Granted, pretty much the only reason I can see anyone going to Crossroads these days is for the Bijou….

Dave

A large scale construction project that lasted about 5 years at the intersection made it difficult for people to get to the mall and it suffered a loss of business that it has never recovered from fully.

Target’s decision to forego an entrance into the mall has also hurt business,

The movie theatre was renovated several years ago and was supposed to reopen as an “arthouse” theatre. During the grand opening they showed classic films of the past and I attended many of the showings with enthusiasm thinking (mistakenly) that I would be able to see films that I wasn’t able to see during their original release as I wasn’t born yet or perhaps some cult classics that are worth repeated viewing. Sadly, this turned out to be a gimmick to get people to come see the new theatre and was over with about a week later. While the occasional independent new release does play there it is mostly the same films that you can see at other theatres… Luckily, another chain that DOES cater to film buffs and pretty much invented the gimmicks that Crossroads Theatre tried to copy (poorly) has moved into town and gets my business now, even though it is about 10 miles futher from me than Crossroads is.

Crossroads will probably survive, and with the right people and change in direction it could even make a comeback. The construction affecting it’s access has been completed, a couple of the anchor stores are really good, the theatre could be superb,

There was a great deal of effort put into reviving this mall in the late 80’s. For a while, it looked like maybe there was some hope, but a new name and all the sprucing up and fountains could not shake the long held image of the mall being old and lower class. North Star was a big power to pull shoppers to its upscale stores.

When Target announced it was buying the Ward’s building and would contruct one of its super stores on the footprint, there was excitement that a better anchor would bring in customers. Then Target decided to build its structure such that it did not open into the mall and actually forced customers to park and enter away from the rest of the mall. It is an effort now to use both Target and the mall due to the great walking distance.

The mall today is depressing as the martial arts schools and teaching businesses have begun to move in while large sections of what should be retail store fronts are covered with mall facade walls. Only about three food vendors are left in the food court. However, the stores that are there seem to have a loyal set of customers and Burlington and Stein Mart are good (not great) anchors, so the mall probably will continue for many years to come.