13th Avenue South and 42nd Street Southwest
Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo's first -and only- regional-size shopping complex was constructed on 72.6 acres, located 4 miles southwest of the downtown area. Developed by a joint venture headed by Fargo's Bill Schlossman, WEST ACRES CENTER was designed by the Foss, Engelstad & Foss firm. The original mall fronted on a gravel county road that accessed Interstate 29. The expressway, which had opened to traffic in 1960, ran along the eastern boundary of the site. At the time, the surrounding area was largely undeveloped.
Ground was broken on April 21, 1971. The first operational WEST ACRES store, 1-level (79,400 square foot) Sears, began business in April 1972. The single-level, fully-enclosed complex was officially dedicated, with fifty-two stores and services, on August 2nd of the same year. North Dakota Governor William L. Guy (D) officiated at the grand opening celebration.
Also anchoring the center was a 2-level, Fargo-based O.J. deLendrecie's ["duh-LAWN-dree-sees"]. Although the store structure housed 188,000 square feet, it was utilizing only 110,000 at this time. The third anchor, a 1-level (115,000 square foot), Minneapolis-based Dayton's, was completed in August 1973. It was the first Dayton's built outside of Minnesota.
At this time, WEST ACRES CENTER encompassed approximately 534,400 leaseable square feet. A list of charter tenants would include Straus Clothing For Men, Flagg Brothers Shoes, Scheels Sporting Goods, R & G Shoes, B. Dalton Bookseller, Lane Bryant, Walgreen Drug and a Fargo-based Herbst junior department store.
Shopping options in the WEST ACRES trade area included NORTH PORT / NORTHPORT CENTER (1956) {4.5 miles northeast, in Fargo}, BROOKDALE CENTER / SUNMART (1962-1997) {3.6 miles southeast, in Moorhead, Minnesota} and MAYFAIR CENTER / HOLIDAY MALL (1963-1995) {3.7 miles southeast, also in Moorhead}. In March 1973, the first phase of MOORHEAD CENTER MALL {3.3 miles northeast} was completed. This was an urban renewal redevelopment in the center city of Moorhead. As a competitive measure, WEST ACRES CENTER was expanded.
In March 1978, Sears finished a 20,000 square foot store enlargement. In March 1979, a new Southwest Wing was completed. It encompassed 200,000 square feet, contained twenty inline stores, and included a Lower Level of retail and office space. The addition was anchored by a 2-level (149,900 square foot) J.C. Penney that was dedicated on August 1, 1979. WEST ACRES CENTER now spanned approximately 754,300 leasable square feet.
The owners of the complex, Schlossman / West Acres Development, entered into a joint venture with the Santa Monica-based Macerich Company in 1986, with the latter establishing a 19 percent interest in the property.
A mall-wide face lift was completed in March 1993. Anchor store rebrandings commenced in 1998, when Mercantile Stores, the parent company of deLendrecie's, was acquired by Dillard's. Instead of rebranding the store, Dillard's flipped the property, which ended up in the hands of Proffitt's, Incorporated.
The company morphed into Saks, Incorporated in September 1998. Saks rebranded deLendrecie's as one of their Northern Department Store Group divisions; St. Cloud, Minnesota-based Herberger's. By this time, the store was utilizing its total 188,000 square feet.
In March 2006, the Herberger's chain became a holding of York, Pennsylvania-based The Bon Ton Stores. Meanwhile back at the mall, another new nameplate appeared in August 2001. Dayton's was rebranded as a Marshall Field's, which was a division of the Minneapolis-based Dayton-Hudson Corporation. In essence, the parent company remained the same...only the name of the store changed. The store was "Macy-ated" on September 9, 2006.
Meanwhile, the second face lift of WEST ACRES CENTER had commenced in June 2001. The 19 million dollar project added an 11-bay Food Court and new Main Entrance. With completion of the refurbishment in the spring of 2002, the shopping center encompassed approximately 950,000 leasable square feet and housed 130 stores and services.
Sears shuttered their WEST ACRES store on March 26, 2017. Best Buy had opened a freestanding (46,000 square foot) location, on the southeastern periphery of the mall, in 1994. They renovated a (51,000 square foot) section of the vacant Sears and opened for business on June 8, 2018.
At the same time, the first store opened at FARGO OUTLETS AT TIMBER CREEK {3.6 miles southeast, in Fargo}. This open-air cluster complex was to eventually encompass 300,000 leasable square feet and house sixty stores and services.
The Herberger's chain crashed and burned, along with The Bon Ton Stores conglomerate, in August 2018. The west anchor box at WEST ACRES would sit vacant for several years. It was eventually retenanted by Davenport, Iowa's Von Maur, whose (90,000 square foot) store opened for business in 2025.
Sources:
http://www.fargohistory.com
http://www.westacres.com
http://www.saksfifthavenue.com
https://www.grandforksherald.com
Sources:
http://www.fargohistory.com
http://www.westacres.com
http://www.saksfifthavenue.com
https://www.grandforksherald.com
https://www.inforum.com
Cass County, North Dakota tax assessor website
http://www.fargomonthly.com
Cass County, North Dakota tax assessor website
http://www.fargomonthly.com
"Marshall Field's" article on Wikipedia
