Department Store History of Westgate Mall in Amarillo (Houston, San Antonio: stores, parking)

[AirportFan]

What is the Department Store History of Westgate Mall in Amarillo? What did Dillard's Women used to be? What about Dillard's Men? JCPenney? Sears? Bealls? One of the two Dillard's Stores had to have been something else. I have a feeling Dillard's Women used to be a local Amarillo Department Store.

[borgerboy]

i don't think any of the downtown amarillo department stores moved to westgate mall. does anyone even remember the name of the long gone amarillo department stores? dunlaps comes to mind, but i think it was actually a new mexico chain. in lubbock hemphill-wells had a "fab" store in south plains mall, but it didn't last. taken over by dillard's. i think the mervyns in westgate may have become one of the dillards. i guess the only macy's in west texas is in el paso.

[the voice of insanity]

Dillards women was just Dillards. Dillards Men was Mervyn's. The rest of the anchor department stores are the same as they have always been

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by AirportFan

One of the two Dillard's Stores had to have been something else. I have a feeling Dillard's Women used to be a local Amarillo Department Store.

Dillard's bought San Antonio-based Joske's in 1987 in order to get into Texas. The old flagship store in Downtown San Antonio is quite an oddity, with the building skipping the St. Joseph's Catholic Church dubbing the store St. Joske's (and the other other joke of providing plenty of parking for parishioners to Sunday Mass).

Many of the converted Joske's stores in Houston have closed down as new malls opened up to follow the increasing sprawl over the past few decades.