2024 12 21 - Mall, Northtown - Blaine MN

More recent map layout of Northtown Mall.

We haven't been to the park lately so I decided to include a few of the malls we have walked at.

We used to walk all of the metro malls in the wintertime but now have not done so for 4+ years, pre-2020. So we expected lots of changes. Today we are between two events and didn't have time to go home so we chanced it being less than two weeks before Christmas.

This mall opened in 1972 and we likely came here soon after that for the first time as it would have been newer and closer than Apache. And once I started driving in 1975, I would have come here on my own, then when I got married we lived within a few miles of here. And I lived a few miles from here for close to 10 years total.

Today I notice there is a fair crowd for a mall, but it is the weekend and it is close to Christmas. But overall this mall has done good for a 'non-Dale' mall. When Woolworth's was here, it was the last one in the state. When Mervin's was here, it was the top grossing one in the state. When this place was built, it was the 3rd largest in the state.

But ... Most of the name brand stores are gone. At this time of the year, they have a lot of pop-up stores in the center isles so it is even more crowded. I did not count, but it seemed that roughly 1/3 of the store fronts were empty. Another 1/3 were fillers. They took over an empty store and didn't change the decore. Some of these stores were only using the front few feet and just had temp curtain walls in the rear.

And Best Buy is now an outlet store at this location and it has that outlook look. Damaged boxes ect.

They are supposed to be getting a new Asian area where Powers/Donaldsons/Mervins used to be. It is not the first one in the area so hopefully they do it right and it brings in other new stores.

For a mall this empty, I was surprised to see that their food court was full. But no major chain places.

One thing I have noticed missing from most of the major malls is the cell phone stores. None here, none at either Maplewood or Burnsville. And those are still around. Of course things like record and photo shops used to be everywhere in the mall but those no longer exist anywhere.

I think we had been to this mall shortly after it opened but I do not remember it before there was a Kohl's there and that was almost 10 years later. I remember there being three Woolworth restaurants but I can not find record of that anywhere. One was a sit down, and I thought there was a medium one and then a more fast food or counter service type.

We walked for about an hour, that was a few laps. Not sure how many stores it has now but at one time it had about 100. All on a single floor. Wards and Donaldson's were the only locations that ever had two stories.

Unlike Brookdale, this place has always seemed to be a safe place to walk.

The HOME DEPOT end is where Montgomery Wards used to be.

The BEST BUY end is where Woolworth's used to be.

BURLINGTON end is where Kohls was added.

HERBERGERS is where there had always been some department store.

Unlike some malls, I don't think any of the anchor area's have ever sat vacant for more than a few months.