Southridge Mall (Iowa) facts for kids
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| Location | Des Moines, Iowa, United States |
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| Opening date | October 15, 1975 |
| Developer | General Growth Properties |
| Management | Macerich |
| Owner | Macerich |
| No. of stores and services | 46 (as of summer 2011) |
| No. of anchor tenants | 7 (4 open, 3 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 869,390 sq ft (80,769 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 |
Southridge Mall is a shopping center located on the south side of Des Moines, Iowa, in the United States. It's an open-air mall, which means some of its stores can be entered directly from outside, like a street of shops. About 3.3 million people visit the mall each year. Most visitors come from Des Moines and the areas south and east of the city.
The main stores at Southridge Mall are called "anchor stores." These are usually large department stores or big-name retailers that attract many shoppers. The current anchor stores are Target, Marshalls, Shoe Carnival, and Ross Dress for Less. There are also three empty anchor spots that used to be home to Younkers, Sears, and Party City. Outside the main mall building, you can find other businesses like Hy-Vee, PETCO, and a large movie theater with 12 screens, owned by AMC Theatres.
Contents
History of Southridge Mall
Building the Mall
Plans for Southridge Mall began on March 6, 1972. A company called General Growth Properties announced they would build a new shopping center. It was planned for the corner of Southeast 14th Street and Army Post Road. During its planning and building stages, the mall was known as Army Post Plaza. However, just before it was finished, it was renamed Southridge Mall.
Southridge Mall officially opened its doors on October 15, 1975. This was just two months after another big mall, Valley West Mall, opened in West Des Moines. The first major store to open at Southridge was Younkers. Sears followed a couple of years later in 1977.
Growing and Changing Stores
In 1978, the mall expanded, adding Montgomery Ward as a third anchor store. Later, in 1982, a department store called Richman Gordman became the mall's fourth anchor.
There were plans in 1987 to add another big store, Dillard's, to Southridge. However, Younkers, one of the original anchor stores, didn't like this idea. They said their lease agreement limited the mall to only four department stores. Younkers even sued the mall's management over this issue. A judge ruled against Younkers in June 1990. Even though the judge ruled, Dillard's had already decided not to build at Southridge before the decision.
After Dillard's didn't come, Target became the mall's fifth anchor store in 1992. At the same time, the rest of the mall got a makeover. This expansion made Southridge much bigger, with over 1 million square feet of space.
Richman Gordman closed in 1992 because the company went out of business. Two years later, in 1994, JCPenney moved its store from downtown Des Moines to Southridge to take over that empty anchor spot.
Anchor Store Closures
Montgomery Ward closed its stores at Southridge and Merle Hay Mall in 1999. This happened when the company faced financial problems. The large 109,000-square-foot space at Southridge remained empty for a long time. It was finally torn down in April 2006.
On January 24, 2011, it was announced that JCPenney would close its Southridge store in June 2011. However, another JCPenney store in Des Moines, located at Valley West Mall, stayed open.
Later, on May 3, 2016, Sears announced that its Southridge location would close in August 2016. Then, on April 18, 2018, Younkers also announced its closure. Its parent company, Bon-Ton Stores, was going out of business. The Younkers store closed on August 29, 2018. After these closures, Target was the only original anchor store left at the mall.
Mall Ownership Changes
General Growth Properties, the company that first built Southridge, sold the mall in 1984. They sold it to the Equitable Life Assurance Society. General Growth continued to manage Southridge until March 1998. At that time, a partnership between the Simon Property Group and Macerich bought Southridge as part of a deal that included 12 malls. Since then, Macerich has been in charge of managing Southridge Mall.
Challenges and Improvements
In the 2000s, fewer stores were open at Southridge Mall. This was partly because of new competition from places like Jordan Creek Town Center and other shopping areas such as Merle Hay Mall.
To make the mall better, renovations took place in late 2006 and 2007. These improvements included a new play area for children in the food court, Wi-Fi internet access, new places to sit, and updated restrooms.
A store called Steve & Barry's opened a new 31,000-square-foot store near JCPenney on October 24, 2007. However, that store closed at the end of 2008 as the company went out of business. By December 2009, reports showed that 40 out of 91 store spaces were empty. Some of these empty spots were filled by businesses not usually found in malls, like churches, offices, and even an animal shelter. In 2009, U.S. News & World Report listed Southridge as one of 84 "endangered malls." This was due to its low sales and many empty stores.
Recent Renovations
In 2012, big changes began at Southridge Mall. Most of the mall was converted into an outdoor-facing shopping area. This meant that 296,000 square feet of retail space was torn down. New stores like Foot Locker, Shoe Carnival, T-Mobile, and Rue 21 opened in the new outdoor section.
Marshalls also opened in the outdoor area in 2013. A consignment shop called Value Villa opened in the space that used to be Steve & Barry's. The Des Moines Area Community College also showed interest in opening a campus in the building that used to be JCPenney. A college did eventually take over the former JCPenney space.
