Olympus Hills Shopping Center facts for kids

Olympus Hills Shopping Center is a shopping area located at 3900 Wasatch Boulevard in Salt Lake City, Utah. It opened in 1963 and gets its name from the nearby Mount Olympus. The center is nestled within the Olympus Cove area of Millcreek, Utah.

A Look Back: Olympus Hills' Story

Over the years, Olympus Hills has been home to many different stores. One of the most well-known was Smith's Food and Drug, also called Smith's Food King. This grocery store rented the biggest space in the shopping center and was a very important tenant.

However, Smith's later decided to use their space only for storage. This led to a long legal disagreement between Olympus Hills Shopping Center and Smith's. The problem took several years to solve. This difficult time almost caused the shopping center to close down completely. But Olympus Hills managed to stay open and slowly started to get back on its feet.

Because it was the only shopping center right off the I-215 belt route in Utah, it began to attract interest from larger businesses again.

Community and the Billboard

In 2004, the shopping center faced another challenge. A large billboard sign was put up right in front of the center. It was on land owned by a different company, a small gas station. The local community was very upset about the sign. Many people thought the shopping center was responsible for it.

The shopping center had to explain that they were not involved. People protested, and the company that put up the sign did not respond to calls or letters. Instead, they put up advertisements for the US Marine Corps and Air Force on the sign.

Working together with community leaders, new rules were agreed upon. Finally, the controversial sign was taken down. The shopping center had a tough time again, but it recovered much faster this time.