North Grand Mall, Ames

     Ames, Iowa is a thriving college town about 30 miles north of Des Moines, the capital and largest city in the state. Not only does the city house the Iowa State University, the area's largest employer and source of over half the city's population, Ames is the largest town between Des Moines and Minneapolis. It's also a successful one at that, posting a 2.1% unemployment rate and stellar growth rates as of late. It's mall, the North Grand Mall, could be said the same. It's a mall that's been doing as well as its location, with little vacancies and sustained success.

We start our walk in the JCPenney wing. The Penney's entrance is nothing unfamiliar to the other entrances the company built throughout the 70's. The same can be said of the exterior. The extra space in the signage area was likely due to the fact that the "New Look" logo took up more room on the entrances.

View down the JCP wing into center court. There's barely any breakup in the single corridor, as even anchor Younkers doesn't get even a short wing. Homes are located right next to the mall on the western side, limiting such a wing or really any expansion.

Looking back at a farther distance to JCPenney. This section is probably the weakest in the mall, but it's not really struggling.

      The mall has been remarkably unchanged since its opening in 1971. The opening anchors were Sears, JCPenney, and Des Moines-based Younkers. Only Sears has changed since then, being divided into a Kohl's, TJMaxx, and Gap Outlet in 2008. Even the interior of the mall itself has only received one renovation as far as I can tell. This renovation came in 2006, and there are still plenty of vintage elements that fell through the cracks. The biggest news coming to this mall in a decade was announced earlier this year. Younkers' owners, Bon-Ton Stores entered Chapter 7 bankruptcy in February, spelling the end of the historic department store, and later on, conglomerate. Younkers is a part of this conglomerate, meaning that the North Grand store will be closing in August 2018. Will the store be replaced with the same success as the former Sears? Only time will tell.

Looking downward from JCP and towards center court.

It's hard to get a simpler design that what NGM has to offer. The only thing to note would be that Younkers has no real wing, but as I said, there's no room to do so.

     While North Grand looked great on the day I visited (and it's overall doing well), with constant crowds and only two vacancies, the mall seems to be weakly fitted for the future. Not only is an anchor closing, but there was really no major draw that I could sense in the area. While the stores themselves would help bring in the masses from the smaller towns around Ames such as Boone and Nevada, there's not much of a draw for Ames or Des Moines residents. The only entertainment comes in the form of a small theatre that has been operating on and off through the years. A thirty-minute drive on I-35 brings you to more diverse shopping and entertainment in the capital, and numerous other draws. While a major university nearby gives the added benefit of thousands of students to draw off of, a bored college student may choose to rather spend a day in Des Moines instead of at the mall in Ames. In this case, perhaps North Grand is simply too small.

The main entrance is architecturally unremarkable from the rest of the mall. While some malls without food courts turn their main entrance into a de facto food hall, only a bakery exists in the entrance here.

Younkers entrance, closing signs included. The gray tint on this photo comes from the sun pouring in through the skylight on the court's roof.

Looking down to TJMaxx. Were there once more foliage and fountains pre-2006? For a mall that still retains some older aesthetic, the hallways (and especially center court) are very bare.

     While expansions can be dangerous, risky, expensive, life-saving, and all in between, it almost seems like the only way to go is up. And by that, I mean that we need a second floor. This floor would consist of a proper food court, a proper theater, more entertainment, and of course more stores. Of course, this expansion wouldn't have to stretch the whole mall. It may only go from TJMaxx to center court. But the point is, this mall will struggle if it doesn't adjust to today's standards. Oh yeah, and find a replacement for Younkers. Easy stuff, right? I've had many retail hot takes, and this could be my hottest yet, but something has got to be done. Might as well do it while the mall is alive and thriving.

Looking back to center court and Younkers. Sure it's outdated, but the tile works pretty well the whole feel of the mall.

Heading down to TJMaxx. This corridor feels a lot darker than the JCPenney wing. It also holds many of the more popular chains offered at the mall.

The TJMaxx entrance is nothing to write home about. On the topic of entrances, the Sears that once stood here had a relic of one until shortly before its demise.

Here's the aforementioned Sears. Note the beautiful interior and the entrances. How much I would have done to see this store. I'm not sure if there are any other remaining Sears that look like this.

     North Grand is currently a healthy mall, but where does the future lead? This mall will be an interesting one to watch over the next decade. Does it improve, stay the same, or hit tough times? The mall seemed middling to me on my trip, but does that affect the future? How will anchor changes affect the mall? This is a mall of many questions, and the future will tell how these questions will be answered.

Squeezed into the side of the mall is this tiny cinema. What occupied this space previous to it being a cinema?

JCPenney and Younkers both are as plain as you can get on the outside.

Not a great photo of Younkers, but the architects definitely slacked on this store.

Classic 70's Penney's on the front.

Wide view stretching the front of the mall.