Comments on: Heritage Village Shops (formerly Beaver Dam Mall); Beaver Dam, Wisconsin

By: Matt from WI

Matt from WI — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:31:16 +0000

I swung by this mall while in the area today.

It’s essentially sealed off (with that tarp). From what I could see through the translucent plastic barrier, the mall (at least its Center Court area) and the former Herbergers spot are being gutted out, save for the short center wing containing the FYI Zone, florist and Chinese buffet. I never got around to asking what’s happening.

There’s now a Sears Hometown Dealer in the front half of the space (former JCPenney) hat also houses Slumberland.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:27:10 +0000

I was there yesterday and Boston Store is now open.

The giant tarp is still there.

By: Dave Fidlin

Dave Fidlin — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:50:37 +0000

I took a stroll through Heritage Village this past weekend. Construction of the new Boston Store is nearly complete, it appears. There is a sign saying it will open this month (September). At the same time, Herberger’s (which will close, as I understand it) appears to be clearing out most of its merchandise. Interestingly enough, the new Boston Store will consume one of the three wings of Heritage Village, which I guess makes sense since it will be larger than the old Herberger’s. There is a giant tarp covering the beginning of the north wing. (It will serve as an interior entrance.) There haven’t been any stores in that wing in eons, so it’s not a major deal. In addition to Heritage Village, here’s a round-up of what I found in the mall; all stores appear to be locally owned and operated:

1. Floral Expressions (a store that has been there forever — probably from day one!)

2. A Chinese restaurant (Despite having been there for ages, the name of the eatery always slips my mind.)

3. a martial arts studio

4. an indoor family game center

There also is the Slumberland store with its sealed entrance, so I’m not sure if that counts. (If it does, that would be a second “chain” store in the mall.)

Even with Boston Store consuming one of the wings, there is still a lot of vacant space througout the two remaining wings.

By: Darrell

Darrell — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:33:54 +0000

@ Darrell from Beaver Dam,
One of the current owners is affiliated with Century 21 real estate & he is a longtime Beaver Dam resident.
I am a lifetime resident of Beaver Dam & some of the stores listed are accurate but the time tables are a bit off. We used to have baseball card shows there in the early 90’s as i was a seller.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:24:18 +0000

Hello,
Is there any one do massage in the mall?We’re Chinese. We want to do massage on business in the mall.Is it will be ok?And we need some information.Thank you!

By: Dave Fidlin

Dave Fidlin — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:03:25 +0000

I just discovered Labelscar and am addicted to the site! This write-up, and the subsequent posts, on Heritage Village and predecessor Beaver Dam Mall are great!

I grew up in nearby Horicon as a kid and have fond memories of this shopping complex. In the 80s, when I was growing up, this was a popular place to go to. There’s a lot of comprehensive information on here, based on everyone’s collective memories.

I have a few additions:
* The Aurora Pharmacy was once known as Lewis Drug – for quite some time, if I am not mistaken.
* Back in the 80s, there was a fitness center in the mall (near the former JCPenney, now Slumberland, store). I believe it was named Physique (sp?). My parents used to work out there.
*There was a dentist, Midwest Dental, located inside the mall for a while (on the wing by JCPenney). That’s where I had my teeth cleaned for a while. And I remember feeling devastated when I learned the first time I had a cavity – which was at Midwest Dental!

I was visiting my old stomping grounds a week ago and stopped in the mall. Sadly, it doesn’t look like there’s been too much activity in terms of new stores. But, as Dylan aptly noted in the post above, there has been quite a bit of action with the conversion of Wal-Mart to Boston Store. I agree with above posters; the Boston Store name change makes sense, and the renovated facility should (hopefully) give this mall a shot in the arm.

It’s interesting how the stretch of Beaver Dam (around the mall) has grown. Back in the day, far fewer retailers surrounded the mall. Unlike other mall failures, the location of Heritage Village/Beaver Dam Mall can’t really be attributed to its decline.

By: Dylan

Dylan — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 06:29:33 +0000

Boston Store is now renovating the former Wal-Mart (which moved out in 2004), and they have blocked the access to the store from the mall by building in a brick wall. They have covered all the windows and renovations are expected to be complete and Boston Store is expected to open in September 2009. Sam Goody, which is now the home of Third Heaven Martial Arts, will once again be vacated, the owner has leased the former Maurice’s because it has 6,000 sq. ft. vs. Sam Goody’s 2,000. It has been made a very big option for the local Senior Center to buy the former Herberger’s building at a “highly” discounted price (I don’t think a senior center in the mall is a good idea when they are trying to get new businesses into the mall). But whatever, their project. My personal note- I think they have good intentions, but they are getting more “local” businesses in the mall, for it to succeed, you need large, well-known stores to move in, I think they should try to get popular stores in, but I also think that Boston Store will hugely boost the mall.

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:12:05 +0000

okay, thanks to everyone who posted info on the mall. i grew up there going with my family and it’s been heartbreaking to see the mall go from a real local destination to a sad ghosttown. i’m so excited that new management seems to care, and i can only hope that this means good things for the future.
i was so interested in the blog (great!) and all these comments i decided to make the half hour drive and went tonight.
slumberland can be seen from inside the mall (thru the windows) but you can’t enter from inside the mall. herbergers is shockingly alive with merchandise considering just HOW empty the mall is. does anyone know if the boston store is going in the old wal-mart part?
there is a family fun zone (games, etc.), the flower shop, the chinese restaurant, slumberland, and a few local organizations using the abandoned storefronts as a meeting place.
i seriously felt emotional today thinking of all the times i spent in there with my family at the kay-bee toy store as a little kid, shopping at wal-mart and later in musicland as a teen….eating at the A&W, etc. etc.
thank you so much for the info everyone posted….especially the older store listings. if anyone has old pictures, etc…..PLEAAAASE post!!!
i took some new pics….if anyone knows how i can post these…lemme know.

-eric

By: E Ruskin

E Ruskin — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:47:44 +0000

what does Macy’s or Fields have to do with Beaver Dam Mall’s Herberger’s?

Anyway, am glad they renamed the mall from Beaver Dam to Heritage Village Shops, see if they get any new stores, the directory says they have about 5 so hopefully someone will move there, Dam Beaver!

By: Matt from WI

Matt from WI — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 20:22:14 +0000

Thanks for that info John. Haven’t been in that area for a while, so I didn’t know.

Looks like the Elder-Beerman name is going the way of the dodo here in WI. I’ll bet Younkers will all be changed to Boston Store in due time. It’s just the stronger of the two banners in this state. Pranges’ buyout just never resulted in much here……everyone liked Prange’s.

It’s like the whole Marshall Fields to Macy*s debacle in Chicago. No one is warming up to Macy*s down there, just as no one really could warm up to Younker’s here in my area.

Well this is good. If this is the path Bon Ton is going with….switching over all stores to their ’strongest’ banner in their respective states / regions, maybe my town (Fond Du Lac) will finally see a brand new Boston Store building someday. Our Prange’s / Younker’s has been an anchor to the Forest Mall since 1966, and is looking very old and tired. They could use more room too….the store is relatively small compared to other locations other than Manitowoc’s that I’ve been to.