The Mall of the Mainland, developed by a joint venture of Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. and the MG Herring Group, opened in 1991. Dillard's and Sears purchased space at the mall in the 1980s. JCPenney was the third anchor circa 1989. An expansion was made to the mall with the addition of a Foley's store (later became Macy's in 2006) in 1994. The developers spent $200 per in the development; Joelle Verbecke, a director of acquisitions at the Yari Group, said in 2002 that the $200 per square foot figure was "a hefty sum that means the developers constructed a high-quality mall." J.P. Morgan Chase Bank was the lender. The roof of the mall was damaged by an EF0 tornado on January 9, 2012.
