Ridgmar Mall opened in 1976 with Dillard's, JCPenney, and Neiman Marcus as the original anchor stores. In 1977, Sears was opened as an additional anchor store.[3]Foley's was opened in 1998, later being converted into Macy's in 2006. Rave Cinemas was opened in the early 2000s as another anchor store.
In 2014, Neiman Marcus announced intentions to relocate their Ridgmar Mall location to a new shopping mall development in three years' time. [5]
In 2015, Clothing & Retail company H&M opened its doors to the public after unveiling plans for a store in the mall earlier in the year. [6] The location closed potentially circa 2021.
In 2016, GK Real Estate announced a three-phase multimillion dollar renovation of the property. Phase one including new paint, lighting, and new railing on the second floor. Rave Cinemas also conducted a $3 million dollar remodel. [7]
In 2016, it was announced that Macy's would be closing their location in an effort to cut operating costs.[8]
In 2016, Dillard's was converted to a clearance center.[9]
In October 2016, GK Real Estate acquired the Neiman Marcus space as Neiman Marcus prepared to relocate in 2017. [10]
In 2017, a 28,000 square foot SeaQuest aquarium opened to visitors.[11]
In 2018, Sears announced that it would close its Ridgmar Mall location as part of a plan to close 72 stores nationwide. [12]
In 2020, JCPenney put 21 stores up for sale, including the Ridgmar Mall location. [13]
In 2020, the space formerly occupied by Macy's was acquired by Right Move Storage and was subsequently converted into a Self storage facility.
In 2021, the space formerly occupied by H&M was taken by Tarrant County health officals and converted into a site for the administration of vaccines for COVID-19.[14]
In 2023, Right Move Storage closed their Ridgmar Mall location, the space being acquired by Free Up Storage which opened later in the year.
2024 SeaQuest animal cruelty incident and closure
On January 4th, a USDA routine inspection found that many animals were living in cramped and unsanitary enclosures. The aquarium was given 1 month to correct the violations found by the USDA.[15]
In July, 3 whistleblowers & former employees contacted PETA and provided documentation and footage underlining alleged animal cruelty being conducted by SeaQuest Management. The whistleblowers claimed that many marine animals were being severely neglected, leading to the death of many marine animals, including two nurse sharks, Icarus and Achilles, who died of starvation. [16]
PETA-sponsored billboard, informing Fort Worth residents to avoid SeaQuest.
On August 12th, after a failed attempt to work with Fort Worth Animal Control to handle the situation, PETA sent a letter to the Tarrant County District Attorney, Phil Sorrells, requesting that his office launch an immediate investigation, including criminal investigations into SeaQuest. Sorrells forwarded the information given in the request to the Fort Worth Police Department. On August 16th the Fort Worth Police Department launched investigation into the claims made by the whistleblowers of animal cruelty and deaths. [16][17]
In September, the Fort Worth Police Department closed the investigation into SeaQuest, stating that the police department was not the appropriate agency to investigate. In the same month, PETA put up billboards in the vicinity of Ridgmar Mall prompting Fort Worth residents not to visit the aquarium.[18]
On October 28th, SeaQuest of Fort Worth officially ceased operations, and closed its doors permanently. As a result of the animal cruelty allegations and subsequent Fort Worth store closure, on December 2nd, SeaQuest Holdings, LLC filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, reporting $1 million dollars in assets but more than $10 million dollars in liabilities. [19]
