Mall At Cortana The

While it does have a predominately African-American clientel, it's definitetly not dangerous after dark. You'd have to be pretty conspicuous to get something stolen. It is a mid-tier mall with most, say 75-85% of the space filled, and several nice tenenants. While it does have several "urban wear","bling" ,and shoe stores, there are also "affluent" stores such as Aeropostal and New York & Company. The outparcels are mixed, while there is a thrift store on one side there are 5 newer big box retailers, like Old Navy on the other side. All-in-all I would give this mall a 3.7 out of 5. Pros: clean,nice interior landscaping, wide mix of tenenants, clean anchor tenenant bathrooms. Cons: anchor tenenants dated, crowded and dark in places, restaurants spread across mall, empty shops spaces. If you're visiting and only have time for one mall I would suggest Mall of Louisiana, but if you have more time strongly suggest this one too. more

Ah, yes...the memories. When I was a little girl, going shopping meant Mom driving me all over Baton Rouge...I.H. Rubenstein's, Tic Tock Shoes, and the Florida Boulevard Sears. Then I remember everyone a-buzz about this new mall that would be opening soon: Cortana Mall. It would be enclosed, so you wouldn't get rained on or overheated as you shopped, and everything would be in one place. They'd even have a movie theater inside! Wow! And then it opened and Cortana was THE place to shop. It was so shiny and new, with lush indoor greenery, pristine white paint, and parking everywhere! Penney's, Godchaux's, Sears...TWO bookstores...and The Piccadilly! Of course, Bon Marche' soon enclosed itself to create a mall-after-the-fact, but just a mile or two away from Cortana and next door to Mall City, there wasn't much attraction there. We all shopped at Cortana as we watched Bon Marche' slowly die...one by one, the small shops closed...McDonald's closed...the movie theater shut down...Dillards became a clearance center and when Montgomery Ward went bankrupt, that was the kiss of death. But Cortana thrived. Okay, it had some downs with the ups...they did shut down Cortana's movie theater, but in its place they eventually built Mervyn's and the food court. And when Service Merchandise went under, that was a blow, but Steve and Barry's came, and that helped a little. But Cortana's days became numbered when one day, along came The Mall of Louisiana. Now Cortana has become the latest Bon Marche'. Mervyn's closed up shop recently. Taco Bell closed. There are more and more vacant shops, and what is open is becoming increasingly cheesy and low-class. Cortana has tried to lure in shoppers by periodically giving away free mall gift cards, or having promotions where spending x number of dollars at x number of stores would get you a mall gift card. They offer free pictures with Santa and the Easter Bunny. But you still get the same whiff of decay, the scent of a once-glorious but now dying mall. It's like watching a train wreck in slow motion. The mall still offers Penney's and Sears, plus Dillards and Foley's. Steve and Barry's is there, plus Radio Shack, Waldenbooks, and the Piccadilly. You'll find a lot of the typical mall stores (Claire's, Victoria's Secret, Spencer Gifts)... but you'll also find very visible mall security guards everywhere, and I've heard stories that particularly after dark it's not very safe. I had my purse stolen from Sears two years ago. If you live in the Florida at Airline area and you need to run in and pick something up fast, if it's daylight, Cortana Mall is worth considering. But if you want a nice, clean, new mall, with lots of merchants, in a safe area, skip this place and go on to Bluebonnet to the Mall of Louisiana. more