Boise Towne Square facts for kids
A former road sign at Boise Town Square
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| Location | Boise, Idaho |
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| Coordinates | 43°36′29″N 116°16′44″W / 43.608°N 116.279°W |
| Opening date | 1988, 37 years ago October 9 (The Bon Marché, Sears) October 12 (JCPenney) October 19 (remaining stores) |
| Developer | Sletten Companies |
| Management | Brookfield Properties Retail Group |
| Owner | Brookfield Properties Retail Group |
| No. of stores and services | 150 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 5 (4 open, 1 vacant) (Boise Towne Square Mall) 2 (Boise Towne Plaza) |
| Total retail floor area | 1,057,954 sq ft (98,287.1 m2) |
| No. of floors | 2 (3 in Dillard's) |
Boise Towne Square is a large shopping mall in Boise, Idaho. It's the biggest shopping center in the state of Idaho. The mall first opened its doors in 1988 after many years of planning.
Today, Boise Towne Square has about 150 stores. Some of its main stores, called anchor stores, include Macy's, JCPenney, Kohl's, and Dillard's. It also has the very first Apple Store in Idaho! The mall is owned by a company called Brookfield Properties Retail Group. You can find it near where two major highways, Interstate 84 and Interstate 184, meet.
Right next to the main mall, there's another shopping area called Boise Towne Plaza. It has stores like Nordstrom Rack and Old Navy. Plus, there are several other stores on the mall's property, including PetSmart and Pier 1 Imports.
Contents
History of Boise Towne Square
Planning a Big Mall for Boise
People in Boise started talking about building a large shopping mall way back in the 1960s and 1970s. It took a long time for the idea to become real.
In the early 1980s, different companies suggested places for a new mall. One idea was for a mall in downtown Boise. Another plan was for a mall near a highway intersection. Many big department stores like JCPenney and Sears were interested in being part of these new malls.
Finally, in December 1986, construction began on Boise Towne Square. It was built northwest of Cole and Franklin Roads. This was the same area where a developer had tried to build a mall 13 years earlier! Soon after, it was announced that Sears, JCPenney, Mervyns, and The Bon Marché would be the main stores. At the time, the only other big mall nearby was Karcher Mall in Nampa.
Grand Opening Day
Before Boise Towne Square opened, Sears and JCPenney closed their older stores in downtown Boise. They were getting ready for their new locations in the mall.
The first main stores, The Bon Marché and Sears, opened on October 9, 1988. Many people came to the grand opening. JCPenney opened a few days later, on October 12. The official grand opening for the whole mall was on October 19. The mayor of Boise, Dirk Kempthorne, even helped with a ribbon-cutting ceremony! The fourth main store, Mervyn's, opened a few months later in February 1989.
Mall Expansions in the 1990s
In 1995, the mall announced plans to add a fifth main store. People thought it might be Dillard's or ZCMI. It was also announced that The Bon Marché store would get bigger.
In February 1996, Dillard's was officially confirmed as the mall's fifth and largest main store. The plans also included adding more space for new shops. There was a small legal issue that delayed things, but it was settled. Construction on the Dillard's store and the new mall section started in June 1997. Dillard's and most of the new stores opened in August 1998.
Changes and New Stores in the 2000s
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In 1999, the mall's food court got a big makeover.
The mall used to have a movie theater, but it closed in 2001. A local movie chain, The Reel Theatre, reopened it in 2004, but it closed again in 2007. The empty theater was eventually torn down in 2009 to make way for a PetSmart store, which opened in 2010.
In 2006, the mall grew even more, adding space for new shops. Some of the first new stores included Borders and The Cheesecake Factory. An inside update of the mall was finished in October 2008. These changes made Boise Towne Square the biggest mall in Idaho, with over 180 stores at the time.
Recent Years: 2008 to Today
In August 2008, the Mervyn's store announced it would close. This was part of a bigger plan for the company. A new Kohl's department store moved into the old Mervyn's building and opened in September 2011.
In February 2009, something unusual happened. The mall had to be evacuated because some suspicious items were found. Police later found out they were fake explosives. The mall reopened safely the next day.
In 2010, Apple Inc. chose Boise Towne Square for Idaho's first Apple Store. It opened on September 11, 2010. Also, Nordstrom announced in 2011 that it was thinking about opening a Nordstrom Rack store at the mall.
The Borders bookstore closed in September 2011, as the company went out of business. Less than a year later, H&M announced it would open its first Idaho store in that empty space.
In October 2018, it was announced that the Sears store would close. It officially closed in January 2019.
Boise Towne Plaza
In the late 1990s, the company that owned Boise Towne Square built another shopping area next to the mall. It's called Boise Towne Plaza. The first main stores there were Circuit City and Linens 'n Things. Later, an Old Navy store was added.
Both Linens 'n Things and Circuit City closed their stores in 2008 and 2009. In 2011, Nordstrom confirmed that Idaho's first Nordstrom Rack would open in the old Linens 'n Things building. That store opened in April 2012.
Also in April 2012, it was confirmed that a beauty store called Ulta Beauty would open in part of the old Circuit City building. And a fun restaurant and arcade called Dave & Buster's opened in the rest of that space.
