Ridgedale Drive and Plymouth Road
Minnetonka, Minnesota
The fourth -and final- Dayton Company-developed "Dale" mall was designed by Los Angeles' Victor Gruen Associates and Frederick Bentz-Milo Thompson & Associates, of Minneapolis. On January 10, 1973, ground was broken at an 81.3-acre site, located 9.6 miles west of the Minneapolis Central Business District. The site, located in suburban Minnetonka, was accessed by the Interstate 394 expressway, which ran directly north of the property.
Fully-enclosed, the bi-level shopping hub encompassed approximately 995,000 leasable square feet. A 2-level (202,000 square foot) Dayton's, and twenty inline stores, were dedicated on July 29, 1974. A 2-level (171,000 square foot) J.C. Penney opened for business on January 22, 1975, with a 2-level (208,000 square foot) Sears inaugurated on March 5th of the same year. The final operational anchor, a 2-level (124,000 square foot), Minneapolis-based Donaldson's, welcomed its first shoppers on August 1, 1975.
Charter RIDGEDALE tenants included Thom McAn Shoes, Jeans West, Lane Bryant, Helzberg Diamonds, Mary Jane Shoes, Jo-Ann Fabrics, B. Dalton Bookseller, The Brothers Delicatessen, Frederick's of Hollywood, Ridgedale Floral Shop and Braun's. One of the many features of the mall's Dayton's department store was its Oak Ridge Room restaurant.
Major shopping centers in the RIDGEDALE trade area included KNOLLWOOD MALL (1972) {3 miles southeast, in St. Louis Park} and EDEN PRAIRIE CENTER (1976) {7.6 miles south, in Eden Prairie}. SOUTHDALE CENTER (1956) {7.9 miles southeast} and BROOKDALE CENTER (1962) {8.2 miles northeast} became retail rivals of RIDGEDALE after the Dayton Hudson Company sold them, in 1978.
RIDGEDALE CENTER was acquired by a joint venture of Maryland's Rouse Company and Connecticut's Cigna Investments in January 1989. Anchor rebrandings had commenced on August 10, 1988, with Donaldson's becoming a Carson Pirie Scott. When Carson's closed in July 1995, Mervyn's did not take its place, as it did at the SOUTHDALE, BROOKDALE and ROSEDALE malls.
Instead, Dayton's assumed the store space. They re-opened it, as a Dayton's Men's & Home Store, on August 1, 1995. When Dayton's stores were rebranded by Marshall Field's, in August 2001, the Dayton's Men's & Home became a Marshall Field's Men's & Home. It evolved into a Macy's Men's & Home Store in September 2006.
A prospective RIDGEDALE expansion had been formally announced in May 1990. This would have added a new Dayton's store, similar to those being built at the SOUTHDALE and ROSEDALE malls. However, the RIDGEDALE Dayton's project was eventually cancelled.
Chicago's General Growth Properties acquired the assets of the Rouse Company in November 2004. GGP announced a second potential expansion of the RIDGEDALE mall in November 2006. As part of this project, Nordstrom was to build a 2-level (172,000 square foot) store. To accommodate it, one of two Macy's would have been forced to close, with the new Nordstrom taking its place. Nordstrom pulled out of the deal in February 2009.
In the meantime, an interior face lift got underway at RIDGEDALE CENTER in February 2007. During this project, new flooring, fixtures, lighting and restrooms were installed. The 4 million dollar refurbishment was completed in late 2007. It helped to keep the 30+ year-old mall competitive with a lifestyle center now in its vicinity. THE SHOPPES AT ARBOR LAKES {8.3 miles north, in Maple Grove} held its grand opening in September 2003.
A bona fide mall expansion, a first for RIDGEDALE CENTER, was announced in January 2013, with construction getting underway in June of the same year. The renovation was conducted in two phases. During stage one, the existing Macy's was enlarged into a 290,000 square foot structure. The Macy's Men's & Home store was consolidated with the newly-enlarged Macy's. The merged store was officially dedicated on March 6, 2014.
As part of stage two, the vacant Macy's Men's & Home store was demolished. A new East Wing was built on the site. Adding 80,000 square feet of inline retail space, it was anchored by a 2-level (138,00 square foot) Nordstrom. This store held its grand opening on October 2, 2015. Inline stores were dedicated between the fall of 2015 and spring of 2016. These included Uptown MN, Tommy Bahama, Oliver's, Williams-Sonoma and Redstone American Grill. With the completion of the expansion, RIDGEDALE CENTER encompassed approximately 1,144,900 leasable square feet.
Brookfield Property Partners, based in Hamilton, Bermuda, acquired a share of General Growth Properties in 2016. In August 2018, Brookfield established 100 percent ownership of the corporation, with RIDGEDALE CENTER being added to the Brookfield retail center portfolio.
Sears shuttered its RIDGEDALE store in March 2019. It was rumored that the Von Maur chain, who had recently added a store to ROSEDALE CENTER, would assume the vacant RIDGEDALE Sears. This never happened.
Sources:
The Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
The St. Paul Pioneer Press
Charter RIDGEDALE tenants included Thom McAn Shoes, Jeans West, Lane Bryant, Helzberg Diamonds, Mary Jane Shoes, Jo-Ann Fabrics, B. Dalton Bookseller, The Brothers Delicatessen, Frederick's of Hollywood, Ridgedale Floral Shop and Braun's. One of the many features of the mall's Dayton's department store was its Oak Ridge Room restaurant.
Major shopping centers in the RIDGEDALE trade area included KNOLLWOOD MALL (1972) {3 miles southeast, in St. Louis Park} and EDEN PRAIRIE CENTER (1976) {7.6 miles south, in Eden Prairie}. SOUTHDALE CENTER (1956) {7.9 miles southeast} and BROOKDALE CENTER (1962) {8.2 miles northeast} became retail rivals of RIDGEDALE after the Dayton Hudson Company sold them, in 1978.
RIDGEDALE CENTER was acquired by a joint venture of Maryland's Rouse Company and Connecticut's Cigna Investments in January 1989. Anchor rebrandings had commenced on August 10, 1988, with Donaldson's becoming a Carson Pirie Scott. When Carson's closed in July 1995, Mervyn's did not take its place, as it did at the SOUTHDALE, BROOKDALE and ROSEDALE malls.
Instead, Dayton's assumed the store space. They re-opened it, as a Dayton's Men's & Home Store, on August 1, 1995. When Dayton's stores were rebranded by Marshall Field's, in August 2001, the Dayton's Men's & Home became a Marshall Field's Men's & Home. It evolved into a Macy's Men's & Home Store in September 2006.
A prospective RIDGEDALE expansion had been formally announced in May 1990. This would have added a new Dayton's store, similar to those being built at the SOUTHDALE and ROSEDALE malls. However, the RIDGEDALE Dayton's project was eventually cancelled.
Chicago's General Growth Properties acquired the assets of the Rouse Company in November 2004. GGP announced a second potential expansion of the RIDGEDALE mall in November 2006. As part of this project, Nordstrom was to build a 2-level (172,000 square foot) store. To accommodate it, one of two Macy's would have been forced to close, with the new Nordstrom taking its place. Nordstrom pulled out of the deal in February 2009.
In the meantime, an interior face lift got underway at RIDGEDALE CENTER in February 2007. During this project, new flooring, fixtures, lighting and restrooms were installed. The 4 million dollar refurbishment was completed in late 2007. It helped to keep the 30+ year-old mall competitive with a lifestyle center now in its vicinity. THE SHOPPES AT ARBOR LAKES {8.3 miles north, in Maple Grove} held its grand opening in September 2003.
A bona fide mall expansion, a first for RIDGEDALE CENTER, was announced in January 2013, with construction getting underway in June of the same year. The renovation was conducted in two phases. During stage one, the existing Macy's was enlarged into a 290,000 square foot structure. The Macy's Men's & Home store was consolidated with the newly-enlarged Macy's. The merged store was officially dedicated on March 6, 2014.
As part of stage two, the vacant Macy's Men's & Home store was demolished. A new East Wing was built on the site. Adding 80,000 square feet of inline retail space, it was anchored by a 2-level (138,00 square foot) Nordstrom. This store held its grand opening on October 2, 2015. Inline stores were dedicated between the fall of 2015 and spring of 2016. These included Uptown MN, Tommy Bahama, Oliver's, Williams-Sonoma and Redstone American Grill. With the completion of the expansion, RIDGEDALE CENTER encompassed approximately 1,144,900 leasable square feet.
Brookfield Property Partners, based in Hamilton, Bermuda, acquired a share of General Growth Properties in 2016. In August 2018, Brookfield established 100 percent ownership of the corporation, with RIDGEDALE CENTER being added to the Brookfield retail center portfolio.
Sears shuttered its RIDGEDALE store in March 2019. It was rumored that the Von Maur chain, who had recently added a store to ROSEDALE CENTER, would assume the vacant RIDGEDALE Sears. This never happened.
Pittsburgh-based Dick's Sporting Goods renovated the vacant Sears and opened their third House Of Sports store on June 3, 2022. The prototype House of Sports unit includes a rock climbing wall, baseball batting cage and hitting bays, several golf simulators and an outdoor turf field and running track.
Sources:
The Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
The St. Paul Pioneer Press
Dayton Hudson Corporation Annual Report 1974
Hennepin County, Minnesota tax assessor website
Hennepin County, Minnesota tax assessor website
http://www.therousecompany.com (Website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
http://www.ridgdalecenter.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://www.hometownsource.com
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.ridgdalecenter.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
http://www.ggp.com / General Growth Properties
http://www.mnconstruction.orghttps://www.hometownsource.com
www.bizjournals.com
https://www.mallscenters.com
