# Bayshore Mall

Bayshore Mall is a small indoor shopping mall in Eureka, California, United States. It is named for its close proximity to Humboldt Bay. The large shopping facility is the only major mall located on the coast north of the San Francisco Bay Area, securing Eureka as the trading center for the entire far North Coast.

## History

The mall was built in 1988 as demand for shopping grew in the North Coast Region of California. The original anchors were Mervyn's on the south end, Gottschalks on the west end, JCPenney on the east end, and Sears on the north end. Longs Drugs also operated a store at the mall, which was closed (having been relocated to the PayLess store purchased by Longs at the Eureka Mall nearby) and most of that space was converted to Petco in 2004.
In the early 2000s, JCPenney downsized into an outlet store, then left the mall entirely. Bed Bath & Beyond, along with Borders, came in soon after and split the anchor space. Then, in late 2008, Mervyn's filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, and in turn, closed their Eureka store in December of that year. Gottschalks closed in July 2009, after filing Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, leaving just one anchor space filled. Kohl's officially opened up their new store at the old Mervyn's location on September 27, 2009. Old Navy and the Gap closed before The Movies, a branch of a local cinema entertainment company with other sites scattered over the region, closed in December 2009. Borders closed in September 2011 following bankruptcy. Following the purchase, plans to remodel the 73,000 square foot Gottschalks space were submitted to the City of Eureka by a contractor for Walmart during the summer of 2011, and opened June 12, 2012.
Hometown Buffet closed on December 31, 2011. In late summer of 2013, TJ Maxx occupied the spot vacated by Borders. The same year, ULTA Beauty and Sports Authority opened in the spot where The Movies had been. In 2014, Sbarro closed amid bankruptcy issues, while Ms. Clothing, a value clothing store, came in while Staples went into the mall where Hometown Buffet had been in September 2015. The Avenue and Wet Seal closed in January 2015, though Avenue never showed signs of a closeout or going out of business sign. A localized pizza place entered the mall in January 2015 in the former Sbarro spot, later to be known as Hot Slice Pizzeria, with a clothing store, Salt Tree, going in a vacant lot (but leaving just a few weeks later along with long-time tenant RadioShack). Planet Fitness opened later in the year (though it was delayed until early 2016) where the half of Hometown Buffet had been. June 2016 saw Sports Authority close after just three years due to the company going bankrupt. In March 2017, Hot Slice Pizzeria closed, with a Mexican restaurant opening just a few weeks later in the same place.
June 29, 2019 saw the return of Old Navy after leaving the mall in 2009, occupying the spot vacated by Sports Authority three years earlier.
On August 31, 2019, it was announced that Sears would be closing their Bayshore Mall location a part of a plan to close 85 stores nationwide. The store closed on December 1, 2019.
In January 2020, Pier 1 Imports announced it would close their Bayshore Mall location as part of a plan to close over 400 locations nationwide.
Bed Bath & Beyond was shuttered in 2023 when the company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, resulting in the closure of the chain's remaining stores.

## 2010 Eureka earthquake

On January 9, 2010, a 6.5 earthquake struck off the coast of Eureka, about 27 miles out at sea, at 4:27 pm. The mall was among the buildings damaged by the quake, with loosened floor and ceiling tiles, as well as water damage from the sprinklers, but engineers found no structural damage.

## Bayshore Mall today

Currently, the mall has over approximately 40 stores left and is the largest shopping complex for over 200 miles. Anchor stores include Kohl's and Walmart (which opened June 13, 2012). Other major stores include TJ Maxx (which opened August 25, 2013), ULTA Beauty, Old Navy, Ross Dress for Less, Staples, and Petco. Ray's Food Place, a full-service supermarket, was located in a separate building directly south of Kohl's on the same property, but closed at the end of 2013 when parent company C&K Markets declared chapter 11 bankruptcy. It is currently occupied by Sportsman's Warehouse. The mall is served by the Eureka Transit Service and Redwood Transit Service.