Columbia Mall (Grand Forks) facts for kids
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| Location | Grand Forks, North Dakota |
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| Address | 2800 S Columbia Rd. |
| Opening date | August 2, 1978 |
| Developer | Dayton Hudson Corporation |
| Owner | GK Development, Inc. |
| No. of stores and services | 70+ |
| No. of anchor tenants | 4 (2 open, 2 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 710,000 sq ft (66,000 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 |
Columbia Mall is a large indoor shopping mall in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It is located where 32nd Avenue South and Columbia Road meet. The mall first opened its doors on August 2, 1978. It was built by the Dayton Hudson Corporation, which is now known as Target Corporation. Building the mall cost about $20 million.
Columbia Mall is the biggest mall within 70 miles (110 km) of Grand Forks. It is also about 80 miles (128.7 km) from the Canada–US border. Because of this, many shoppers from Winnipeg, Canada, which is 140 miles (225 km) away, come to visit the mall.
Today, Columbia Mall has two main department stores: JCPenney and Scheels. It also has a food court with 430 seats. Plus, there are more than 70 smaller stores inside. The mall is currently owned by GK Development, Inc., a company from Barrington, Illinois.
Contents
History of Columbia Mall
How the Mall Started
In 1975, there was a lot of competition to build a new mall in Grand Forks. Dayton Hudson wanted to build the mall at 32nd Avenue South and Columbia Road. Another company, Inland Construction, wanted to build it a mile east. A local group also suggested a mall called "Marketplace West."
The city planning department first liked Marketplace West. But then, people voted to add Dayton Hudson's chosen land to the city. This vote showed that the public supported the Columbia Mall project. The Marketplace West site later became the home of the Alerus Center, a large arena.
First Stores and Changes
Columbia Mall officially opened on August 2, 1978. It had about 571,800 square feet (53,120 m2) of shopping space. The first three main stores were Target, Dayton's, and JCPenney. Target and Dayton's were both owned by Dayton Hudson. The mall even had a catchy jingle, "Meet me at Columbia Mall," for its commercials.
In 2000, a Sears department store moved into Columbia Mall. This brought the total number of large anchor stores to four. A year later, in 2001, Target moved to a bigger location nearby. This new store became a SuperTarget. Also in 2001, the Dayton's store changed its name to Marshall Field's after a big company merger. Marshall Field's later became Macy's in 2005.
Mall Today: Recent Changes
In 2005, GK Development added a new food court called Dakota Cafe. This gave shoppers more places to eat. In 2014, Scheels All Sports moved into the space where Target used to be.
However, some stores have closed in recent years. Macy's closed its Columbia Mall store in 2017. Then, Sears closed its doors in 2018. This means that two of the mall's large anchor store spaces are now empty. The mall's owners are still deciding what to do with these vacant areas.
