Russell Licking's Commentary:

Just did a research project on this mall, it is still operating, but on its last leg. Small town America. What can we do to improve it? Small, 275,000 sq. ft. Poor location in town. No tenants, no shoppers. Rubloff Development Group owners.

Kirk Rosberg's Commentary:

Sadly, Hastings Imperial Mall is getting "deader" by the day. This was once the center of the shopping experience in town and now, of course it is at Wallmart. With new strip malls going up near the Wallmart Supercenter, the Imperial Mall is losing stores left and right. Currently, its anchor stores are Kmart and Herbergers and that is about it. Even the Imperial Theatres will probably be moving out north near Wallmart within a year. The big grocery store, Sun Mart Foods, has just closed. Yet another nail in the coffin of this once decent mall.

Brian Tran's Commentary:

I have been a fan of your work since 2006 and have been fascinated by how mall exploded and now they are slowly dying. In a town of 25,000 people there is only one mall and it has been here since forever, ever since i was a kid(25 right now) i remember going to the arcade after school, the mall use to have over 50 stores back in the hay day with K-Mart as an anchor. Some time during the mid 2000s it slowly died and one by one stores slowly left, finally there were only 2 stores that were open( Herbergers, bath & body, and a Nail salons) for the past 2 years. Months ago the Nail Salons left and weeks ago Bath & Body left with only Herbergers left, most stores moved to the new plaza that was built a few years ago north of town by Walmart. The mall died because of its location and competitor malls in Grand Island(30miles) and Kearney(45miles)away, we have 2 high way that goes through town and the mall is not located near any of them. It was first built at the location that it's at because the developer thought our town was expanding that way but boy was he wrong. Our town is growing north toward Interstate 80 that is roughly 10 miles away. I hope you add this mall to your website for others to know about and for you to learn about this mall and our town.

Andy's Commentary:

When I first moved to Nebraska in 1996, the Imperial Mall in Hastings, NE still had a functioning Food Court and Movie Theater. Since then, there are only 3 retailers still in business, K-Mart, Herberger's, and Bath & Body Works. I think there might be a nail and hair place too but don't really remember. There are no restaurants, the food court is closed as well as the movie theater. The mall built the movie theater in a separate building next to the mall but that isn't doing well at all and it might be closed.

Erin's Commentary:

If you ever have the misfortune of ending up in the middle of nowhere in Nebraska, check out Imperial Mall in Hastings. I grew up there and remember seeing a lot of the stores in the mall close down over the years, especially when a Super Walmart opened a few years ago on the other side of town. I don't live there anymore, so I would love to see pictures of the mall as it is now (I've heard only K Mart and another small department store are left).

Ben's Commentary:

This mall is one of the most "Dead" malls i have seen, even for a small town like Hastings. I drove by there to see if there was anything there and basically it was just K-Mart (surprised K-Mart still exists out here) and Herbergers as well as signs for a church and a coffee shop. A small chinese restaurant and a children's museum are also located inside, but that's about it. I drove by one week day and I swear it looked abandoned.

I'm sure a lot of it's decline has to do with that Grand Island and the Conestoga mall are not far away. Also it seems as if a lot of the stores in town have moved closer to Wal Mart on the north end of town. I was surprised how out of the way the Imperial Mall was. It's basically on a side street in Hastings that probably used to be a more major road, but got moved.

Overall I'm surprised that a town like Hastings even had a mall like this. It's sad that it's in such terrible shape, but without being next to a decent highway, this mall won't come back.

Jacob Pribnow's Commentary:

Hastings NE, Imperial Mall. KMART is only open and mall movie theater is in a separate building and not much business. The same company that owns this mall has bought the Conestoga Mall in Grand Island NE.

Emmalee Johnson's Commentary:

Imperial Mall is a dead mall in Hastings Nebraska. It was once lively, but in my 18 years of life, I've hardly seen much of the life. It used to hold so much, but now, there are only 5 'stores' left - herbergers, a children's museum, a restaurant, a crossfit, and a church. This mall used to house a footlocker, a Kmart, an Arby's, a grocery store, a claire's and much, much more. The only life it sees outside of the 'stores' are the mall walkers. A very depressing place with an outdated look.

Dawn Thieme's Commentary:

This mall, now owned by Namdar, is simply a dead mall. Herbergers is the only actual store left. There's a children's museum, a couple of churches but otherwise a while lot of empty.

I was in the mall today as herbergers opens into the mall. Figure since it's still open might as well go exploring. Saw a few others walking the empty spaces as well.