In its 25 years, the Kalispell Center Mall has endured through the proliferation of box stores, the threat of megamalls and a severe economic downturn, all while maintaining an average occupancy rate of greater than 90 percent.
More than a dozen tenants have been in the mall for all of those 25 years, including the three anchors: Red Lion Hotel, JC Penney and Herberger’s.
David Peterson, vice president of the mall’s developer, Goodale & Barbieri Company out of Spokane, said the Kalispell shopping center was “ahead of its time” when it opened in 1986 with an attached hotel.
That relationship between the Red Lion and retailers has proven highly beneficial. Everyday a base of potential shoppers is already at mall, waking up in the hotel and strolling over to neighboring shops.
“At the time, there were malls across the country but there weren’t a lot of malls with a hotel under the same roof,” Peterson, whose company remains the mall’s leasing and managing agent, said. “Now a lot of malls are adding hotels.”
For Anna Elwood, a 74-year-old Greek immigrant who runs Anna’s Greek Gyros and Pizza, the Kalispell Center Mall has been a pillar of stability over the last 25 years of her life. Many of the faces and storefronts have changed, but the mall remains her “second home,” even if modern social mores demand that she no longer smoke cigarettes there.
“I’ve seen a lot of changes here,” Elwood said. “I feel very strong about the mall because it’s become a second home to me, I suppose.”
After a quarter-century, Elwood’s restaurant is still busy every day at lunch. Six days a week, she and her 82-year-old husband Bob work there, but she notes that her restaurant is open seven days a week “because you don’t have a choice in a mall.” Anna’s Greek Gyros and Pizza, Peterson said, is one of approximately 15 tenants who have been there all 25 years, not including the three anchors.
Alisa Ibey, mall manager and marketing director, said an upcoming September 25-year anniversary celebration is “exciting” for the longtime tenants.
“We have a good little collection of people who have been here for 25 years,” Ibey said.
In mid-September, the Kalispell Center Mall will host a series of anniversary events, beginning with the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce Unwind on Sept. 15. From Sept. 16-19, there will be a sidewalk sale in which stores sell their products in the shared walkway outside the storefronts.
On Saturday Sept. 17, the first 100 people to arrive after the mall’s 10 a.m. opening win gift bags and throughout the day prizes will be given out every hour. At 1 p.m., JC Penney is holding a fashion show highlighting fashions popular from the era in which the mall opened. There will also be guest speakers, historical displays and an ‘80s dance party at the Red Lion at 8 p.m.
While Elwood has seen countless tenants come and go over the years, she feels there are more coming now than going. Despite nationwide trends toward box store-dominated retail centers rather than traditional enclosed malls, Elwood said she has witnessed the mall make a comeback after reaching a low several years ago.
At that time, the talk of the town in Kalispell was the prospect of a large shopping center proposed by an out-of-state developer called the Glacier Town Center. Peterson said there have been “two or three projects” like the Glacier Town Center “that have been announced but never were built.” When these projects are proposed, national retailers wait to see what happens before committing to a location.
With the Glacier Town Center long stalled, hesitant tenants have decided to move into the Kalispell Center Mall, Peterson said, and existing tenants have agreed to long-term commitments. Rue 21, a teen clothing store, opened in May, Spill the Beans Espresso opened in November and Go Wireless relocated into the mall. The Buckle vastly expanded its store.
“We have other projects that have been sitting on the sidelines for a long time,” Peterson said. “Our department stores are staying with us and are extending for a long time.”
He added: “We feel very fortunate that we have strong local tenants.”
By emphasizing clothing and fashion, Peterson said the mall differentiates itself from “value-added retailers” such as Target and Walmart. He adds that being centrally located downtown is also a bonus.
“We’re setting ourselves apart from the retailers up north,” he said. “I think that bodes well for the entire community.”
Gone are the days when Elwood and patrons could smoke at the restaurant, nor can shoppers stroll through the mall with lit cigarettes. And her gyros are no longer strange, exotic offerings as they were when she began selling them at her first location in the 1970s.
To Elwood’s loyal customers, the gyros have become somewhat of a comfort food – an everyday lunch option served at a place that remains refreshingly unchanged.
“People come here and say, ‘Thank God you’re still here,’” she said.