A contemporary view of the mall's South Wing. Storefronts for The Buckle (a shoes and apparel store) and Champs Sports may be seen.
Photo from https://adcollaborative.com / Architecture Design Collaborative
Our third -and final- APACHE plan depicts the shopping center of 2015. "Monkey Wards" was retenanted by Herberger's in late 2002. Another new anchor, Scheels All Sports, has just assumed the abandoned Sears. The shopping hub now houses around 783,600 leasable square feet.
In the mid-2020s, APACHE MALL houses sixty-nine stores and services, with an additional fourteen kiosk-type tenants. Two outparcel businesses operate in the mall's periphery; Firestone (in the old Penneys Auto Center) and Red Lobster.
Graphic from Brookfield Properties
APACHE MALL
12th Street, Southwest / US 14 and US 52 & 63
Rochester, Minnesota
Ground was broken for Rochester's first mall-type shopping center in January 1968. The facility was developed on a 63-acre parcel. This was located 1 mile southwest of the Central Business District, in an area of the city known as Baihly Flats.
APACHE MALL was built by a joint venture of the Minneapolis-based Apache Corporation and Rochester-based Van Cuyk and Leach Realty Company. Thorsen & Thorshove, Incorporated, also of Minneapolis, designed the 8 million dollar complex.
On September 16, 1969, a 2-level (102,400 square foot) Montgomery Ward became the first operational APACHE MALL store. The ABC North Central Oakview Theatre, built as a southwestern outparcel, showed its first feature on October 10, 1969. A mall-wide dedication was held on October 16th, when a 2-level (128,200 square foot) J.C. Penney opened its doors.
Among thirty-eight charter stores were Hanover Shoes, O & B Shoes, Mode O' Day Frock Shop, Gingerbread House, Evenson's Hallmark, Docktor Pet Center, a Red Owl supermarket and F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10. In its original state, APACHE MALL covered approximately 540,00 leasable square feet. There were eventually fifty-five tenant spaces.
Major shopping centers in the APACHE MALL trade area included MIRACLE MILE CENTER (1952) {1 mile northwest, in Rochester}, CROSSROADS CENTER (1963) {.6 mile west, in Rochester}, CENTERPLACE GALLERIA (1989) / GALLERIA AT UNIVERSITY SQUARE (2020) {1.3 miles northeast, in Rochester} and SHOPPES ON MAINE (2008) {3.3 miles southeast, also in Rochester}.
The first expansion of APACHE MALL was completed in the early 1970s. A 2-level (162,800 square foot), Minneapolis-based Dayton's was added to the south side. This store held its grand opening on July 21, 1972. The Apache Corporation sold the mall in January 1977, with the buyer being Dallas-based MEPC American Properties. MEPC was a subsidiary of London, England's MEPC, Public Limited Company.
APACHE MALL was given its first face lift in the mid-1980s. Interior spaces were refurbished with new flooring, skylights and pop-out storefronts. A second -more involved- renovation was done between 1990 and 1992. Montgomery Ward converted their unit into a Specialty Store. Inline space south of Ward's was also reconfigured. An entry hall and row of stores were replaced by the 10-bay Cafe in the Park food court. This culinary complex opened for business in February 1991. Its vendors included Sbarro the Italian Eatery, Cinnabon and Taco Bell.
At the same time, a northward addition was nearing completion. Anchored by a 2-level (113,800 square foot) Sears, this new wing was officially dedicated on October 24, 1991. Eight inline stores joined the tenant list, with Claire's Boutique, Braun's, Suncoast Video and Men's Wearhouse among them.
Some years before, the old supermarket space had been rebuilt as The Garden Court. This area was refurbished and retenanted as part of the early '90s redo. The project was finished in October 1992. With its completion, APACHE MALL encompassed approximately 760,000 leasable square feet and contained 105 stores and services under its roof. MEPC American sold their eight-mall portfolio to Chicago's General Growth Properties in June 1998, with APACHE MALL becoming a GGP holding.
Montgomery Ward pulled up stakes in March 2001. The building was remodeled by Minnesota's Herberger's chain, who opened their new store in October 2002. At this time, another rebuild of mall space was underway. The existing food court was extended, to 31,000 square feet, with a westward addition. This 23,000 square foot expansion also housed a new Barnes & Noble store.
In 2004, a freestanding Romano's Macaroni Grill was built on the site of the demolished Wards Auto Center. This restaurant morphed into a Red Lobster in 2011. Meanwhile, Dayton's had been rebranded by Marshall Field's in August 2001. In September 2006, Marshall Field's stores were rebranded by Macy's. The APACHE MALL Sears closed for good in January 2014. Fargo-based Scheels All Sports gutted and rebuilt the vacant building, adding 26,000 square feet. The new Scheels, which encompassed 140,000 square feet, held its grand opening on April 12, 2015.
APACHE MALL now covered approximately 783,600 leasable square feet, with eighty-four stores and eleven kiosks. Herberger's went dark on August 29, 2018, as a result of The Bon Ton Stores bankruptcy. 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.
Sources:
The Post Bulletin (Rochester, Minnesota)
https://www.apachemall.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://www.apachemall.com
https://cinematreasures.org
Olmstead County, Minnesota
https://www.brookfieldproperties.com / Brookfield Properties
"Apache Mall" article on Wikipedia
