A site plan of the original mall. Thirty stores and services opened in August 1969. By October, there were forty-four. The 662,400 square foot complex was fully-leased, with sixty tenants, by early 1970. A matter of note, locals pronounce the name of the river as "wil-AM-it."

VALLEY RIVER CENTER TENANTS 1969:

MEIER & FRANK (with The Rotunda Restaurant and Beauty Salon) / Action Alley, Incorporated / Anita Shops ladies' wear / Baxter & Henning / Berens Tall Fashions / Burch's Fine Footwear / Clark, Junior / Fabric House / J.K. Gill Stationers / Hardy Shoes / Home Savings & Loan / Kaufman Brothers, Incorporated / Kinderphoto (kiosk) / Junction House Restaurant / Leed's Qualicraft Shoes / Memory Lane, Incorporated / Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio / Motherhood Maternity / Nadeau's Junior Bootery / Nelson's Footwear / Nobby Shops ladies' wear / Northland Gifts / Pet-A-Rama / Russell Stover Candies / Singer Sewing Center / The Clothes Tree / The Gay Blade men's wear / The Pot Shop / The Tie Rack / Tinder Box Tobacconist / Topps & Trowsers