Merle Hay Mall facts for kids
Anchor Stores
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| Location | Des Moines and Urbandale, Iowa, United States |
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| Coordinates | 41°37′54″N 93°42′02″W / 41.631667°N 93.700556°W |
| Opening date | August 17, 1959 |
| Developer | Joseph Abbell & Bernard Greenbaum |
| Management | Merle Hay Mall Limited Partnership/ Urban Retail Properties (leasing) |
| Owner | Merle Hay Mall Limited Partnership |
| No. of stores and services | 87 (as of August 2015[update]) |
| No. of anchor tenants | 5 (3 open, 2 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 1,060,000 square feet (98,000 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 (2 in center court area and former Younkers) |
| Parking | 6,000 spaces |
| Public transit access | DART |
Merle Hay Mall is a large indoor shopping mall located in Des Moines, Iowa, in the United States. It first opened its doors in 1959. This makes it the second oldest major shopping center in Iowa. For many years, it was also the largest mall in Iowa based on its size, until Jordan Creek Town Center opened in 2004. The mall was also the site of a serious fire in 1978, which caused significant damage and led to the store being rebuilt.
Today, the mall's main stores, called anchor stores, are Kohl's, Target, and Ross Dress for Less. Two large spaces that used to be anchor stores, Younkers and Sears, are now empty. The old Younkers space is planned to become an ice arena. You can also find restaurants like Applebee's, IHOP, and Starbucks around the mall. Other popular stores inside include Old Navy. Most of Merle Hay Mall is in Des Moines, but a part of it, including Kohl's and the food court, is actually in the nearby city of Urbandale.
Merle Hay Mall is owned by a group called Merle Hay Mall Limited Partnership. The family of one of the original builders still helps manage the mall. A company from Chicago, Urban Retail Properties, helps find stores to rent spaces in the mall.
Contents
Mall History: From Monastery to Shops
The land where Merle Hay Mall now stands was once home to a Monastery called St. Gabriel's. Monks lived there from 1921 until the building was taken down in 1958. In 1956, the monks sold the land to two builders from Chicago, Joseph Abbell and Bernard Greenbaum. Abbell later said they chose Des Moines because it was known as a "model urban area" in the middle of America.
At first, the mall was going to be called Northland Shopping Center. But executives from the Younkers department store suggested naming it after Merle Hay. He was the first Iowan killed in World War I, and the road in front of the mall was already named after him. The mall was first planned as a simple outdoor shopping area. But before construction began in 1958, it was redesigned to be an open-air plaza with two department stores and other buildings around a central area.
Opening Day and Early Stores
Merle Hay Plaza officially opened on August 17, 1959. It had 31 stores when it first opened. Its first main store was Younkers. There was also a bowling alley, which is still open today! Later in 1959, Sears moved from downtown Des Moines to Merle Hay Plaza, becoming a second anchor store.
Other early shops included a Safeway supermarket, Kresge, Bishop's Buffet, and Walgreens. A movie theater and a six-story office building were added to the plaza in 1965.
Becoming an Enclosed Mall
In 1972, Merle Hay Plaza was enclosed, meaning it became an indoor mall, and its name changed to Merle Hay Mall. Two years later, the mall grew much larger with a big expansion to the west. This doubled its size. Two more anchor stores, Montgomery Ward and Younkers Store for Homes, were added during this expansion. By the year 2000, Merle Hay Mall was very popular, attracting about 35,000 shoppers every day.
People noticed how Merle Hay Mall changed shopping habits. An economist named Kenneth Stone said the mall did well by offering longer shopping hours. This was different from downtown stores that started closing earlier. Author Bill Bryson, who grew up in Des Moines, wrote about how the mall's opening changed the city. He said people loved shopping at the mall and didn't go downtown as much anymore.
The Younkers Fire
On November 5, 1978, the original Younkers store at Merle Hay Mall was badly damaged by a fire. The fire caused a lot of damage, estimated at $20 million. The store had to close for almost a year to be rebuilt.
Investigators later said that a problem with the store's heating and cooling system caused the fire. This led to an electrical issue that made wires overheat.
Changes to Anchor Stores
Merle Hay Mall saw its first anchor store change in 1991. The Younkers Store for Homes closed because Younkers decided to focus on selling clothes and other fashion items instead of furniture. Kohl's took its place in 1993.
In 1998, Montgomery Ward faced problems and closed its store in early 1999. Famous-Barr opened a new store in that space in August 2000. The rest of the mall also got a $20 million update that year. Younkers then moved into the former Famous-Barr space in 2004. The old Younkers building was then taken down to make room for a new Target store, which opened in 2005. Target's opening helped the mall's sales, which had gone down a bit after Jordan Creek Town Center opened.
Modern Updates and Future Plans
Merle Hay Mall continues to be a busy place. Its main stores are Kohl's and Target. The spaces where Younkers and Sears used to be are now empty. The mall also has over 60 other stores and a food court. During the Christmas holidays, extra temporary shops open up. The mall is still managed by the same company that has owned most of it since 1959. It has been updated many times to stay a popular shopping spot.
In 2008, the Des Moines city council helped the mall's owners plan for future renovations. The mall built a new main entrance and moved some stores around. This created space for new "junior" anchor stores with their own outside entrances. For example, Staples moved into a renovated space. Old Navy moved to a new spot, and Shoe Carnival and Ulta took over its old location.
In 2013, Dunham's Sports moved out, and MC Sports took its place. However, MC Sports closed in 2017. A bouncy-house arena has since opened there. A Flix Brewhouse movie theater opened in 2014, becoming a very popular spot. In 2017, Ross Dress for Less opened in the old Staples location.
In 2018, both Younkers and Sears announced they would be closing their stores at Merle Hay Mall. Sears, which was one of the original stores, closed in October 2018. This left Kohl's and Target as the only main anchor stores. In 2019, GameDay, an arcade and restaurant, opened at the mall.
The year 2020 brought challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, causing many stores to close for a while. Some stores like Helzberg Diamonds, Victoria's Secret, and Justice closed their locations permanently. In October 2020, it was announced that the empty Sears building would be taken down to make way for new projects. In November 2020, the Des Moines Buccaneers hockey team shared plans to build a new sports facility in the old Younkers space and nearby areas. This new project will include a hockey arena, extra ice rinks for tournaments, and a hotel. It is expected to be finished before the 2022-23 hockey season.
See also
In Spanish: Merle Hay Mall para niños
Images for kids
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Merle Hay Mall's new main entrance, 2009
