Fifty years after the RedBird mall landed in southern Dallas, the space is being reimagined and The Shops at RedBird is celebrating.

The community is invited to the celebration over the weekend hosted by RedBird, Comerica Bank and the real estate investment and development firm Russell Glen Company and other sponsors.

On Saturday morning, free family-friendly events will begin at 8 a.m., with a 5K run and walk. There will be fitness activities and yoga on RedBird’s lawn. Kids will have face painting, bounce houses and more.

Saturday evening, starting at 7 p.m., there will be live music, trivia, food trucks and vendors.

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On Sunday at 1 p.m., there will be a brunch with gospel artists and the screening of a documentary about RedBird. Tickets for the event may be purchased on the celebration’s website, RedBird50.com. The mall asks that attendees for the free event still register.

In recent years, the shopping center has been transforming despite a national trend of vacancies in aging shopping centers. The mixed-use space hasn’t only seen the addition of restaurants and retail, but apartments, medical services, child care and education resources.

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It’s a place where many formed childhood memories, like shopping for their high school prom, said RedBird developer Peter Brodsky. He said the community’s dedication to fighting for the mall has kept it from closing.

“It really looms large in the memories of people who grew up in the area and that history really informs what we’re trying to do with it now,” Brodsky said.

When the RedBird mall opened

Red Bird Mall opened on Sept. 11, 1975. The first shopping center of its kind for southern Dallas, it served the Oak Cliff community and southern Dallas County. It sits off West Camp Wisdom Road at the intersection of U.S. Highway 67 and Interstate 20.

The mall’s opening was seen as significant. It came at a time when area residents felt deprived of shopping facilities and had been without goods and services found north of the Trinity River, according to The Dallas Morning News’ archives from the day of the opening.

Southern Dallas got the mall after the openings of the northern Valley View and NorthPark malls, eastern Town East Mall, and to the west, a mall in Arlington and one in Irving. Advertisements for and stories about retailers like Zales, Levi’s and Lane Bryant filled the newspaper.

RedBird faces challenges

For years after its opening, the mall was successful, Brodsky said. But by 1997, tenants had grown worried of a 40% vacancy rate and sluggish traffic, The News’ archives show. A new owner announced renaming for the property — Southwest Center Mall.

The mall’s image and history were impacting shoppers, according to The News, with perceptions around crime, race and economic justice drawing some customers and deterring others. By 2008, the mall had become bankrupt, on the verge of having its lights turned off. Civic leader Edna Pemberton known as Mrs. P, a devoted advocate for the mall who died this year — intervened.

“It’s a testimony to the community that the mall even survived,” Brodsky said. “Led by Mrs. P, the community cared so much about the mall that they fought for it.”

Edna Pemberton spent decades pushing for the redevelopment of the former Red Bird Mall. This...

Edna Pemberton spent decades pushing for the redevelopment of the former Red Bird Mall. This photo of Pemberton was taken 20 years ago, when it was called Southwest Center Mall.

LOUIS DeLUCA / 97941

In 2009, retailers credited faithful customers for why the mall had survived. The space had been through a cycle of turmoil, with multiple owners, foreclosures and bankruptcies. Two large retailers anchoring the mall had left. The News’ editorial board urged city leaders to act quickly to redevelop the space.

Several Dallas mayors and out-of-town owners tried to fix the center as the mall continued to lose traffic. City officials advocated for improved highway access and called for economic development in southern Dallas.

How RedBird was reimagined

In 2015, Brodsky and his family purchased the space. The mall had started looking toward new funding, a new look and returning to the name people never stopped calling it: RedBird.

Brodsky had been doing civic activities in southern Dallas, and he said what he was hearing from his friends in North Dallas wasn’t adding up. Brodsky heard it was dangerous, or universally poor, or that he should be afraid of the area.

He saw payday lending, fast food, car washes and empty storefronts, but residential neighborhoods had nice homes and cars, Brodsky said.

“There just seemed to be a disconnect,” he said. “I had this thought that people in this community desire, deserve and can afford high-quality amenities, but they’re just not being provided with those.”

Signs showed development coming in RedBird to the east of S. Westmoreland Road, Friday,...

Signs showed development coming in RedBird to the east of S. Westmoreland Road, Friday, April 19, 2024 in Dallas.

Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer

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The shopping center’s history, brand and resonance was the draw. The city invested millions. Developer Terrence Maiden partnered with Brodsky. Now, there’s a group of investors, and more than $250 million in public and private investments have gone into the redevelopment and repurposing of the mall.

“We also understood that there was a real emotional attachment to the physical buildings of RedBird,” Brodsky said.

Maiden, who grew up in Oak Cliff, said his first job was at the Chuck E. Cheese at the mall in the ’90s. He said it was where, especially during that time, “African Americans felt like we had a place where we were accepted.”

Now, Maiden has been a part of the mall’s transformation.

“Because we’ve been under construction for so many years now, my hope is that [the celebration] creates a sense of excitement and a sense of opportunity to reflect on the good use of RedBird.”

The Shops at RedBird now has a Starbucks, where cars are seen snaking around the building.

Other additions of retail or restaurants are more traditional. Filling the space where there once was a Sears is a UT Southwestern medical center. Parkland Health opened a clinic at the old Dillard’s. Apartments opened up. This year, the mall got a new day care. It’s home to a Dallas College workforce center and a Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas center.

Maiden said the mall isn’t just celebrating its anniversary, but the RedBird community.

“We’ll have an opportunity just to be appreciative and grateful for everything that RedBird has provided folks over the years: a sense of place, a sense of culture, a sense of being.”

Staff researcher Spencer Bevis contributed to this report.

This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose,, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.