Cedar Rapids' Lindale Plaza

Plans for Cedar Rapids' first shopping mall were announced in the fall of 1956. Ground was broken in the fall of 1959.

Drawing from Bernard Greenbaum & Associates 

Des Moines' Younkers ["yonk-erz"] built a store at LINDALE PLAZA, which was the chain's 17th branch. It encompassed 3 floors, 158,600 square feet, and opened its doors in the fall of 1960. The store would anchor the shopping hub for over 57 years.

Drawing and graphic from Younkers, Incorporated

The original LINDALE PLAZA was renowned for its spacious, grass-lined shopping concourse.
Photo from the Dunlap Postcard Company

A Cedar Rapids-based department store anchored the center section of the mall. Killian's East debuted in September 1960.

Graphic from the Killian Company

Among the many food vendors at the original LINDALE PLAZA was a Bishop Buffet. Encompassing nearly 13,000 square feet, this smorgasbord-type restaurant was decorated in a Farm Provincial motif.

Photos from Curteichcolor 

The shiny new LINDALE PLAZA, as it was configured in late 1960. "Iowa's Most Exciting Shopping City" covered approximately 535,000 leasable square feet and housed twenty-nine stores and services. Free parking was provided for 5,000 autos.

LINDALE PLAZA TENANTS 1960:

YOUNKERS (with Francois Maison de Coiffure Salon) / SEARS (with Coffee House and attached Auto Center) / KILLIAN'S EAST (with Beauty Salon and telephone bill-paying service) / S.S. KRESGE 5 & 10 (with luncheonette and delicatessen) / EAGLE FOOD CENTER supermarket / Baker's Qualicraft Shoes / Bishop Buffet / Craemer's College Clothes / Davis Cleaners / Duane's Shoes / Dotty Dunn Hats / Fanny Farmer Candies / Federal Bake Shop / Iowa Paint Manufacturing Company / Karmelkorn / Kinney Shoes / Lin-House Gift Shop / Lindale Plaza Barber Shop / Lindale Plaza Shoe Repair / Maternity Modes / May's Drug / Miller-Wohl ladies' wear / Richman Brothers men's wear / Schiff's Shoes / Seiferts ladies' wear / The Fabric Shop / The Record Shop / Times Photo Shop / Wolf's ladies' wear

The single-screen Plaza Theatre was built on a pad south of the mall. Its first feature was shown in July 1967.
Photo from www.cinematreasures.com / Mike Geater

 

The mall's open courts and concourses had been enclosed by 1981. Forty new stores were added, with some of these filling space along entry lanes (in medium gray). Additional store space was created with two Lower Level  "mall within a mall" sections. Lindale Lane was made out of the original basement of a vacant S.S. Kresge. Lindale Square repurposed the basement of a downsized Younkers.

All of this work was done as a countermeasure against WESTDALE, the up-and-coming new mall in town. This complex opened in October 1979 and gave LINDALE a run for its money...at least for a while. Eventually, LINDALE eclipsed WESTGATE, which was partially demolished in 2014. Today, LINDALE is the only enclosed mall in its trade area.
Graphic from the Ernest W. Hahn Company

 

A second makeover, completed in April 1997, rebuilt the north-facing facade of LINDALE MALL. The original Food Court, opened in late 1979, was relocated (in medium gray). Seven inline store spaces, and a multilevel parking garage, were also built. With these improvements, the complex encompassed approximately 767,900 leasable square feet and contained ninety stores and services.

The mall's north facade of was refurbished in the 2010s. Its Terrace Food Court entrances were rebuilt as part of a ten-tenant Streetscape. Sit-down restaurants, such as Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Hurricane Grill & Wings, were joined by Kirkland's home decor and OshKosh B'Gosh children's wear.
Photo from http://washingtonprime.com / The Washington Prime Group

LINDALE MALL lost its two original anchors in 2018. Younkers shut down as part of the dissolution of Bon Ton Stores. Sears went dark due to the bankruptcy of that once-mighty chain. This left the mall with one anchor (Von Maur) and eighty stores and services.
Photo from Nathan Bush

A circa-2025 layout shows the Collins Road Streetscape in two shades of gray. A first phase (dark gray) opened for business in the summer of 2014. Stores in the second phase (medium gray) debuted in the fall of 2016. Planet Fitness set up a gym in reconfigured food court space in late 2021. The Younker's parking garage, a mall fixture since 1997, was knocked down in September 2022.

LINDALE PLAZA
Collins Road Northeast and 1st Avenue Northeast / US 151
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

In the mid-1950s, Des Moines' Younkers chain had aspirations of opening a store in downtown Cedar Rapids. However, this plan was thwarted by center city merchants who wanted to avoid competition from such a large, out-of-town department store.

Younkers joined with Sears & Roebuck and began to envisage a suburban shopping center for Cedar Rapids. Plans were officially announced in September 1956. By this time, Chicago's Bernard Greenbaum & Associates had come on board to oversee development of a Sears & Younkers-anchored retail facility.

Designed by Chicago's David Cheskin, LINDALE PLAZA would be built on a 40.8-acre plot, located 6.8 miles northeast of center city Cedar Rapids. Ground was broken for the open-air mall project in September 1959.  A preview opening was held on September 1, 1960, when eleven stores opened their doors. 

Among these were Seiferts ladies' wear, May's Drug, a 1-level (42,700 square foot), Cedar Rapids-based Killian's East and 2-level (40,700 square foot) S.S. Kresge 5 & 10. The shopping complex was officially dedicated, with twenty-three operational stores, on September 15, 1960. 

The grand opening celebration was attended by Iowa Governor Herschel C. Loveless (D), James J. Meaghan (Mayor of Cedar Rapids) and Sally Neville, "Miss Iowa 1960," with a ceremonial ribbon being cut. A 3-level (158,600 square foot) Younkers was dedicated as part of the festivities. Sears' 2-level (148,000 square foot) store opened for business on October 6th.

The shopping complex consisted of a main mall level, with a basement housing a small retail concourse and office spaces. Among twenty-nine charter LINDALE PLAZA stores were Craemer's College Clothes, The Record Shop, a (22,500 square foot) Eagle Food Center supermarket and (12,500 square foot) Bishop Buffet.

A single-screen motion picture venue, the ABC-TriStates Plaza Theatre, was built in the mall's south parking area. It opened its doors on July 30, 1967 and would be in business for 20 years.

During 1977, the mall's north central entrance lane was enclosed and configured as a Mini-Mall. Its tenants included Critchett Piano & Organ, Hansel Haus, The Smoker's Cove, Fanny Farmer Candies, Crazy Top Shop, The Country Cobbler and a Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio.

A mall-wide roofing renovation was announced in June 1978, with construction getting underway in July. During this 2 million dollar project, additional store spaces were installed in entry lanes and in the center of the main shopping concourse. New stores included Record Bar, Pearls of the Orient Gift Shop, Flowerama, The Athlete's Foot and Terra Art.

An eight-bay Food Court was built on both sides of the mall's Center Court area. Vendors included Diamond Dave's Taco Company, Orange Julius, Taters & Toppings and the Maid-Rite Shop, A small stage, and two reflecting pools, were also installed. Moreover, mall entrances were rebuilt, new landscaping planted and the parking lot resurfaced.

The old Lower Level concourse, and basement of a vacant S.S. Kresge, were rebuilt as Lindale Lane, a nine-store mall within a mall. The basement of Younkers was reconfigured as Lindale Square, which featured twenty store spaces. Younkers' now encompassed 2 levels and 105,600 square feet. By November 1980, all construction dust had settled. The revitalized shopping complex had been renamed LINDALE MALL. Its remodeling was completed soon after the official dedication of WESTDALE MALL {6.8 miles southwest, in Cedar Rapids}.

The first -and only- anchor rebranding at LINDALE MALL took place on October 7, 1981. Davenport-based Petersen Harned Von Maur (a.k.a. Petersen's) assumed the Killian's East space. The name of the retail chain was shortened to simply Von Maur in 1989.

LINDALE MALL was expanded in the mid-1990s. The first phase of the project, a multilevel parking garage, was completed in November 1996. Phase two, the 7-bay Terrace Food Court and North Wing, were officially dedicated April 25, 1997. With this 15 million dollar remodeling, the mall encompassed approximately 767,100 leasable square feet and housed ninety store spaces.

For its first 8 years, LINDALE PLAZA was owned and operated by a joint venture of Younker Brothers, Incorporated and the Northwestern Life Insurance Company. The complex was sold in October 1968, with the buyer being Des Moines' General Management Corporation (the precursor of General Growth Properties). A second sale, to the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, closed in 1984.

A third sale was finalized in March 1998. The Indianapolis-based Simon Debartolo Group (today's Simon Property Group) entered into a joint venture with the Santa Monica-based Macerich Company. Twelve malls were acquired. These were located in Iowa, South Dakota, Colorado, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Florida and Virginia.

The Simon Property Group assumed management at six centers. Macerich took control of the other six, which included LINDALE. This joint venture was dissolved in January 2012, with Simon assuming full ownership of LINDALE MALL. Meanwhile, a face lift renovation of the interior had been completed in December 2003.

Simon created a spin-off Real Estate Investment Trust in May 2014. Known as the Washington Prime Group, it assumed ownership of forty-four of Simon's "Grade B" malls, including the LINDALE property. In early 2015, the newly-formed Washington Prime Group merged with Columbus, Ohio's Glimcher Realty Trust.

A renovation of the north-facing facade of LINDALE MALL got underway in 2013. A (29,300 square foot) Streetscape was added on the east and west sides of the existing Main Entrance. The Terrace Food Court was rebuilt with a new Chipotle Mexican Grill. This restaurant opened on July 25, 2014. New US Cellular, Hurricane Grill & Wings and an (8,100 square foot) Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen were completed, with the latter serving its first meals on June 2, 2014.

Stores in a west end Streetscape were Carters Babies & Kids, OshKosh B'Gosh children's wear and a (6,987 square foot) Kirkland's home decor. Kirkland's was dedicated on September 28, 2016. A freestanding Jared The Galleria of Jewelry was built in the northeastern periphery of the mall. This store made its debut on December 3, 2016.

Younkers became a division of Pennsylvania's Bon Ton Stores conglomerate in 2006. As a result of the bankruptcy of Bon Ton Stores, all Younkers locations were shuttered in August 2018. The LINDALE Sears, also a charter 1960 tenant, had gone dark in July of the same year. 

In the early 2020s, the western half of the mall's food court was gutted. This area, and adjacent store space, was rebuilt as a (20,000 square foot) Planet Fitness. This facility opened for business on November 6, 2021. In March 2023, the Washington Prime Group sold LINDALE MALL. Great Neck, New York's Kohan Retail Investment Group became its new proprietor.

Sources:

The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa)
The Daily Reporter (Spencer, Iowa)

Cedar Rapids Public Library
https://linn.iowaassessors.com / Linn County, Iowa 
http://www.macerich.com / Macerich Company (Website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
http://www.lindalemall.com (Website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://www.lindalemall.com

https://www.cinematreasures.org

https://corridorbusiness.com

https://www.seritage.com / Seritage Growth Properties

"Lindale Mall" article on Wikipedia

Bettendorf's Duck Creek Plaza

A picture postcard of the Hawkeye State's DUCK CREEK PLAZA mall. The 4-story Bettendorf Bank & Trust building is visible in the top view, which indicates that these photos were taken after an early 1970s expansion.

Photo from the Dunlap Postcard Company

The open-air mall, as it was configured at the time of its August 1960 grand opening. The complex consisted of a single shopping level and 200,000 square feet of store space. Its retail roster listed thirty stores and services.

DUCK CREEK PLAZA TENANTS 1960:

YOUNKERS (with Francois Maison de Coiffure Salon) / F.W. WOOLWORTH 5 & 10 (with luncheonette) / EAGLE FOOD CENTER supermarket / Baker's Qualicraft Shoes / Bishop Buffet / Bond-Walgreen Drug (with Walgreen Grill) / Clark's Super Appliance / Corn Cabin / Country Cobbler Shoes / Don Ray Hair Styles / Fannie Mae Candies / Federal Bake Shop / Gulf Service Station (outparcel) / Kinney Shoes / Lewis Cleaners / Maternity Modes / Miller-Wohl ladies' wear / Mode O'Day Frock Shop / Plaza Barber Shop / Richman Brothers men's wear / Sherwin-Williams Paints / The Gift Shop / The Toy Fair / Walker's Jewelry / Western Auto / Window Center

One of the thirty charter DUCK CREEK PLAZA tenants was the Bishop Buffet seen here. It was a Quad City dining destination for over 42 years.
Photo from Curteichcolor

An interior view of the smorgasbord-style eatery. The Bishop Buffet chain originated in Waterloo, Iowa in 1920 and eventually encompassed thirty-five locations.
Photo from Curteichcolor 

Vintage logos of department stores that once anchored DUCK CREEK PLAZA. Des Moines-based Younkers was in operation at the complex for over 40 years. The Petersen Harned Von Maur ("Petersen's") chain (rebranded as Von Maur in 1989) maintained a DCP store for 27.
Graphic 1 from Younkers, Incorporated

Graphic 2 from the Killian Company

DUCK CREEK PLAZA was expanded with a fully-enclosed addition in 1972-'73 (in medium gray). In 1985, the open-air section was also roofed-in. With these renovations, the mall housed sixty stores and services and around 300,000 leasable square feet. There were 1,500 for-free parking spaces.

Above and below are views of today's new & improved DUCK CREEK PLAZA. This open-air power center replaced the enclosed mall, which was bulldozed in mid-2003. A Schnucks supermarket was the Missouri-based chain's first Iowa location.
Photo from hrrp://phillipsedison.com / Phillips Edison & Company

The DUCK CREEK PLAZA Home Depot was already under construction when the wrecking ball started knocking down the mall. The store was dedicated in December 2003.
Photo from hrrp://phillipsedison.com / Phillips Edison & Company

In a contemporary PLAZA plan, pre-demolition structures are highlighted in blue. The remainder were built between 2003 and 2005. The complex now encompasses around 263,200 leasable square feet and contains thirty-four tenant spaces.
Original drawing from www.ruhlcommercial.com / Ruhl Commercial Company

DUCK CREEK PLAZA
Middle and East Kimberly Roads
Bettendorf, Iowa

The first shopping mall developed by Iowa's General Management Corporation (the mother company of General Growth Properties) was built on a 24-acre plot, situated 1.4 miles northwest of the Central Business District of the "Quad City" of Bettendorf, Iowa.

DUCK CREEK PLAZA, designed by the Brown & Healy firm of Cedar Rapids, was officially dedicated August 18, 1960. The ceremony was attended by Arnold Kallert (Mayor of Bettendorff), Don Pertrucelli (Mayor of Davenport), Martin and Matthew Bucksbaum (of General Growth Management) and Sally Neville, "Miss Iowa 1960."

Anchored by a 1-level (60,000 square foot), Des Moines-based Younkers, the open-air retail hub encompassed 200,000 leasable square feet and housed thirty stores and services. These included Walgreen Drug, Fannie May Candies, Walker's Jewelry, a Bishop Buffet cafeteria and 1-level (20,000 square foot) F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10. A (25,500 square foot) Eagle Food Center supermarket had been open for business since June 8, 1960.

The complex became freeway-friendly with the completion of an adjacent stretch of Interstate 74, which opened to traffic September 2, 1971. On August 18, 1972, Davenport-based Petersen Harned Von Maur ("Petersen's") opened a 1-level (20,000 square foot) location. This store assumed space vacated by Woolworth's in May 1972.

The first expansion of the mall, a fully-enclosed North Wing, was completed in April 1973. It encompassed approximately 100,000 leasable square feet and included So-Fro Fabrics, Hickory Farms of Ohio, an Aladdin's Castle video arcade and 4-story Bettendorf Bank & Trust tower. The General Cinema Corporation Duck Creek Cinema I & II had shown its first features on December 27, 1972. The mall now housed approximately 300,000 leasable square feet and contained forty stores and services.

For 13 years, DUCK CREEK PLAZA had been the only shopping mall in the Quad Cities region. This changed with the completion of NORTHPARK MALL {3 miles northwest, in Davenport} in 1973 and SOUTHPARK MALL {4.8 miles southeast, in Moline} in 1974.

The Eagle Food Center, a charter DUCK CREEK PLAZA tenant, was shuttered and replaced by a Framingham, Massachusetts-based Marshalls. This store debuted on May 14, 1984. The twin cinema was shuttered July 30, 1987.

Meanwhile, General Growth had sold DUCK CREEK PLAZA to the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States in September 1984. At the time, a 4.5 million dollar renovation, enclosing the original open-air section, was underway. The newly-refurbished shopping concourse was re-dedicated on August 14, 1985.

By the mid-1990s, the shopping center was in decline. In 1998, the complex was acquired by a joint venture of Chicago's Dalan Development Corporation, the Daly Group, Limited Liability Company and Davenport-based Ruhl & Ruhl Commercial Company. Petersen Harned & Von Maur (whose name had been shortened to simply Von Maur in 1989) was shuttered on September 14, 1999. This was followed by the closing of Younkers, on January 31,  2001.

In November 2001, a demalling plan was announced. Demolition commenced in March 2003. The structure was taken down in stages, with the first segment being the Von Maur-Younkers portion and North Wing. The bank building and cinema were left standing. An open-air power center, also known as DUCK CREEK PLAZA, was built.

A (14,000 square foot) Walgreen Drug became the first operational store on November 14, 2003. This was followed by a 1-level (102,400 square foot) Home Depot, which was dedicated on December 4, 2003. A (28,200 square foot) Marshalls welcomed its first shoppers on May 20, 2004.

The old Marshalls-Bishop Buffet-Walgreen section of the mall was then bulldozed. This made room for a 1-level (63,700 square foot) Schnucks Fresh Foods, which was dedicated on May 24, 2005. When fully realized, the new DUCK CREEK PLAZA comprised approximately 263,200 leasable square feet and housed thirty-four tenant spaces. The center was acquired by the Oakbrook, Illinois-based Inland Real Estate Group in November 2005. They sold the property to Cincinnati's Phillips Edison & Company in October 2013.

Sources:

The Quad City Times (Davenport, Iowa)
The Daily Reporter (Spencer, Iowa)
http://www.ggp.com / General Growth Properties

http://www.ruhlcommercial.com / Ruhl Commercial Company
http://www.dot.state.ia.us
http://www.cinematour.com
http://www.thedalygroup.com
http://www.inlandgroup.com
https://myomahaobsession.com

"Younkers" article on Wikipedia

Des Moines' Merle Hay Plaza

Going under the provisional name of NORTHLAND CENTER, Des Moines' second shopping mall had been renamed MERLE HAY PLAZA by the time of its August 1959 grand opening. In this rendering, we see the open-air North Mall, which was part of a 740-foot-long shopping concourse. 

The shopping center's namesake, Merle David Hay. He was the first Iowa citizen lost in World War I, as well as one of the first three American soldiers killed in the conflict. In December 1917, 58th Street, in Des Moines, was renamed Merle Hay Road in his honor. 

Photo from http://www.dmoed.org

Saint Gabriel's Monastery of the Passionist Order, which stood at the southeast corner of the MERLE HAY PLAZA site. The structure was razed in 1958.

Photo from http://www.dmoed.org

Des Moines' -and Iowa's- first mall type shopping center was developed in the north-central section of the city. PARK FAIR CENTER was officially dedicated in November 1957, nearly 2 years before the grand opening of MERLE HAY PLAZA.

Graphic from Frank A. DePuydt and Thomas B. Couchman  

The original MERLE HAY PLAZA encompassed approximately 615,000 leasable square feet and contained thirty-four stores and services. Its parking area could accommodate 4,000 autos. During the early years, space on the mall's lower level was equipped as a fallout shelter. A portion also housed the Strike & Spare Bowl.

MERLE HAY PLAZA TENANTS 1960:

YOUNKERS (with Francois Maison de Coiffure Salon and Meadowlark Room restaurant) / SEARS (with Coffee Shop and attached Auto Center) / S.S. KRESGE 5 & 10 (with luncheonette) / SAFEWAY supermarket / Baker's Qualicraft Shoes / Baron's ladies' & children's wear / Bishop Buffet / Bodin Van Dorn men's & boy's wear / Corn Cabin / Circus Town children's wear / Dial Finance / Dotty Dunn Millinery / Fanny Farmer Candies / Federal Bake Shop / Gould Camera Shop / Green's Fabric Shop / Iowa Dress Club / Joseph's Jewelers / Kinney Shoes / Lane-Warner Insurance Company / Lazy-M Shoes / Lowe Brothers Paints / Maternity Modes / Miller-Wohl ladies' wear / Mode O'Day Frock Shop / Plaza Barber Shop / Plaza State Bank / Richman Brothers men's wear / Service Optical / Schiff Shoes / Shopper's World / Strike & Spare Bowl (Lower Level) / The Record Shop / The Toy Fair / Walgreen Drug (with Walgreen Grill) / Western Auto / Zale's Jewelers

The mall's 280,000 square foot Sears welcomed first shoppers in November 1959. 

Photo from Sears, Roebuck & Company Annual Report 1959

The Plaza Theatre showed its first feature in January 1966. After several ownership changes, the venue was shuttered in 1988. It re-opened, as the Merle Hay Mall Cinema, in 1993 and was in operation until December 2014.

The Merle Hay Tower was built adjacent to the Plaza Theatre. The first Tower tenants moved in in November 1966.

Photo from Abbell Associates

"Operation Undercover" was done between September 1971 and September 1972. During the project, the open-air shopping concourse was enclosed and climate-controlled.
Graphic from Merle Hay Plaza, Incorporated

In this vintage view, we see a newly-roofed North Wing and -now indoor- storefront of its S.S. Kresge dime store. As part of the roofing renovation, the shopping complex was renamed MERLE HAY MALL.
Photo from The Des Moines Register

Soon after the mall was enclosed, it was expanded with a new West Wing. This included a bi-level section, known as the Bridge Court. The centerpiece was the controversial "UpDown" (a.k.a. "Trike Angel") sculpture, seen in the foreground. It was created by Mark Jacobsen.
Photo from The Des Moines Register

Younkers Store for Homes was part of the early '70s mall expansion and renovation.
Drawing from http://www.dmoed.org

Younkers' main store was enlarged in 1963 (in dark gray). A second enlargement (medium gray) was completed at a later date. Sears was also expanded. The mall proper was enlarged with a West Wing (also medium gray). With the completion of all modifications, in October 1974, the mall covered around 1.2 million leasable square feet and housed 137 stores and services. It was the Hawkeye State's largest shopping complex; a distinction held until August 2004.

A Des Moines-based Ardan discount mart was built on a pad north of the MERLE HAY PLAZA Sears. The 110,000 square foot store opened in 1963. In 1968, the Ardan discount chain merged with another retailer based in Kansas City, Missouri. The MERLE HAY location was rebranded as Ardan-Bellas Hess. This store was shuttered in 1975.
Graphic from the Daniels Investment Company

Ardan-Bellas Hess was followed by a Plaza Family Saving Center store, which morphed into a Kmart in 1979. The tiny PRESTIGE MALL had been added to the south end of the Ardan-Bellas Hess store in 1974. In 1983, the discount store and PRESTIGE MALL were renovated and renamed, collectively, as the FASHION OUTLET MALL.
Graphic from the Daniels Investment Company  

The FASHION OUTLET mall was re-renovated in the mid-1980s. It emerged as THE VALUE MALL in 1985. Stores and services included Burlington Coat Factory, Best Buy and Marshalls (hold-overs from the FASHION OUTLET) and the Forum IV Theatres (which had opened, as part of the PRESTIGE MALL, in 1974).
Graphic from National Properties, Incorporated

THE VALUE MALL was renamed HAYMARKET MALL in 1989. This complex housed the aforementioned Burlington Coat Factory, Marshalls, Forum IV Theatres, Best Buy and the Bochner Art Gallery.
Graphic from Coppola Enterprises

Back at MERLE HAY MALL, the southwest anchor -originally a Montgomery Ward- was renovated by Famous-Barr in the year 2000. This store was shuttered in 2004. Younkers moved in and was in business at this location for nearly 14 years.
Photo from Polk County, Iowa

The relocation of Younkers, in mid-2004, provided space for a new Target discount store. The abandoned Younkers was knocked down, with a new Target opening in July 2005.
Photo from Polk County, Iowa

The east-facing facade and east Mall Entrance, as they appeared in 2005.
Photo from Polk County, Iowa

The east facade was given a "lifestyle" makeover in 2008-2009. Three big box retailers were installed in existing space and the Main Entrance was rebuilt.
Photo from http://www.k-o.com / KO Architects

By 2009, three anchor stores have changed nameplates. New Younkers and Target stores have been discussed. Kohl's set up shop in a vacant Younker's Store for Homes in April 1993. Now Iowa's second-largest retail complex, MERLE HAY MALL contains over 100 stores and services. The complex provides free parking for 6,200 autos.

During a 2010s renovation,  the Upper Level of the Bridge Court was gutted. Its store space was rebuilt into an 8-screen dine-in cinema. The Flix Brewhouse was dedicated in December 2014.
Drawing from www.merlehaymall.com

In a circa-2015 plan, we see the orientation of the new Flix Brewhouse. Maurices, which was displaced by the Bridge Court remodeling, moved to a new store on the Main Level of the mall, occupying space originally plotted for a Books-A-Million store. With these modifications, the mall contained eighty-seven stores and services under its roof.

The Douglas Avenue Streetscape was added to the south-facing front of the mall. It was completed in the fall of 2019.
Drawing from www.merlehaymall.com

A sweeping aerial view of the complex includes Sears in the foreground. This store pulled up stakes in October 2018, after 58 years in business. Younkers, who had operated at the mall for 59 years, went dark in August.
Photo from www.loopnet.com 

If things had gone as planned, the abandoned Younkers at MERLE HAY MALL would have been replaced by Buccaneer Arena, home venue for the US Hockey League Des Moines Buccaneers. However, the team pulled out of the arena plan in the summer of 2024. 

Drawing from Icon Architectural Group

In the year 2025, MERLE HAY MALL is in transition. An abandoned Sears was razed, and replaced with a new Kohl's. The old Kohl's was reconfigured as a pickelball court complex. The abandoned Younkers will soon be razed, with a sports arena taking its place. With these modifications, MERLE HAY MALL will cover approximately 721,300 leasable square feet and contain seventy-seven stores and services.

 

MERLE HAY PLAZA

Douglas Avenue / US 6 and Merle Hay Road
Des Moines and Urbandale, Iowa

Construction commenced on Iowa's second shopping mall in July 1958. Occupying a 47-acre parcel, located 6 miles northwest of the Iowa Capitol, the open-air complex was developed by Chicago's Joseph Abbell and Bernard Greenbaum & Associates. Robert Greenbaum and the Detrich & Gibson firm, both of Chicago, designed the structure.

Before the shopping center was completed, its tentative name, NORTHLAND CENTER, had been changed to MERLE HAY PLAZA; this in honor of Merle David Hay, the first Iowa citizen killed in World War I.

MERLE HAY PLAZA opened for business on August 17, 1959. The dedication was attended by Herschel C. Loveless (D) (Governor of Iowa) and Charles Iles (Mayor of Des Moines). L. Clarke Priebe, "Mrs. America 1959," arrived via helicopter. Entertainment was provided by pop singer Don Cornell, Keith Killenger's Band and Yo-Yo The Clown.

Twenty-five stores were in operation. There would eventually be thirty-four. Charter tenants included Walgreen Drug, Fanny Farmer Candies, Maternity Modes, Baker's Qualicraft Shoes, Joseph's Jewelers, Bishop Buffet, a 2-level (40,500 square foot) S.S. Kresge 5 & 10, (20,300 square foot) Safeway supermarket and (21,000 square foot) Shopper's World junior department store.

The 8 million dollar shopping hub was anchored by a 3-level (100,000 square foot), Des Moines-based Younkers. A 2-level (280,000 square foot) Sears opened for business on November 5, 1959. With its completion, the complex encompassed approximately 615,000 leasable square feet.

MERLE HAY PLAZA was enlarged during the 1960s. Younkers expanded their store, to 148,700 square feet, in 1963. The States Theatres Plaza Theatre (a single-screen venue) showed a first feature on January 28, 1966. The Merle Hay Tower, built adjacent to the new movie house, extended skyward for 6-stories. The office building was completed in November 1966. 

In September 1971, work commenced on the enclosure of the shopping center. Terrazzo flooring, skydome windows and grid ceilings were installed. The newly-roofed complex, now officially promoted as MERLE HAY MALL, was re-dedicated on September 23, 1972. By this time, land to the west of the mall had been acquired, increasing the size of the site to 129 acres. A fully-enclosed West Wing expansion had been announced in May 1972. Ground was broken on May 24, 1973.

The addition, which expanded the mall into the neighboring city of Urbandale, was anchored by a 2-level (165,600 square foot) Montgomery Ward and 1-level (74,000 square foot) Younkers Store for Homes. These mercantiles held grand openings on October 31, 1974. Two charter anchor stores were also enlarged, possibly as part of the mall expansion. Sears now covered 223,000 square feet, with Younkers now comprising 182,000. With these modifications, MERLE HAY MALL encompassed approximately 1.2 million leasable square feet and contained 137 stores and services. 

 

Shopping hubs in the MERLE HAY MALL trade area included PARK FAIR CENTER (1957) {4.1 miles east, in Des Moines} and VALLEY WEST MALL (1975) {3.5 miles southwest, in West Des Moines}.

On November 5, 1978, MERLE HAY MALL was the site of one of the worst fires in the state's history. A blaze ignited in Younkers, killing ten employees. The store was closed for repairs for nearly a year. It re-opened on October 20, 1979.

The northern section of the mall site was developed during the 1960s ,'70s and '80s. The first structure, which housed a 1-level (110,000 square foot), Des Moines-based Ardan discount mart, was dedicated in November 1963. This store was rebranded as an Ardan-Bellas Hess in October 1968. A store block, known as the PRESTIGE MALL, was added to the south side of the discount store. It housed the Davis Theatres Forum IV, which showed first features on December 19, 1974.

Ardan-Bellas Hess was shuttered in April 1975 and followed by a Plaza Family Savings Center. This store morphed into an (85,000 square foot) Kmart on August 23, 1979. PRESTIGE MALL and the adjacent discount store were renovated and repositioned. They were renamed -collectively- as THE FASHION OUTLET MALL. This 268,000 square foot mini-center opened for business on October 27, 1983. Burlington Coat Factory had assumed the Kmart space. New Marshalls and Best Buy stores were included.

FASHION OUTLET MALL went through another renovation -and two name changes- over the following 6 years. It morphed into THE VALUE MALL in August 1985 and the HAYMARKET MALL in January 1989.

Back at MERLE HAY MALL, the Kresge dime store had closed in November 1983. Its basement floor was gutted along with those of several East Wing stores to the south. This lower level space was reconfigured as a 15-store Garden Court, which connected with the basement floor bowling alley. A small food facility, known as the Merle Hay Mall Food Court, was included. The Garden Court opened in late 1985.

Area in the West Wing of the mall was reconfigured in 1989. The 9-bay Great Taste Food Court was installed in Main Level space adjoining the Younkers Store For Homes. In the year 2000, its vendors included Arby's, Panda Chinese, Taco John's and Villa Pizza. The new Great Taste Food Court eventually replaced the older Garden Court complex. By the turn of the century, the entire Garden Court concourse had closed, with its entrance stairways being either sealed-off or removed.

The in-mall Plaza Theatre had closed in 1988. It re-opened, in the fall of 1993, as the Merle Hay Mall Cinema, but closed for good in December 2014. The Silver Cinemas 10, a freestanding multiplex built adjacent to the HAYMARKET MALL, showed first features on June 27, 1997. This venue was in operation until 2004.

Meanwhile, various anchor stores at MERLE HAY MALL had changed nameplates. The Younkers Store for Homes was shuttered in August 1991. It re-opened, as a Wisconsin-based Kohl's, on April 12, 1993. Montgomery Ward closed their MERLE HAY location on May 31, 1999.

This store was renovated and expanded into a 175,000 square foot structure. Saint Louis-based Famous-Barr held their grand opening on August 4, 2000, but closed in June 2004. One month later, Younkers relocated into the building. The original Younkers was razed and replaced by a 1-level (124,000 square foot) Target, which was dedicated on July 24, 2005.

MERLE HAY MALL endured a year of declining sales following the completion of JORDAN CREEK TOWN CENTER {7.5 miles southwest, in West Des Moines}. This enclosed and open-air complex, now Iowa's largest retail center, opened in August 2004. As a competitive measure, 60,000 square feet along the east-facing front of MERLE HAY MALL was gutted and rebuilt as the Merle Hay Road Streetscape. Ten stores were reconfigured to make space for four new exterior-entranced, big box tenants. 

Staples became the first operational Streetscape store, on March 21, 2009. Ulta Beauty made its debut June 26th, followed by Shoe Carnival, on October 5th. The Books-A-Million chain was originally slated to be one of the new Streetscape stores, but this never came to fruition.

A subsequent renovation of the mall got underway in July 2013, when a south parking garage was demolished. The Upper Level of the Bridge Court was gutted, with its ten store spaces reconfigured as Flix Brewhouse, an 8-screen dine-in cinema and "fully functioning microbrewery". At the same time, the interior of the entire mall was given a face lift. This refurbishment was completed in the summer of 2014. The Flix Brewhouse opened for business on December 17th.

Younkers, a charter MERLE HAY PLAZA anchor, became a division of Pennsylvania's Bon Ton Stores conglomerate in 2006. As a result of the Bon Ton Stores bankruptcy, the MERLE HAY MALL Younkers was shuttered on August 29, 2018. Sears, the mall's other charter anchor, went dark on October 14, 2018.

The abandoned Sears was knocked down in February 2021, with a (55,000 square foot) Kohl's opening -on the Sears spot- in March 2022. The old Kohl's store was reconfigured as Dinks Pickelball Courts, which opened on November 22, 2023. 

 

Younkers' vacant building was supposed to have been replaced with the Des Moines Buccaneers Arena, but the deal fell through in July 2024. The owners of MERLE HAY MALL were undaunted by the hockey team's withdraw from the arena plan. They intend to build the facility, which will be used for hockey and volleyball games, trade shows and concerts.

Sources:

 

The Des Moines Register
"Dual Anchor Shopping Centers 1952-1965" / Richard Longstreth
https://www.iowalivingmagazine.com
http://www.merlehaymall.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
"Lost Cinemas of Greater Des Moines" blog / Site created and maintained by Mark Heggen
https://www.cinematreasures.org
https://www.weareiowa.com
https://www.dmgov.org / "Merle Hay Neighborhood Plan" / October 2008
https://www.polkcountyiowa.gov / Polk County, Iowa 

https://www.lindalemall.com
New Plan Realty Trust / Scottsdale, AZ
https://www.weareiowa.com
https://www.kcci.com / KCCI
"Merle Hay Mall," "Younkers" and "Famous-Barr" articles on Wikipedia