KARCHER MALL
Nampa-Caldwell Boulevard / US 30 and West Karcher Road
Nampa, Idaho
Plans for the Spud State's first shopping mall were announced in August 1964. The complex would be built on 20 acres of a 34.9-acre tract. This was located 19 miles west of downtown Boise, in an unincorporated section of Canyon County. The mall site was annexed into the City of Nampa on August 2, 1965.
Nampa-Caldwell Boulevard / US 30 and West Karcher Road
Nampa, Idaho
Plans for the Spud State's first shopping mall were announced in August 1964. The complex would be built on 20 acres of a 34.9-acre tract. This was located 19 miles west of downtown Boise, in an unincorporated section of Canyon County. The mall site was annexed into the City of Nampa on August 2, 1965.
KARCHER MALL was designed by Robert B. Liles, Incorporated, of San Francisco. The fully-enclosed complex was built by the Nampa-based Daum Development Corporation. In its original state, the shopping hub consisted of a single retail level and encompassed approximately 103,000 leasable square feet.
The first tenants, Kinney Shoes, the Karcher Mall Barber Shop and a (34,000 square foot) Buttrey Foods Super Store, opened for business on August 26, 1965. Four additional stores and services were dedicated on September 15th; Andre's Beauty Salon & Sauna, Anne's Flowers, a (9,000 square foot) Sprouse-Reitz 5 & 10 and (30,000 square foot) Tempo Discount Center.
Construction commenced on a Phase I addition on March 8, 1967. This 2.9 million dollar project, envisaged by Wichita's Development Design Associates, expanded the existing mall southward. A 2-level center section was built. New stores included Irene's Fashions, Singer Sewing Center, a Boise-based ID Store and (24,000 square foot) Skaggs Drug Center.
The centerpiece of the renovation was a 2-level (140,000 square foot) J.C. Penney. This store was dedicated -along with the new mall wing- on October 23, 1968. The ribbon cutting ceremony was attended by Harry Daum (mall developer), Ernest Starr (Mayor of Nampa), N.E. "Coley" Smith (Mayor of Caldwell) and Karen Ryder, "Miss Idaho 1969." In late 1969, the mall's discount variety store was rebranded as a Rasco Tempo.
A Phase II southward expansion was announced on July 26, 1972, with construction getting underway in January 1973. This project added a 1-level (60,000 square foot) Seattle-based The Bon Marche, the Virgil O'Dell Red & Blue Twin Cinemas and nineteen inline stores.
On August 3, 1973, an expanded Southeast Wing opened for business. KARCHER MALL now encompassed approximately 600,000 leasable square feet and housed fifty stores and services. One of these -Rasco Tempo- went dark in the fall of 1981. The vacant store was renovated, with F.W. Woolworth opening its doors on March 31, 1982.
Los Angeles' Standard Management Company acquired KARCHER MALL, with the transaction closing on October 17, 1986. A one million dollar face lift renovation was completed in November 1987; this project being a keeping up measure with an up-and-coming retail rival.
BOISE TOWN SQUARE {15.8 miles east, in Boise} was dedicated in October 1988. This new super mall snatched J.C. Penney, the primary KARCHER anchor. To add insult to injury, the TOWN SQUARE would be expanded -to 1,170,000 square feet- with additions in 1998 and 2000.
Penney's vacant KARCHER MALL space was retenanted by Eugene, Oregon-based Troutman's Emporium (a.k.a. "The Emporium"). This store held its grand opening on November 21, 1988. Unfortunately, the new anchor store failed to halt the mall's decline. It was in foreclosure by the mid-1990s.
The struggling shopping venue changed hands on May 6, 1998. It was acquired by Karcher Partners; a joint venture of Terrytown, New York's DLC Management Corporation and Dallas' Benton Companies. A second face lift commenced in April 2000. As part of this 10 million dollar project, new flooring, lighting, skylights and storefronts were installed, with the mall's Main Entrance rebuilt.
Vacant retail spaces were also leased. Intermountain Outdoor Sports replaced a vacant Woolworth's, with Jo-Ann Fabrics assuming the old PayLess Drug. Big 5 Sporting Goods set up shop in the Northwest Wing and an Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar was built as a freestanding structure.
KARCHER MALL lost Troutman's Emporium in February 2003. Pleasanton, California-based Ross Dress For Less leased the old Buttrey Foods location in 2004 . The mall's southeast anchor was rebannered as a Bon-Macy's on August 1, 2003, and was fully "Macy-ated" on March 6, 2005.
Over the next 2 years, the mall changed hands three times. On May 7, 2004, LB Nampa Mall Holdings, a subsidiary of New York City's Lehman Brothers, closed on their purchase. Chicago's Baum Brothers, Limited Liability Company bought the mall in July 2005. They flipped the property 2 months later, with Anaheim, California's Milan Properties becoming the new proprietor.
Milan Properties started a mall refurbishment in 2008. A more ambitious remodeling, which had been proposed by the previous owner, was scrapped. Milan's scaled-down renovation concentrated on a face lift of the interior, remodeling of entrances and painting of the exterior. The 14 million dollar project was completed in the spring of 2009. New Burlington Coat Factory and Steve & Barry's University Sportswear stores had opened. Unfortunately, Steve & Barry's went bust after only 11 months.
The cinema, which had operated as the Karcher Reel Theatre until February 2000, re-opened, as the Northern Lights Cinema Grill, in September 2009. The primary Macy's was shuttered on October 14th. The store moved to the new NAMPA GATEWAY CENTER {4.3 miles east, in Canyon County}. A KARCHER MALL Macy's Clearance Center remained intact for the time being.
Meanwhile, a third retail rival came on the scene. The TREASURE VALLEY MARKETPLACE power center {.7 mile northeast, in Nampa} opened for business in August 2010. The Macy's Clearance Center at KARCHER MALL was shuttered in July 2014. The original Macy's morphed into a Mor Furniture For Less in June 2016. The Burlington store went dark in September 2018.
The cinema, which had operated as the Karcher Reel Theatre until February 2000, re-opened, as the Northern Lights Cinema Grill, in September 2009. The primary Macy's was shuttered on October 14th. The store moved to the new NAMPA GATEWAY CENTER {4.3 miles east, in Canyon County}. A KARCHER MALL Macy's Clearance Center remained intact for the time being.
Meanwhile, a third retail rival came on the scene. The TREASURE VALLEY MARKETPLACE power center {.7 mile northeast, in Nampa} opened for business in August 2010. The Macy's Clearance Center at KARCHER MALL was shuttered in July 2014. The original Macy's morphed into a Mor Furniture For Less in June 2016. The Burlington store went dark in September 2018.
Livermore, California's Rhino Investments bought KARCHER MALL in May 2019. A 30 million dollar demalling was proposed. An 81,000 square foot section of the Southeast Wing would be demolished and the enclosed shopping concourse converted into inline store space.
A revitalized power center, known -at first- as KARCHER MARKETPLACE, would include 216 residential units. A photo-op groundbreaking was held in November 2019, with demolition on the Southeast Wing getting underway soon after. The official name of the shopping complex was changed to DISTRICT 208 in 2022. It was sold to Los Angeles' Hyperion Realty Capital in May 2025, who became the property's eighth owner.
Sources:
The Idaho Free Press (Nampa, Idaho)
https://id-canyon.publicaccessnow.com / Canyon County, Idaho
The Idaho Free Press (Nampa, Idaho)
https://id-canyon.publicaccessnow.com / Canyon County, Idaho
http://shopkarchermall.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://www.cinematreasures.org
https://www.cityofcaldwell.org
https://idahobusinessreview.com / Idaho Business Review
http://www.baumrealty.com / Baum Brothers, Limited Liability Company
https://www.proquest.com
https://www.kivitv.com / KIVI-TV
http://www.rinconadadevelopment.com / Rinconada Development, Limited Liability Company
http://www.rinconadadevelopment.com / Rinconada Development, Limited Liability Company
http://www.rhinoinvestmentsgroup.com / Rhino Investments
"Karcher Mall" and "List of mayors of Nampa, Idaho" articles on Wikipedia
