at Crossroads Plaza emerged only a mile away. In 1991, the mall completed its expansion to 1.1 million square feet and was renamed Cary Towne Center by then-owners Richard E. Jacobs Group. The new mall included a food court adjacent to the oak tree, a Center Court with palm trees, and three new anchors: Thalhimers, JC Penney, and Sears. In 1992, Dillard's opened a new, larger store adjacent to its original building, which became inline shops. That same year, Thalhimer's became Hecht's in 1992, which became Macy's in 2006. In 1995, Barnes & Noble officially opened across the street from Cary Towne Center. In 2001, the mall was sold to CBL & Associates Properties as part of a portfolio of 21 properties in nine states. Changes in retail landscape On November 6, 2013, Dave and Buster's opened in the mall. Harris Teeter moved across the street in October 2014 to a larger location, later replaced with Jumpstreet, an indoor trampoline, bounce house, and entertainment complex. Sears closed its Cary Towne location in January 2015, citing continual financial struggles on the corporate level. In 2015, TopGolf sought zoning approval from the town to open in what had been the Sears space, however plans were later withdrawn due to concerns over lighting and noise issues with a nearby neighborhood. Macy's closed its location in early 2016 due to disappointing sales and earnings performance. The Sears space was filled in May 2016 by a local furniture store, Cary Towne Furniture, which boasted itself to be the largest furniture retail store in the region. However, the store closed in December 2016. On January 31, 2019, JCPenney announced that they would close their Cary Towne Center location on May 3, 2019. It was included as part of a plan to close 27 stores by July 5, 2019, which the company announced in February 2019. On July 12, 2019, Dillard's announced it was closing its Cary Towne Center store by December, according to a notification filed with the State of North Carolina. Decline and transformation to Epic Games headquarters Plans have been in the works to transform Cary Towne Center from a traditional mall to a mixed-used development for many years. Spurred on by an announcement made by IKEA to open a 350,000-square-foot store in 2020 where Sears and Macy's were once located, CBL began the rezoning process alongside the Town of Cary to redevelop the