Frontier Mall; Cheyenne, Wyoming

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Frontier Mall is Cheyenne’s enclosed regional mall, located on the north side of town along the Dell Range Boulevard retail strip. With 538,000 square feet of leasable space, Frontier Mall is the second largest of Wyoming’s three regional malls – just barely larger than Casper’s Eastridge Mall. The single-level Frontier Mall opened in 1981, anchored by Denver based Joslins, JCPenney, and Sears.

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Cheyenne, Wyoming is a city of approximately 53,000 residents, located in the southeast corner of  the state.   Cheyenne is also Wyoming’s state capital as well as the northern terminus of the Front Range Urban Corridor, a 200-mile linear minilopolis stretching along Interstate 25 with a population of 4.25 million, which also includes Fort Collins, Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo. 

Frontier Mall is Cheyenne’s enclosed regional mall, located on the north side of town along the Dell Range Boulevard retail strip.  With 538,000 square feet of leasable space, Frontier Mall is the second largest of Wyoming’s three regional malls,  just barely larger than Casper’s Eastridge Mall.  The single-level Frontier Mall opened in 1981, anchored by Denver based Joslins, JCPenney, and Sears.  And, yes, there are only three malls in the entire state of Wyoming!

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Tragedy struck Frontier Mall in 1993 as 44-year-old Larry Voss entered the mall’s Kay-Bee toy store on a hot August afternoon and shot his ex wife, Kary, to death as she worked.  The murder came after months of harassment and eventually caused Wyoming to pass anti-stalking legislation.

Another catastrophe occurred at Frontier Mall in April 1995 as a small plane attempting to return to Cheyenne Airport across the street crash landed at the mall, hitting the movie theatre sign and shooting flames across the parking lot and busy Dell Range Boulevard, killing the pilot – Dr. Daniel Hommel, of Cheyenne.

1995 also saw the closure of junior anchor Fashion Bar.  Owned by Stage Stores of Texas, Fashion Bar was a mountain-west based anchor featuring clothing and home furnishings.   In addition, CBL’s Frontier Mall Fact Sheet lists a 1995 renovation. 

In 1997, Little Rock, Ark. based Dillard’s built a new store at Frontier Mall; however, a year later in 1998 the parent of the Joslin’s chain, Mercantile Stores, was purchased by Dillard’s, giving Frontier Mall two Dillard’s stores, both of which remain open today.  Dillard’s Mens and Home operates in the former Joslin’s location, and Dillard’s womens store operates in the newer building.

frontier-mall-08Not many changes have taken place since 1998, except for junior anchor Gart Sports becoming Sports Authority as the former chain was dissolved into the latter. 

Today, Cheyenne’s Frontier Mall consists of 83 stores on a single level, featuring a nine-screen cinema and a food court area.  The mall’s layout is simple and traditional, and the decor is a mix of modern and dated.  Dining options at Frontier Mall consist of Olive Garden (outside the mall), Country Buffet and a myriad of fast food restaurants; a C.B. & Potts brewpub operated outside the mall until recently, but is currently closed. 

We visited Frontier Mall in June 2009 and took the pictures featued here.  As always, feel free to leave your own impressions and experiences in the comments.