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.

Mall of America, Bloomington (Minneapolis), MN

     I know you saw that I was heading to Minnesota and thought something. You've heard the rumors, and they were sorta true. And this is what you have been waiting for. The biggest fish. And as you skip ahead to find the unpicked meat, I will tell you something. This is it. This is the crown jewel of my trip. This is the crown jewel of that reading you knew you would do that night. This is everything you wanted. Everything. Everything will be good after reading this article on this mall. Now let's not get carried away here.
    
     The Mall of America. Even the name sounds like something found out while daydreaming in the shower. And it's something pretty ironic, given that Mall of America truly sounds like a dank one-story mall with a couple of anchor vacancies, dead Radio Shacks, and elderly mall walkers. Along with this is an Amazon distribution center next door. Maybe fidget spinner kiosks would be located down the central mallway (this will be great to look at ten years later). In the food court, there would be plenty of vaporwave playing with 80's mall commercials only seen in drunken dreams or Dan Bell videos. But instead of the living 2010's American mall, we have America's largest mall, a practical (for being large, it's pretty walkable) four-anchor mall surrounded by office buildings.

We start this one off with a directory photo. Electronic directories in these megamalls are making this job a little harder. That "End" store is the Nike Store, knowing you were curious about that. While this is only one floor, it shows the general layout and anchors.

     Despite being such a large mall, the history is pretty simple. In 1956, Metropolitan Stadium was constructed in the undeveloped suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota, to be used by the Twins and later the Vikings. The Beatles, minor league baseball, and pro soccer would come later. The stadium was sadly closed in 1981, and operations were moved to downtown Minneapolis' Hubert H. Humphrey MetroDome, which would be destroyed thirty years later. Further operations for the Vikings were at the US Bank Stadium and the "Twinkies" would move to Target Field. The Met was demolished in 1985.

     News first surfaced in 1985 of the proposed Fashion Mall of America. The Ghermezian brothers, creator of North America's largest mall, West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Canada, were to be the mallmaker of America's largest. Of course, two brothers couldn't do all of the designing, so they would make the regrettable move of snagging Indy-based Melvin Simon and Associates to help out. Pairing these news was a meeting between the brothers and the Bloomington Port Authority. Another meeting was done a year later with the folks of Niagara Falls, New York, thirteen miles north of Buffalo. Niagara Falls authorities couldn't piece an economic package, and the mall was given to Bloomington, MN. To much excitement, groundbreaking was accomplished June 14, 1989.

     Original plans included a 65-screen moviehouse, a 5-star hotel, 125 restaurants, waterpark, saltwater aquarium, and a submarine ride. The original name was to be Fashion Mall of America, but most started calling it the Mall of America. These plans were all scaled back, and only some are in the planning process.

     Quite the scare happened when it was found out that parts of the mall were being constructed as others were being planned. The project kept going on, and continued to do so. Further planned had already decided the proposed four anchors. Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, and Carson Pirie Scott were penciled in as anchors. These anchors were slightly altered, with Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Sears, and Macy's being the final plans. Dedication was done August 11, 1992.

     At its opening, the center had 4.2 million square foot mall had four Sunglass Huts, and two Taco Times, Sam Goody's, Panda Expresses, and Cajun Cafes. The mall also had its own zip code and 18-hole mini golf course. The mall was divided into four "streets" and three floors, with four on the east and south wings. The four streets were the South Avenue, West Market, North Garden, and East Broadway. Each had their own niche, from catering to the youth, upscale, Times Square, and middle-market. In the center was then-Knott's Camp Snoopy, a park based on Charles Schultz' comic characters.

     Even though competition was high and the economy was not, MoA had a very strong start. By then, locals had a lil' fun with the mall. Plenty of nicknames were thrown around, including "Hugedale," as a homage to the Gruen dales of Minneapolis. This was a laugh for the locals, as MoA was the epitome of "tourist trap."

     Proverbial trouble in paradise would come in 1999. A dispute was started when Simon purchased TIAA's stock in the mall, giving them majority. The brothers were never informed, and a court battle ensued. Federal court favored the brothers, and they won. The brothers won back planning and management control. The Ghermezians would later win full control of the mall by spending $1 billion dollars. Only shortly after the court case, Knott's Camp Snoopy was ousted because of licensing problems. Nickelodeon Universe would take over shortly after, and changed the rides to fit their characters.

     Expansion talk came in 2007, attempting to utilize an IKEA built across Lindau Lane. A dinner theatre, waterpark, three hotels, an ice rink, and two anchor stores with Bass Pro having already been signed. So far, a new food court leading with a stub into the proposed expansion has only been done, completed in 2015. Bloomingdales was closed in 2012, with LL Bean, Forever 21, and Crayola Experience taking up the space. If all goes well, Sears will be a Von Maur by 2020.

Here's the aforementioned food court. Tenants are still filling up.

     One thing I love about this mall is the attention to detail. Bordering the mall to the south is Killebrew Drive, which was renamed for the late Twin and Baseball Hall of Famer. On other Killebrew terms, there is a lone seat on the inside wall of the theme park. This marks where the longest home run at the Met was hit, by Harmon Killebrew. Near Nordstrom on the first floor is a Flight 93 memorial. Also in the theme park, there is a home plate marking where the Met's was.

     While I apologize for no real commentary on the mall, there is truly not much to say about this mall. It's huge and full of tourists. Imagine your normal successful mid-market mall but make it four times the size. hat's really all I have to say, and these photos.

There is the very famous logo welcoming forty-some dads with Hawaiian shirts.

Nordstrom court is my personal in-mall favorite court. 

And now we whisk back to the much more familiar Southern malls of mine.