Newmarket Fair Mall Revisited (Unusual fate for Dead Mall, part 2!) - Raw & Real Retail

We were in the area for the NAS Oceana air show the weekend of September 21 and figured we would make a return visit to Newmarket North/Fair/Netcenter and film the portions we missed the first time around. The escalators were working this time, so this video contains footage of the upstairs by the Newport News shipbuilding/Northrop Grumman and Verizon call center portions as well as a ride on the elevator in the center court and the barren Sears upstairs section. There was blaring pop music in Sears, so just that portion is dubbed over.

This was filmed on September 21, 2018.

Unfortunately, this Sears location is slated to close in December 2018.

Songs used in this video (in order):

Rainer Brüninghaus & Friends - Sambuca
Leaf - Little Dream
Volker Kriegel & The Groove-Combination - Mr. Solomon

Here is our original write up for this property:

This is a property that still retains all of the classic architecture and feel of a mall, just stripped of any retail vestiges. Newmarket North has been known as Netcenter for the last 18 years, and is home to several office spaces and a massive Verizon call center. Sears still remains, and still sports their old 1970s Times New Roman red font that they have long since updated everywhere else. The upstairs portion of Sears, until very recently, was being used as a storage space and an area for fixture sales, despite this location not being on any closing lists. Within the last week, Sears has officially closed access to their second floor.

From Wikipedia:

Newmarket North Mall was a mall located in Hampton, Virginia that was developed by The Hahn Company and opened in 1975. Its three anchors were Leggett, Miller & Rhoads, and Sears.

In 1989, Goodman Segar Hogan bought the property and began a two-year, $9 million renovation and expansion project. In 1990, when the renovation was nearly complete, the mall was renamed "Newmarket Fair."

Due to Patrick Henry Mall's opening in bordering Newport News, Virginia in 1987, Newmarket Fair languished, and to this day Sears is the only remaining retail anchor tenant.

In 2000, Washington, D.C.-based companies NetCenter Partners and Hampton Partners purchased the 900,000-square-foot (84,000 m2) property on 53 acres (210,000 m2) and converted it into a business center with supporting retail, personal services and food service amenities called NetCenter.

Some good resources:

[vrj]

Know this mall well! Alot of my childhood was spent there. Sad that Sears just closed and now there is no retail in this mall at all.

[thrillington]

I live in nearby Newport News and really miss going into Sears. Filmed inside the Sears twice.

[SlMONSAYS]

It sure appears that whoever owns the property is taking excellent care of it. To me, it looks brand new like they were just waiting to lease the stores for the malls grand opening. I remember it when it was a thriving mall, so it's really weird seeing it like this. Thanks for sharing this video - really enjoyed it!

[ponder]

when i first moved to the area, I worked in the food court there and later at Hechts. moved away and came back to find a ghost town there. can never get an answer as to what happened.

[as]

It's always great to see a mall find new life, even if it's not retail.