"When I visited Southridge Mall earlier in 2020 the doors were locked to the inside of this beautiful interesting structure. For so long Southridge expanded and commercialized. Then seemingly all at one everything fell apart, leave a mall with an abandoned and decaying inside, and a thriving exterior. Today come take a tour with me, as we rexplore the Southridge Mall in Des Moines, Iowa."
Kenny's Commentary:
User submitted September 12, 2006
Southridge Mall is located on the south side of Des Moines, Iowa, at the corner of Army Post Road and S.E. 14th St.
Below is some history on it that I researched from the internet.
Mall History
Southridge opened to the public in 1975, two months after Valley West Mall on the other side of town, which has done better than Southridge in recent years.
Younker's was the first anchor to open, followed by Sears, which both remain there today. Montgomery Ward was added in 1978, Richman Gordon in 1982, and Target in 1992, along with an expansion and remodeling of the mall that added a food court and their trademark carousel.
In 1992, the Richman Gordon chain filed bankruptcy and closed the Southridge store. Richman Gordon was replaced by JCPenney in 1994.
In 1999, Montgomery Ward closed the store at Southridge as well as the store at Merle Hay Mall on the north side of town. Ward's stayed empty (except for the occasional haunted house on Halloween) until it was finally torn down earlier this year.
By 2005, Southridge had a 77% occupancy rate, the lowest in the Des Moines area, down from 94% in 1999.
Some of the tenants that remain include:
The Finish Line
Waldenbooks
The Filipino Store
GNC
RadioShack
American Eagle
Gap
Foot Locker
Several jewelry stores
SignCo
RCC Western Store
Canton (a store that sells “decorative” pipes, swords, and similar items)
The outparcels at Southridge include:
Hy-Vee Grocery and gas station
Crimmin's Cattle Company / Dickie Doogan's (formerly Chi-Chi's)
Toys-R-Us
PetCo
Midas
Southridge 13 Theatres
Advance Auto Parts
Former outparcels include Earl May and Pier One.
Southridge has a gross leasable area of 888,012 square feet.
Expansions and Updates
1978: An expansion added room for Montgomery Ward and Richman Gordon.
1992: Another expansion added Target and the food court with the carousel.
Sometime in the mid-1990s, Sears leased a considerable area in the mall. Before this, there was a corridor leading from the former Southridge 3 theatres to the entrance of Sears. Sears' entrance is now farther inside the mall than it was when it first opened.
The Southridge 3 theatres closed when the Southridge 13 theatres opened on an outparcel of the mall. The space for the Southridge 3 theatres sits empty to this day. On the mall directory, the former Southridge 3 is listed as a “Leasing Opportunity” above Sears.
Decline of the Mall
I used to visit this mall as a kid and teenager all the time. Some of the stores that were there included:
Sam Goody
Musicland
Gadzooks
Spencer's Gifts
Abercrombie & Fitch
American Eagle
Garfield's restaurant
Several video game stores
All of these are gone now except American Eagle.
What replaced many of these stores are either another store that closes soon after, cheap jewelry kiosks, drywall partitions, vending machines, churches, real estate offices, the Animal Rescue League, dollar stores, or even the headquarters for the Iowa Democratic Party.
The mall hasn't been remodeled since the 1992 expansion, and it shows.
One of my first jobs was at Younker's as a loading dock clerk around 2001. Younker's has not been remodeled since it opened in 1975, and there are many areas of the store that cannot be used because when it rains, that's where the water goes. I remember replacing light bulbs and half the fixtures not working.
The Montgomery Ward wing is pretty bare now that the anchor is gone. Amazingly, though, Shoe Carnival has been in that wing as long as I can remember and still is.
There have been many rumors about the mall going around town lately, including Target closing, Younker's leaving when its lease expires, or the entire mall eventually shutting down. However, these are only rumors.
Area Decline
The area around the mall has also been deteriorating.
Across from the mall was a Kmart, now closed but reopened as a Gordman's. A former Coastal gas station near the northwest corner of the mall property is closed and overgrown with weeds.
A Dahl's grocery store north of the mall on S.E. 14th recently closed, and several strip malls in the immediate area are struggling as well.
There has also been a slowly rising crime rate in the area. When I worked at the mall, I always worried my car might get messed with in the parking lot.
Possible Reasons for the Decline
The most probable reason for Southridge's decline is the opening of Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines, along with the Highway 5/65 bypass, which makes access to the Town Center quick and easy from the south side.
With a better selection of stores and a cleaner, more attractive mall within easy access, people would rather shop there.
The south side is also an older, more urban neighborhood, and many residents have been moving to suburbs such as West Des Moines, Waukee, Urbandale, Johnston, and Ankeny.
Outlook
A recent article in the Des Moines Register about a possible facelift at Southridge stated it would cost “a lot of money,” but did not give a specific figure.
This gives me the feeling that the mall is getting desperate to attract new tenants and sounds similar to Dixie Square's renovation plans a few years before it closed.
I would hate to see this mall go, but I think it's going to happen eventually.
Other Email Contributions:
Anthony Graham's Commentary:
User submitted July 27, 2011
I have always been amazed by retail ever since i was little i have since still been very interested in retail history and how store just up and move or just go under.... i also wonder if i was standing in the middle of a store lets say downtown younkers i wonder how many people stood in that same spot how many moments were shared in that time or year maybe 50 YEARS AGO.. see what people dont understand is the memories we have all shared and malls do that so i have a mall that is in my city that i grew up in Des moines ia the mall is going under fast we have only pointless stores now like churches and tons of anchor room at one time southridge mall was a place of great fun and memories i still remember going to wards before it tanked with my grandmother thats the last memory i ave of her so please send me more info i have been upsessed with this stuff for ever even my wife thinks im crazy so send me info.......
Anonymous's Commentary:
User submitted January 9, 2012
Went to Southridge today 1/9/12. Food court is almost completely empty besides the Taco Johns, Orange Julius, and a few ma and pa joints. Taco Johns is closing this Sunday, and eventually the whole food court will be razed. Thankfully the Sears was spared in the latest round of closings, and Target and Younkers still have a store there. As for tenants in the halls, there isn't much left. Here's a quick rundown: Foot Locker, Radioshack, Journeys, GNC, Maurices, Claires, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Book Trader. Recently it was announced that the city would be putting a indoor sports complex where the montgomery wards once stood, and there are plans for a DMACC campus. The mall is basically going to be a strip mall once renovated, with entrances for stores located on the exterior. Was informed by aging security guard that taking pictures was against the rules, but did get a few before being told to stop.
Anonymous's Commentary:
User submitted July 15, 2012
This mall has been partially razed this Spring, and is being converted to a strip mall. Virtually all stores closed over the last few years.
Mike Fangman's Commentary:
User submitted August 31, 2012
I remember making several stops here when I was a kid, visiting relatives in the Des Moines area. I returned a few weeks ago after a funeral.
Southridge Mall was built in 1975 during the mall craze of the 1960s and 1970s when retail stores were following the money from the downtowns of cities to the outskirts and suburbs. At its height, Southridge had four anchors: Younkers, Sears, Montgomery Ward and Richman Gordon. Also included as a junior anchor was a Dahl's grocery store (now a Hy-Vee, a Des Moines-based chain prominent in Iowa and several surrounding states).
There are a few reasons for the mall's decline. There are two other malls in Des Moines built about the same time, Merle Hay Mall and Valley West Mall. Also, a new mall (Jordan Creek Town Center) opened about ten years ago. The Des Moines area never really grew large enough to support four malls, and many national retailers found it cost prohibitive to have a presence in each mall. Richman Gordon closed in 1992 due to bankruptcy and was replaced by JCPenney. JCPenney itself closed the Southridge store in 1999 due to nationwide cutbacks. The store space itself was demolished in 2006. Ward's exited two years after JCP after the entire chain was liquidated. A Steve & Barry's opened up in 2008, but closed a little more than a year later.
According to the mall's website, "Southridge Mall is transforming from a formerly enclosed mall into a mix of uses that will better serve the community, including more neighborhood retail, big box retail, and other non-traditional uses." (citation: http://www.shopsouthridgemall.com/Redevelopment).
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Anthony Graham's Commentary:
User submitted July 27, 2011I have always been amazed by retail ever since i was little i have since still been very interested in retail history and how store just up and move or just go under.... i also wonder if i was standing in the middle of a store lets say downtown younkers i wonder how many people stood in that same spot how many moments were shared in that time or year maybe 50 YEARS AGO.. see what people dont understand is the memories we have all shared and malls do that so i have a mall that is in my city that i grew up in Des moines ia the mall is going under fast we have only pointless stores now like churches and tons of anchor room at one time southridge mall was a place of great fun and memories i still remember going to wards before it tanked with my grandmother thats the last memory i ave of her so please send me more info i have been upsessed with this stuff for ever even my wife thinks im crazy so send me info.......
Anonymous's Commentary:
User submitted January 9, 2012Went to Southridge today 1/9/12. Food court is almost completely empty besides the Taco Johns, Orange Julius, and a few ma and pa joints. Taco Johns is closing this Sunday, and eventually the whole food court will be razed. Thankfully the Sears was spared in the latest round of closings, and Target and Younkers still have a store there. As for tenants in the halls, there isn't much left. Here's a quick rundown: Foot Locker, Radioshack, Journeys, GNC, Maurices, Claires, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Book Trader. Recently it was announced that the city would be putting a indoor sports complex where the montgomery wards once stood, and there are plans for a DMACC campus. The mall is basically going to be a strip mall once renovated, with entrances for stores located on the exterior. Was informed by aging security guard that taking pictures was against the rules, but did get a few before being told to stop.
Anonymous's Commentary:
User submitted July 15, 2012This mall has been partially razed this Spring, and is being converted to a strip mall. Virtually all stores closed over the last few years.
Mike Fangman's Commentary:
User submitted August 31, 2012I remember making several stops here when I was a kid, visiting relatives in the Des Moines area. I returned a few weeks ago after a funeral.
Southridge Mall was built in 1975 during the mall craze of the 1960s and 1970s when retail stores were following the money from the downtowns of cities to the outskirts and suburbs. At its height, Southridge had four anchors: Younkers, Sears, Montgomery Ward and Richman Gordon. Also included as a junior anchor was a Dahl's grocery store (now a Hy-Vee, a Des Moines-based chain prominent in Iowa and several surrounding states). There are a few reasons for the mall's decline. There are two other malls in Des Moines built about the same time, Merle Hay Mall and Valley West Mall. Also, a new mall (Jordan Creek Town Center) opened about ten years ago. The Des Moines area never really grew large enough to support four malls, and many national retailers found it cost prohibitive to have a presence in each mall. Richman Gordon closed in 1992 due to bankruptcy and was replaced by JCPenney. JCPenney itself closed the Southridge store in 1999 due to nationwide cutbacks. The store space itself was demolished in 2006. Ward's exited two years after JCP after the entire chain was liquidated. A Steve & Barry's opened up in 2008, but closed a little more than a year later.
According to the mall's website, "Southridge Mall is transforming from a formerly enclosed mall into a mix of uses that will better serve the community, including more neighborhood retail, big box retail, and other non-traditional uses." (citation: http://www.shopsouthridgemall.com/Redevelopment).