South Forks Plaza (currently Grand Cities Mall); Grand Forks, North Dakota
Built in 1964, South Forks Plaza was Grand Forks, North Dakota’s first enclosed mall on a main commercial strip close to the center of town. In 1978, the Dayton Hudson Corporation opened a new mall, Columbia Mall, on the edge of town near the recently completed Interstate 29, linking Grand Forks north to Winnipeg, Canada and south to the rest of the United States. Quickly, Columbia Mall replaced South Forks Plaza as the destination for serious shoppers and the place for regional and national chain “mall stores”.
Since Columbia Mall took over, Grand Forks Plaza has been relegated to featuring mostly local stores and service establishments, drawing from a very local crowd. Its days of a regional or super-regional center have been over for a long time. Then, in 2001, another blow to the mall’s presence hit as Grand Forks Marketplace, a big box anchored strip mall, opened. It is anchored by SuperTarget, Best Buy, Lowe’s, Old Navy, Michaels, Bed Bath & Beyond, Gordman’s; Kohl’s and Menard’s are across the street.
In the early 2000s, South Forks Plaza’s owner, J Herzog and Sons of Denver, renamed the mall to Grand Cities Mall after the Grand Cities region of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks, MN, and other surrounding communities making up the immediate area. They hoped this rebranding would help the mall reposition itself as a retail destination for the micropolitan area despite the assault of Columbia Mall and Grand Forks Marketplace. Grand Cities Mall/South Forks Plaza has been anchored by K-Mart for years and it is the largest anchor at almost 100,000 square feet. The other anchor, Big Lots, flanks the other end of the mall, and a mix of mostly local but some national chain stores make up the mix of stores in Grand Cities Mall. It is worth noting that much of the space in the mall is taken by services such as a Karate studio, Century 21 Real Estate, a travel agent, a shoe shop, and even a ballet studio.
So why can’t the mall make it? Simply put, the demographics of Grand Forks and the immediate area cannot support two malls and a giant big box center. Grand Forks has a population of 50,000; however, J Herzog indicates the immediate area has 100,000 residents and the Grand Cities Mall has a potential to draw from a trade area of 300,000. Frankly, I’m not entirely sure where they get that number, as the population density in this largely agricultural area is very low. The nearest other cities of any significance are Fargo, which is 1 hour south, and Winnipeg, which is just over 2 hours north in Canuckistan. Grand Forks is the commercial center for the entire area in between Fargo and the Canadian border, but they’re clearly shopping at Columbia Mall and Grand Forks Marketplace, and not Grand Cities Mall.
I stepped into a time machine and entered South Forks Plaza in July 2001 and took these pictures. I was mostly fascinated and very truly amazed at how dated this mall was. It had clearly not been renovated in much capacity since opening in the mid 1960s. Many of the (dead) storefronts sported this western-themed, wooden facade which was complemented with bricks, and must have been popular then. Some of the light fixtures, flooring, and existing signage were also clearly original to the mall, which was amazing. Other parts of the indoor portion of the mall appeared to be under construction, and the developer’s website indicate a “renovation” of sorts took place in 2001. So, I’m not actually sure what the mall looks like today; however, it appears to still be open for business. Hopefully someone with some more knowledge of the area can enlighten us on the mall’s history and what it’s like today, 5 years after these pictures were taken.
jill lynch
July 28th, 2006 at 6:36 am
I was thrilled to see your post on the South Forks Plaza. I grew up in East Grand Forks, and when I was a kid in the 80’s I went there every so often. Believe it or not, the mall *has* been remodelled, after taking on a couple of feet of dirty river water in the flood of 1997. I wish I had pictures of the original decor…it was trippy. The centerpiece of the mall was this bizarre lighting fixture that looked like a giant red Bristle Block covered in Christmas lights. There were clusters of benches that were made up of plastic octagons in shades of burnt orange, olive green, and brown. At Christmas there were holiday displays with moving elves and reindeer that broke more and more every year–the Mrs. Santa figure was supposed to be stirring cookie batter, and eventually her hand with the spoon fell off, and she continued to stir with her handless, mechanized arm.
The large, empty anchor store in the first 3 pictures was a Sears, which relocated to the Columbia Mall in the early 2000’s. Other stores I remember over the years are Maurice’s, Cost Cutters, Kinney Shoes, a cigar and pipe store, a craft store, a magic trick store, Hallmark, Radio Shack, a bottle shop, The Christian Bookshelf, a wig store that scared the bejesus out of me, the “Nibble Nook” (a cheese shop), a take and bake pizza place, and other chains and local oddities. Armed Forces recruiters moved in at some point. There was a two screen movie theater that was unbelievably retro, with red, orange, and black patterned carpet, dark wood, and heavy black iron light fixtures with bulbous amber colored glass. At some point in the 80’s a pavillion was added on to the mall, and it helped for a while–they held boat shows, conventions, and things of that nature–but eventually the pavillion was sold to a church, which of course did little to help business.
I remember going to the pet store in the mall, to see the “talking” Myna bird, out of which I never heard a single word. I went to Del’s Restaurant–pictured in your last interior photo–six or seven years ago and it was full of grannies in cardigans and waitresses that looked like they’d been there since ‘64. Great fries, though!
I have lots of memories of South Forks Plaza. Most of them are entirely inconsequential, but I wanted to share a few.
I love your site! Keep the great stuff coming.
Jill Lynch
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Bobby
July 28th, 2006 at 4:34 pm
According to Stortrax, that ex-Sears is now a church.
Also, Jilll, do you know what used to be in the Big Lots space? Just curious.
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Prangeway
July 28th, 2006 at 6:14 pm
Thanks for your great comments, Jill. I love sharing memories of personal anecdotes about shopping malls and life in general. It gives emotion and a unique sense of place to a particular location which would otherwise be more bland. The image you created with the armless mechanized Mrs. Santa made me laugh out loud, too.
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Josh
August 21st, 2006 at 3:44 pm
Actually I believe where the church is now use to be a huge arcade center and then was a gym.
Sears was located where BigLots, Aarons, and family dollar are now.
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Allan
November 11th, 2006 at 8:42 pm
Is this shopping center still around? I absolutely love the look of the sign for South Forks Plaza. I’m guessing that’s an old neon sign that’s been up since the ’60s or ’70s, am I right?
I also love the yellow neon sign for Budget Drug, too. It’s too bad that it’s probably safe to assume this shopping center has since been renovated into some sort of bland, big-box shopping center.
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GrandForksGuy
February 20th, 2007 at 8:47 am
“Some of the light fixtures, flooring, and existing signage were also clearly original to the mall, which was amazing”
Actually, in the photos you took and posted here, it looks as though the 2001 “remodeling” had already taken place. Believe it or not, the western-themed storefronts and the ugly orange and blue floor tiles had just been put in…no kidding. Whoever did that remodeling job should be out of business…
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Bobby
February 20th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Oh, and yes, it’s still around.
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Max
May 13th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Apparently, when the Columbia Mall opened in 1978, it was originally anchored by Dayton’s, JCPenney, and Target. (As a matter of fact, this marked the first time a Target had ever been an anchor of an enclosed mall.) Of course, the Dayton’s was renamed Marshall Field’s and then Macy’s, in 2001 and 2006, respectively.
2000 was when the South Forks Plaza’s Sears relocated to the Columbia Mall (in a building which I believe was newly built). Just one year later, the Columbia Mall’s Target relocated to Grand Forks Marketplace, becoming a SuperTarget in the process. The Target location at Columbia Mall remains empty.
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Jill
June 16th, 2007 at 1:04 am
I was just in Grand Forks for about 21 hours…I haven’t been back in a few years, and while there has been a big box explosion on the outskirts of town (Kohl’s, Gordman’s, Lowe’s, Old Navy, SuperTarget, Best Buy, Bed Bath and Beyond, and many more have all built large stores in the past 3-6 years), the malls seem to be faring pretty well. I was a little bit surprised! Columbia Mall has a handful of vacancies (including the old Target space) but is far from a dying or dead mall–GF is too small to have multiple locations of stores like the Gap, Vanity, Eddie Bauer, and so on; and so they seem to have maintained a following. Strangest of all, though I didn’t have time to stop and look, the old South Forks Plaza has added some new tenants. The old, hopelessly outdated zig-zag Sears facade is completely gone, and a new furniture store stands in part of its place, along with Big Lots and some other stuff I didn’t get a good look at…there is also supposed to be a good sized Ben Franklin and a new shoe store inside. At least from the outside, the mall looks like someplace a person might consider shopping. I am planning a longer trip up north again in a month–I’ll stop by and get some pictures.
If it helps, there is no chance the place will ever get big-boxed, because there is nothing but space in North Dakota…new retail spreads west in GF, relatively unchecked. Also, I am quite sure the mall remains hideous and fascinating on the inside.
I suspect that in the case of Grand Forks, and as much as I hate to admit it, the big box stores may actually be helping to make the city a much greater attraction for the surrounding, retail-deprived region…and it appears this may be helping the smaller guys as well. Time will tell.
A side note–have you ever heard of the former City Center Mall? In the era of urban renewal, they actually built a roof over a one block section of downtown GF, to try and compete with the new enclosed malls (the roof and some of the buildings were removed after the flood of 1997). It was the strangest place ever. I could only find one interior photo, and it was taken during construction…here’s a link.
http://history.grand-forks.k12.nd.us/NDhistory/LessonImages/Sources/Pictures/City%20Center%20mall.jpg
As one might expect, it contained mainly local stores.
Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Grand_Forks
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Jill
August 13th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
I was just inside the South Forks Plaza for the first time in seven years. It is a bizarre place! Oddly, there are less vacancies there than I remember there being in at least 15 years.
The “pavillion” was indeed converted into a church. The Sears space is occupied by a ballet studio, a caterer, Aaron’s (a discount furniture store), and Zimmermann’s Furniture; there was a Big Lots, but that has closed. Also in the mall: KMart, several collectors/junk stores, Stonegate Pets (I think this is original to the mall, but it has changed locaions), Merle Norman Cosmetics, a sub shop, a slightly worse for wear climbing wall, Del’s Restaurant (original to the mall), Jack’s Shoes (a popular local store with two locations), an alterations shop/Tupperware store (really), a shoe repair center, a watch repair center, a wine shop, Ben Franklin Crafts, Ace Hardware, a Christian bookstore, a bar and liquor store, an art and coffee shop, Cost Cutters (where I used to get bad perms as a teenager), and most surprising of all: an African/Chinese/Moroccan/West Indian grocery store. There were maybe 10 vacant storefronts–this is by no means a complete list.
The mall is, of course, ugly as sin…a hodepodge of architectural errors…and completely fascinating. The parking lot was half full at 10:30 on a Monday morning, and there were a variety of people actually shopping inside. …Dare I suggest this is a dead mall success story?
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Jonah Norason
August 27th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Maybe it is…an odd mix of locally-owned niche shops, offices, and a few national stores…I want to visit Del’s. I mean, it seems almost retro and…as long they aren’t wearing too much perfume, I’d like to eat there.
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Jon T
October 30th, 2007 at 3:49 am
I am in my twenties and have lived in Grand Forks all my life. I lived not far from the South Forks Plaza growing up and have observed some of its crumble. It is widely considered the “dirt-mall” by people in my circles of communication. It seems that the main shoppers are older people (playing bingo at the Bingo Palace) drunkards (spending their days at Rhumars bar) bargain shoppers (checking out Big K’s wares) or specialty shoppers.
The mall seems to be a good place to run a small business without a great niche into the ground. The sub shop that was mentioned (Fat Alberts) will soon be changing to a pizza shot (Slap Shot) It seems the mall didn’t generate enough business for the food shop that didn’t deliver so they are trying a new tactic.
I have a lot of great memories of this mall, but I can’t see it going anywhere in the future. Not only would it require getting a lot of strong businesses able to draw customers, but it would need major renovations extending even to the parking lots that are in shambles.
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Jon T
October 30th, 2007 at 3:52 am
By the way, what is with the picture of Exit 100? That’s my favorite exit in ND…as strange as that may sound
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Prangeway
October 30th, 2007 at 10:19 am
It’s just a random shot I included to show how flat it is around there.
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Bellczar
January 11th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Grand Cities Mall has a disjointed design because it was built in many pieces. You can see in the photos here that the corridors change width as they move from part of the mall built in one era to another.
The original mall was Sears and the wing immediately adjacent to it including Budget Drug. There was no west exit from the mall and no way to get to K Mart on the inside. For years, there was just a bare wall at the west end with a sign announcing a future expansion. Meanwhile, the K Mart end of the mall was given to mixed use. Del’s Cafe was in the same spot as in these photos, but there was also a hallway going west from Del’s containing non-retail uses like an insurance agency, portrait studio, and doctor’s office. Above this wing was a record store, Mr. Music Man, reached by a spiral staircase. (No lie!)
The main expansion of the mall opened in November 1973. That is when they rolled out the logo seen on the sign in the photo above. At this point, the Sears wing and the K Mart wing were connected, and the interior of the mall was developed. If you drew a line north from the entrance to Del’s, everything east of it was ready at that time. The Plaza Twin theaters also opened at this time.
There was a fire in one of the stores in the mall about 1976, and stores that had roll-down grill type doors instead of glass suffered a lot of smoke damage.
The wing extending further west opened in 1977. Obviously this was the peak of the mall as Columbia opened the next year.
By 1989, South Forks Plaza was mostly marginal businesses and a lot of the chains had left.
Interestingly, to compete with the opening of the expanded South Forks Plaza in 1973, a block of downtown businesses built the North 3rd Walk-Through. They built doorways between each of their stores to make it a mall of sorts. It was possible to walk from Griffiths to the Ryan Hotel.
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M.C.
February 16th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
what a bizarre looking little mall! some of the interior shots remind me more of an elementary school, and having had a “renovation” in 2001, it’s still quite dated! this mall looks like the type of place Napoleon Dynamite would shop in. wow, a time machine in North Dakota….
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Tom
February 18th, 2009 at 7:34 am
What a nice mall fell in love with the new store Bobs Woodowrking & More .. Also very clean.
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Stephen Greer
August 9th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
I recently moved to grand forks ND (Feb 2008) and i found thism all to be quite odd, i am used to older malls such as the Cherry hill mall, or the more recent burlington center mall (renovated first time since opening in 1984 back in 2001) but ,this mall has to be the weirdest time machine ever. IT is like time just forgot the mall, the interior is in okay shape just the emptyness of it and the comparative hoardes of people at the newer columbia mall is staggering.
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