the new Mall – but then the Texas Blue Laws were rescinded state-wide the very next year, it allowed shopping freedom all over the metroplex. Virtually all retail malls would be open seven days a week.

Second, Houston was undergoing a major economic crisis in 1984/5 due mostly to the downturn in the oil and gas industries. Its banking industry was also taking a major hit at the onset of the savings and loan crisis of the era. Because Deauville Corp. was heavily invested in apartments and this nearby mall, the apartments were in downturn resulting in lesser foot traffic in the mall and less income coming toward Deauville’s coffers from apartment lessees. In other words, they were overextended in a bad economy and - this problem was made worse with the banking industry in crisis. Not fashionable.

The third problem was that the Deauville Fashion Mall had relied on long-term leases with retailers of fairly questionable pedigrees. The major anchor tenants signed up by Deauville included the Woolworth subsidiary J. Brannam (Just Brand Name) Clothing; Service Merchandise’s Houseworks as the home goods retailer; Kmart’s Designer Depot; Woolworth’s Kids Mart for children’s clothing; Kmart’s Home•Pro Warehouse (soon to be Builder’s Square) for hardware; and Federated Group’s Federated Home Electronics Superstore. Sadly, Woolworth’s, Service Merchandise, Federated Group, and Kmart were heading toward economic buzzsaws. The Mall had only achieved 75% capacity. With sales and foot traffic in steep decline in 1985 and 1986, Deauville was not even at its second birthday and the situation was dire.

The fourth problem was an insane overbuilding of off-price malls. The original iteration of outlet malls were a bit lower cost to startup and were built between major cities to early success. But when major metro areas built scads of off-price centers all over the metroplexes, the model wasn’t sustainable and the carcasses of outlet/off-price malls were found nationwide. With $100 million sunk into the four Deauville Malls, the company was actually going to reach receivership before any of the marginal retail chains folded… but not by many months.

Long story long, Loews was associated with the Deauville Fashion Mall that went into greyfield status after just two years and ended up in receivership in October of 1986. Not totally unheard of but way, way unusual. So how did this impact good old Loews Southwest 6? Consider that Loews missed the only good quarter for the Mall in Fall of 1984 finally opening on March 22, 1985 with three of six theaters ready playing “Baby,” “Last Dragon” and “Friday, The 13th: Part V.” Kmart shuttered Designer Depot in Texas in 1986, J. Brannam was closed by Woolworth in 1986, Siegels’ Fashion and T.J. Mandy left the Mall 1986. Food court vendors fled. Welcome Loews to a dead mall walking.

It went from bad to worse in an almost poignant moment when the Loews movie ad was in one column of the local newspaper and the auction notice for virtually the entire rest of the mall was in the neighboring column to the left. Even the auction went poorly with large amounts of unsold items taken to local thrift stores. And this location’s longevity was better than the Deauville Fashion Mall – Kingwood which was built and not opened.

So how did Loews Southwest 6 survive? It got good news when Sam’s Wholesale and Garden Ridge moved into the shopping area leading to some foot traffic. The venue transferred over to the Sony brand in 1994 when that transition occurred and was now listed as the Sony Theatres Southwest (no number). In April of 1998, a merger with Cineplex Odeon led to the ownership moniker of Loews Cineplex and the venue became the Loews Southwest (numberless).

In the Fall of 1998, Loews Cineplex Theatres downgraded the Southwest to sub-run, discount $2 films. The facility also reduced to four auditoriums in its final stretch run in 1999. It’s assumed the 70mm projection was moved elsewhere. Loews Southwest closed on December 4, 1999 with four films: “Three to Tango,” “Fight Club,” “Blue Streak,” and “Runaway Bride.” Since the date times out to the 15th anniversary / start dates of Deauville North’s Loews Spring 10 and of Deauville Gulf’s Bay Area 6, it’s presumed that Loews was able to exercise a 15-year opt out with the holding company or bank to finally end its Deauville Southwest misadventure.

Loews Cineplex filed bankruptcy in November of 2001. They were able to immediately close 46 underperforming and/or aging facilities. In the bankruptcy filing, the Loews Deauville Southwest Cinemas, the Loews Deauville North Cinemas, the Loews Deauville Gulf Cinemas, and the unopened Loews Kingwood Cinemas are all listed which may – or may not be – indicative of their ability to escape any further leasing liabilities and certainly an effort to limit claims against the four Deauville properties. The former mall’s unused space stayed in time capsule mode in great shape for more than four decades.