West Acres Shopping Center facts for kids
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| Location | Fargo, North Dakota, United States |
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| Address | 3902 13th Ave. S |
| Opening date | August 2, 1972 |
| Developer | William (Bill) Schlossman |
| Management | West Acres Management |
| Owner | West Acres Development, LLP |
| No. of stores and services | 100+ |
| No. of anchor tenants | 6 (5 open, 1 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 950,000 sq ft (88,000 m2). |
| No. of floors | 1 (2 in JCPenney) |
| Parking | 5,000+ |
West Acres Shopping Center is a big shopping mall located in Fargo, North Dakota. You can find it near where two major highways, Interstate 29 and 94, meet. It's the largest mall in all of North Dakota!
West Acres has over 100 stores and services. It also has a large food court with 750 seats. Some of its main stores, called "anchor stores," are JCPenney, Macy's, Best Buy, Forever 21, and Talbots. There's also a big empty store that used to be Herberger's.
Besides shopping and food, West Acres has some cool attractions. You can visit The Roger Maris Museum, see a collection of local art, or play at the Touchstone Energy Dinosaur Playland. There are also unique spearfishing decoys made by John Jensen on display.
History of West Acres Mall
West Acres Shopping Center first opened its doors on August 2, 1972. A person named William A. Schlossman, along with other investors, helped create it. When it first opened, it had big stores like Dayton's, Sears, and a local store called DeLendrecie's. The Dayton's store was special because it was the first one outside of Minnesota.
In 1979, the mall grew bigger. They added JCPenney as another main store. Later, in 1998, DeLendrecie's changed its name to Herberger's. A new food court was built in 2000, giving shoppers more places to eat. The Dayton's store changed names a few times, eventually becoming Macy's in 2006.
Around 2012, the mall was completely full of stores. Over time, some stores left, but new ones quickly took their place. In 2017, the Sears store closed. Then, in 2018, Herberger's also announced it would close.
To fill the empty spaces, Best Buy moved into the old Sears spot. Other new stores like Boot Barn and Foss Swim School opened where Best Buy used to be. The mall also started a big new project called The District. This area has many restaurants with both indoor and outdoor seating. The first restaurant in The District opened in late 2019.
Art and Features at the Mall
One of the original and most famous features of the mall is the Fountain of Abundance. This beautiful fountain was created by an art professor named P. Richard Szeitz. It used to be in front of the Dayton's store. In 2001, when the food court was built, the fountain was moved to the JCPenney entrance.
West Acres also displays art from many different artists. You can see works by Marjorie Schlossman, Black Pinto Horse (Monte Yellow Bird), Walter Piehl, and many others. In 2007, the mall was even recognized for supporting the arts by the Lake Agassiz Arts Council.
