COLUMBIA MALL
32nd Avenue South and South Columbia Road
Grand Forks, North Dakota

Minneapolis' Dayton-Hudson Corporation opened its first shopping-mall-connected Target in 1978. The discount store was one of three anchors at North Dakota's COLUMBIA MALL, which was a Dayton-Hudson development.

The single-level center was built on 62.2 acres, located 2.6 miles southwest of downtown Grand Forks. The mall's official grand opening took place on August 2, 1978. At this time, the shopping hub encompassed approximately 571,800 leasable square feet and housed fifty-three inline stores and services. 

In addition to its 1-level (120,300 square foot) Target, COLUMBIA MALL was anchored by a 1-level (99,100 square foot) Dayton's department store and 1-level (101,800 square foot) J.C. Penney. Charter tenants in the 20 million dollar venue included Buttrey's Drug, County Seat, Foxmoor Casuals, Seeger's Fashion Center and a boutique-type, St. Cloud, Minnesota-based Herberger's.

The Midcontinent Theatres (Midco) Columbia Mall 4 was built as a southwestern outparcel of the mall. The venue opened in 1983. It became a Carmike theater in September 1995 and closed for good in October 2008. The building was demolished in 2011 and was replaced by an Olive Garden restaurant.

For several years, the only commercial competitor of COLUMBIA MALL was SOUTH FORKS PLAZA (1964) {1.2 mile northeast, also in Grand Forks}. This retail hub was renamed GRAND CITIES MALL in August 2001.

The only physical expansion ever done at COLUMBIA MALL involved the addition of Sears. The 1-level (108,400 square foot) store, which moved from a 50,000 square foot location at SOUTH FORKS PLAZA, opened August 12, 2000.

This addition increased the gross leasable area of COLUMBIA MALL to approximately 680,200 square feet. The Sears construction project was accompanied by a 925 thousand dollar face lift, which included new flooring, restrooms and an update of the mall's exterior.

Soon after the completion of the renovation, a new rival was dedicated. GRAND FORKS MARKETPLACE {.3 of a mile southwest} snatched Target from COLUMBIA MALL. The new store opened on March 7, 2001. The next anchor alteration at COLUMBIA MALL occurred early in August 2001, when Dayton's was rebranded as a Chicago-based Marshall Field's. This store morphed into a Macy's on September 9, 2006.

Barrington, Illinois-based GK development acquired COLUMBIA MALL in April 2004. A 2.5 million dollar rehab of the property was soon in the works. A new Children's Play Area (in the old Target Court) was dedicated in August 2005. The 7-bay, Dakota Cafe Food Court was installed in existing mall space. The culinary complex opened for business November 3, 2005. There was talk of a 12-screen multiplex, that would have replaced the vacant Target. However, this theater never materialized.

News surfaced in 2013 indicating that Fargo, North Dakota's Scheels All Sports chain had plans to renovate the old Target building and open a 1-level (120,000 square foot) store. The official grand opening was held June 28, 2014.

By the late 2010s, an "anchors away" procession was underway at COLUMBIA MALL. Macy's shuttered their store on March 26, 2017. Sears went dark on September 6, 2018. In February 2020, GK Development morphed into GK Real Estate.

Sources:

Grand Forks County, North Dakota property tax assessor website
http://www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.shopcolumbiamall.com
http://www.gkdevelopment.com / GK Development
https://www.gk-re.com / GK Real Estate
https://dakotastudent.com
https://thediwire.com
"Columbia Mall" article on Wikipedia