PALOUSE EMPIRE MALL
West Pullman and Farm Roads
Moscow, Idaho

Idaho's tenth mall-type shopping center was built in the North Central (or Panhandle) section of the state, in a 20-square-mile region known as The Palouse ["Puh-loos"]. This area owes its name to the Paluse Native American tribe, its original inhabitants.

The mall's story begins in 1964, when the J.C. Penney Company asked Spokane developer Earl D. McCarthy to find a site for a prospective Palouse Penney's store. Land was secured in 1969, with  McCarthy signing a lease with the University of Idaho, who owned a 45-acre site, located 1.2 miles west of downtown Moscow ["Mos-koh"].

PALOUSE EMPIRE MALL originated with a single-level strip center that was dedicated on September 28, 1976. Three tenants occupied the structure; a (40,000 square foot) Kmart, (30,000 square foot) Rosauers supermarket and (20,000 square foot) Pay 'n Save Drug.

An enclosed mall of 250,700 square feet was added to the west side of the strip center. This fully-enclosed addition featured a 975-foot-long concourse and opened, with fifteen tenants, on October 4, 1979. Two anchor department stores were dedicated; a 1-level (38,500 square foot) J.C. Penney and 1-level (37,400 square foot), Seattle-based The Bon Marche.

The PALOUSE EMPIRE MALL grand opening was attended by US Representative Steve Symms (R), Idaho Senator Norma Dobler (D), Richard Gibb (President of the University of Idaho), Don Mackin (Mayor of Moscow) and Patty McCarthy (widow of mall developer Earl D. McCarthy). 

Charter stores and services included Kinney Shoes, The Dog's Ear, Waldenbooks, Naturalizer Shoes, The Cover Up apparel, Hickory Farms of Ohio, Betsy's Candle Magic, House of Fabrics, Lerner Shops, Musicland and Orange Julius. 

A 1-level (37,300 square foot) Ernst Home Center was built as a freestanding structure. Its official dedication was held on March 3, 1980. The mall's fourth anchor, a 1-level (39,200 square foot), Bellevue, Washington-based Lamonts, opened in August 1980. As a footnote, this store carried women's, men's, children's and infants apparel, domestics, linens, jewelry, cosmetics and shoes. 

Now fully-realized, the shopping hub spanned approximately 371,000 leasable square feet and housed thirty-one stores and services. The Theatre Operators University 4 was built as a northeastern mall outparcel. This venue showed first features in early 1983.

PALOUSE EMPIRE MALL was the largest retail complex in -or around- Moscow. Its primary competitor, MOSCOW MALL (1978) was located 2.1 miles southwest. This partially-enclosed facility spanned approximately 150,000 leasable square feet. It was eventually renamed EASTSIDE MARKETPLACE. 
 
On May 1, 1990, the mall's Rosauers supermarket was rebranded by Excell Foods. This store was shuttered in 1992. Price Connection assumed the vacant space and opened on April 22, 1993. On November 30th, after only seven months in business, Price Connection went dark. The adjacent Pay 'n Save store was acquired by PayLess Drug in June 1992.
 
Kmart was shuttered on September 27, 1995. The vacant store was expanded by 13,000 square feet. A (53,000 square foot), Salem, Oregon-based Waremart Foods was dedicated on July 22, 1996. Meanwhile, a mall-wide face lift had been announced in March. During this project, the exterior of PALOUSE EMPIRE MALL was refurbished, the Main Entry rebuilt and new interior lighting installed. A revitalized shopping hub was dedicated on November 13, 1997. As part of its remodeling, its name had been shortened to PALOUSE MALL. 
 
Store nameplate changes continued. In March 1997, PayLess Drug morphed into a Rite Aid store. J.C. Penney went dark on August 1, 1998. Eugene, Oregon-based Troutman's Emporium renovated the building and opened their thirty-first location on September 5, 1998. Waremart Foods morphed into WinCo Foods in January 1999.

Lamonts was acquired by Fresno-based Gottschalks in April 2000. They rebranded the PALOUSE MALL store on August 26 of the same year. Troutman's began a liquidation sale in February 2003 and eventually re-opened as a Ross Dress For Less. By this time. the shopping complex was being managed by Jameson Commercial Property, of Spokane, Washington.

The Bon Marche was rebranded as a Bon-Macy's on August 1, 2003 and became a bona fide Macy's on March 6, 2005. Gottschalks closed their PALOUSE MALL store on January 27, 2007. The structure was divided between Old Navy and Bed, Bath & Beyond stores. These opened for business on August 14 and 15, 2007.

By the 2010s, PALOUSE MALL housed forty-one stores and services, with eight outparcel tenants. Major stores included Ross Dress For Less, Bed Bath & Beyond, Jo-Ann Fabrics, Rite Aid Drug, Michaels, Winco Foods and Marshalls. The mall's Macy's was shuttered in April 2016. The building would sit vacant for nearly 5 years. 

In September 2020, Minnesota's Target chain confirmed plans to renovate and expand the structure into a 1-level (60,000 square foot) store. Construction was underway by February 2021, with Target opening its doors on October 24, 2021. A new mall name was instituted in mid-2023. The complex would be known, henceforth, as PALOUSE PLACE.

Sources:

The Lewiston Morning Tribune (Lewiston, Idaho)
The University of Idaho Argonaut (Moscow, Idaho)
The Moscow-Pullman Daily News
The Spokane Daily Chronicle
http://movie-theatre.org / Mike Rivest
www.palousemall.com
www.wsulibs.wsu.com
https://www.nwpb.org
"Palouse Mall" article on Wikipedia