Holmes space while closing the Gayfer's space. Dillard's remained in the mall until 2006, leaving two active department store anchors at Metrocenter. Within the same year, one of those anchors — McRae's — was sold to Belk, which assumed the anchor and rebranded the store's restaurant as Brittyanna's. A steady pattern of vacancies continued until August 2007, when Burlington Coat Factory opened in the first level of the former Gayfers property to great fanfare, drawing patrons from more than 90 miles away. Statistics show traffic had increased at Metrocenter by as much as 3,000 cars per day. Despite the addition, changing demographics in the Jackson metropolitan area, such as white flight, contributed to substantial vacancies. By June 2009, Belk announced its intent to close the company's Metrocenter's location in August, in order to focus on suburban properties at Ridgeland's Northpark Mall and Flowood’s Dogwood Festival Market. The year's end brought a 6–1 vote during a December 2009 meeting of Jackson's city council, to purchase the former D.H. Holmes/Dillard's property for $39,500, in hopes of spurring a revitalization of South Jackson. The former McRae's/Belk property was sold in July 2010 to Retro Metro, LLC, with plans to divide the one-time anchor between offices for the City of Jackson on the first level, and a mixed-use redevelopment in the second level that included offices, restaurants, and retail space. Watkins Partners, a Jackson-area real estate developer, announced intentions to move forward with Project Retro Metro in December 2010 and started with its mixed-use redevelopment in January 2011. David Watkins, president of Watkins Partners, said, "Metrocenter has plummeted." Despite many efforts to redevelop Metrocenter, Sears Holdings announced in late December 2011 that over 100 of its Kmart and Sears properties would close, including the Sears store at Metrocenter. The last of the mall's department store anchors, Sears closed in 2012. Presently the only uses of the mall are the Burlington store, City offices, and scattered small outlets around the center court. Special events are still held in the center court as well. In August 2018, Metrocenter closed its doors though Burlington and parts of the building that hold city offices remained open. On February 9, 2022, it was announced that Burlington would be closing its doors at this location, making the mall of void of any retail store. See also Outlets of Mississippi Northpark Mall (Mississippi) References External links Metrocenter Mall official website Metro