2025 01 01 - Mall, Maplewood - Maplewood MN

Recent map for Maplewood Mall

Now that we are back to walking malls, we are going to be hitting a few of them. This is the closest one to our house so it is the one we hit most frequently.

We thought it might be crowded being a holiday, but it was not. Some stores were not open today so we didn't know if they were closed forever or just for today until we walked the mall again a few days later.

As far as walking, we entered at Macy's because it had the fewest cars and it was cold outside. Other than that we did not walk in any of the stores. we walked the inside perimeter of the mall on both floors and that was pretty close to our 1 mile goal for walking at a time.

We were there twice in a few weeks and it was not crowded either time and no issues with safety, I'm guessing young kids are now all stuck on their electronics and no longer go to the mall.

I think this mall is pretty much as full as it has ever been except for Sears and that is supposed to re-open as a new store sometime this year. But now Macy's is closing so that will leave just JCPenny's (who is closing a lot of stores) and Kohls which is not usually a mall store.

And this mall doesn't have as many temp stores. Most stores seem to have been re-done before the current store moved in. I didn't count, but I would guess that maybe 10-20% of the stores are empty. And that includes the area's like the hall to Kohl's which I don't ever remember having stores. There are store fronts, so I'm guessing it did at one time. Now there is history on the walls.

Gone are the inside cell phone stores. Some brands used to have two stores here. A new trends seems to be activities. Arcades are common, this mall and both Burnsville and Rosedale all have some type of zoo or animals inside the mall. Also there are more massage places. One of the ones here has been here for 20+ years and was full one of the days we were here. One of the ladies lingerie places is gone, the other is still here.

Their food court is alive and well, there was one area that was closed but they do have a few chain locations here including the closest Charlie's to where I live. On New Years day it was slow here but the 2nd time we were here, most places had lines and most tables were full.

There are a lot of services that can not be done online that could fill a mall with the right mix. I'm not sure how many malls can survive without a major department store but we will start seeing them.

The later comers to the malls are sporting goods and so far this location does not have one. Both Cabela's and Dicks are in Woodbury so the most likely store for Maplewood. I think the closest ones are in Eden Prairie, Rochester and St Cloud. So they really do not have a metro presence.

EDITED TO ADD: The day after I posted this, Kare11 had an article on the Maplewood Mall and quoted someone as saying it was 100% rented. And that they have been focusing on bringing in existing local businesses and loyal customers are following those businesses to the mall.