College Square Mall: A History of Retail Evolution
Malls have long been a cornerstone of American retail and community life. College Square Mall, with locations in both Morristown, Tennessee, and Cedar Falls, Iowa, exemplifies this history. This article explores the evolution of these malls, tracing their development, key tenants, renovations, and the challenges they have faced in recent years.
College Square Mall, Morristown, Tennessee
Located at 2550 E. College Square in Morristown, Tennessee, College Square Mall is a regional shopping destination serving an eight-county area of East Tennessee. Construction commenced on January 5, 1987, and the mall opened its doors in 1988.
Early Years and Anchor Tenants
The mall was originally anchored by several prominent retailers, including Proffitt's (a regional department store based in Maryville), Walmart, JCPenney, Sears, and Goody's Family Clothing (a regional discount junior department store). These stores provided a diverse shopping experience for the community.
Tenant Changes and Redevelopment
Over the years, College Square Mall has undergone several significant changes in its tenant mix. Walmart relocated outside the mall, and Belk took over part of its space, incorporating both an outside and mall entrance. Dixie Pottery, a regionally based chain of pottery stores, operated a location adjacent to Belk but without a mall entrance; this store closed in 2007.
Proffitt's closed after being acquired by Belk. In 2007, Kohl's moved into the former Proffitt's space, expanding the building onto a former parking lot. A new twelve-screen Carmike Cinema was constructed in 2008 on a large portion of the southern parking lot, leading to the demolition of the former theater.
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Goody's Family Clothing closed in 2009 due to the retail chain's bankruptcy but later returned to its former space on March 17, 2011. Sears closed in 2013, with TJ Maxx and Longhorn Steakhouse later occupying half of the former Sears store.
Recent Developments
In January 2016, JCPenney announced its closure, which occurred in the spring of the same year. Dick's Sporting Goods and ULTA Beauty opened in the former JCPenney location in October 2016. Planet Fitness opened in the former Dixie Pottery location in March 2017.
In May 2017, College Square Mall announced another redevelopment project, adding Five Below to the front of the mall and an Olive Garden restaurant in front of DICK'S Sporting Goods, facing East Morris Boulevard. In 2018, the mall celebrated its 30th anniversary.
College Square Mall, Cedar Falls, Iowa
College Square Mall in Cedar Falls, Iowa, located southeast of downtown Cedar Falls, Iowa. Construction began in 1968, and the mall officially opened on November 12, 1969. At the time, it was the largest mall in Iowa, with approximately 600,000 square feet (56,000 m2) of retail space.
Development and Early Years
Developed by Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based General Management (later known as General Growth Properties), College Square Mall was a significant retail hub in its early years. The original anchor stores were Woolco, Montgomery Ward, and Younkers. Matthew and Martin Bucksbaum, the president and chairman of General Management, respectively, played key roles in the mall's development, along with leasing agent Dan Bergeron and architect Derwood Quade.
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Ownership Changes and Renovations
In 1980, General Growth attempted to sell ten malls, including College Square, to pay off mortgages. After a lawsuit was settled, College Square and the other nine malls were sold to Aetna Life Insurance and The Rouse Company for $91,000,000.
The mall saw its first significant tenant change in 1982 when Woolworth closed its Woolco locations. Walmart replaced Woolco in late 1984. Other chain stores, including Casual Corner, Brauns Fashions, and Musicland, also joined the mall. Concerts in center court every Sunday and a mall walking program were introduced to attract customers.
Montgomery Ward closed its College Square Mall store in late 1985 due to declining sales. Younkers moved into the former Montgomery Ward location, allowing the original Younkers location to become Petersen Harned Von Maur (now Von Maur), which began renovations with a targeted opening in 1987.
A $10,000,000 renovation plan from 1984 to 1987 included new signage, fountains, skylights, and planters to accompany the changes in anchor stores.
Rouse sold the mall to Chicago-based Landau & Heyman in 1998, along with four other Iowa malls: North Grand Mall in Ames, Westland Mall in West Burlington, Muscatine Mall in Muscatine, and Marshalltown Mall in Marshalltown.
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1999 - 2010s
Scheels All Sports joined the mall in 1999, relocating from a store at Black Hawk Village shopping center. The College Square store replaced a Walgreens drugstore, a shoe store, and one of the mall entrances.
GK Development of Barrington, Illinois, bought College Square Mall, Marshalltown Mall, North Grand Mall, and Westland Mall from Landau & Heyman in December 2004 for $120,000,000.
Walmart moved out of the mall in 2003 before GK Development's purchase. In late 2005, the space was remodeled for a Hy-Vee supermarket, replacing an existing location nearby. The opening of Hy-Vee coincided with a second renovation plan completed by GK Development in 2006.
The mall began losing tenants in the 2010s, particularly after the Great Recession and the withdrawal of retailers such as Gap from the market. This decline was also influenced by the presence of Crossroads Mall in nearby Waterloo, Iowa, which created a surplus of retail space in the market.
Recent Challenges and Future Prospects
The decline in tenancy increased in 2013 after the relocation of Scheels All Sports. Despite this closure, Planet Fitness replaced Scheels that year. By this time UNI marketing professor Matthew Wilson said that the Industrial Park was still cornfields, and downtown Cedar Falls was basically a ghost town. Another major change: the mall. What was once a hot spot for shopping is now a mostly empty building. “I just remember I spent hours in the bookstore there, hours in the Music Land that we’d buy records at,” Wilson recalls when reflecting upon his time in the mall as a child.
In 2013, the mall was sold to Namdar Realty Group, a New York City-based company that, as of 2021, owns over 400 properties across the United States. Namdar currently still owns College Square Mall as well as Crossroads Mall in Waterloo.
With newly elected city officials this year, the question has begun to rise of what will happen to prominent places in Cedar Falls such as College Hill and the College Square Mall. The Cedar Falls Economic Development Corp has been in talks with Namdar, the mall’s current owner, to determine a reasonable asking price. The city of Cedar Falls is currently looking at the 2027- 28 FY to begin putting the big plans together for the mall and hopes to work with a private developer to begin conducting studies to get the city’s input on what the mall will eventually become. Several UNI faculty members grew up in Cedar Falls and can remember a time when the mall was more than a rundown mostly empty building.
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