South Sound Center opened in 1966 and was billed as the fourth regional shopping center in the state of Washington. Anchors at one time included Nordstrom Place Two, Peoples, Sears, and Woolworth. After many stores in the mall moved out and the closing of the last Woolworth store in the state of Washington in 1997, the enclosed mall portion was torn down in 2001 for a Target store between Sears and Mervyns. In December 2006, Mervyn's closed and was reopened as Kohl's within a month. The last store that was not an anchor, Olympic Cards and Comics, moved out of the mall in 2001. It moved to an office space behind the mall before moving twice more into a larger area on pacific avenue. It is the only non-anchor store of the mall still open. For some time in 1980s to early 1990s, the center hosted the "Christmas Island" display during the holiday season at the back of the parking lot. It also hosted an annual fireworks display on July 3 for 45 years before it moved in 2012. In 2017, Verizon Wireless's store in the mall was crushed by snow and was closed until further notice. It remains closed due to the heavy damage. It is the only non-anchor store in the center. After the mall closed and Target moved in, the mall and the many buildings around it were renamed the "South Sound Center". Other stores in the area included Hollywood Video, Petsmart, Emerald City Smoothies, Michaels, Marshalls, Rite Aid, Hallmark, RadioShack, Red Wing Shoes, Kluh Jewelers, Happy Nails, Merle Norman, Hair Perfect, Concentra, The Right Step, One Main Financial, Shell, Game Freaks, Checkmate, Carls Jr., Puget Sound Safety, Cinderella's Closet, a Chiropractic Office and Skippers. Hollywood Video closed in 2010. Tuesday Morning opened in its space in 2011. Emerald City Smoothies moved in 2010. Famous Footwear opened in a previously unused space in 2011. Shell closed in 2012 and was demolished in 2014. Game Freaks closed in 2014 and was replaced by Checkmate in 2016. Red Wing Shoes closed in 2015. RadioShack closed in 2015 and Checkmate moved to another space in the center in 2016. Mattress Firm opened in both of their spaces, which were next to each other, in 2016. In 2017, construction began on the old Shell site. In 2018, it opened as a two-room complex housing a Starbucks. A Tempur-Pedic store would open in 2019. Skippers closed in 2017 and was demolished in 2018. Kluh Jewelers moved in 2019. On November 7, 2019, it was announced that Sears would be closing this location as part of a plan to close 96 stores nationwide. The store closed in February 2020. This Sears had been opened in 1943 and moved to the mall in 1966 for the grand opening.
