HOLIDAY VILLAGE CENTER
10th Avenue South / US 89 and 9th Street South
Great Falls, Montana
One of the first regional shopping hubs in the Treasure State was developed by a joint venture of Great Falls' John T. Mitchell, Theodore J. Mitchell and Don F. Robinson. HOLIDAY VILLAGE CENTER was built on 20.8-acre site, which was located .8 mile southeast of downtown Great Falls.
Construction commenced on a first phase in June 1959. This consisted of a 92,000 square foot strip plaza. Its major tenants were a 1-level (32,000 square foot) Albertsons Food Center and 1-level (28,000 square foot) Albertsons Drug Center. These began business on November 27, 1959. Charter inline stores included Rosana Shops, Kops Music Mart, Holiday Jewel & Gifts and a (10,000 square foot) Hesteds 5 & 10. A center-wide grand opening took place on January 20, 1960.
The second phase of HOLIDAY VILLAGE CENTER added a
West Wing, which housed a 1-level (57,000 square foot) Hesteds. This new variety store, which replaced the original (circa-1960) location, began business on November 8, 1962. It was joined by a 4-B's Cafeteria, Village Shoes, Three Sisters ladies' wear and Duets Shoes.
A Lower Level of the
West Wing contained a (35,000 square foot) Merchandise Mart furniture outlet. A strip of stores on the north end featured the Maison de Dahl beauty salon, as well as a barber shop, shoe repair service and coin laundry. An official
West Wing dedication was held May 16, 1963. HOLIDAY VILLAGE CENTER now spanned approximately 210,000 leasable square feet and housed twenty-five stores and services.
The third and fourth phases of HOLIDAY VILLAGE CENTER would incorporate an adjoining 20.8- acre plot. A 1-block section of 11th Street South, which divided the two parcels, was removed. The two blocks were then merged into a single 42-acre parcel.
A 2-level (105,600 square foot) Montgomery Ward was built, as a freestanding structure, on the west end of the expanded site. The store opened for business on September 28, 1966. Construction commenced on a
Covered Mall concourse in February 1967. This section, which linked the original shopping center and Montgomery Ward, added a 1-level (45,000 square foot) Buttrey-Osco Food & Drug and single-screen movie theater.
On October 17, 1967, a section of the mall still under construction caught fire. It was quickly rebuilt, with the official grand opening delayed until December 20, 1967. On this day, the Fox Intermountain
Holiday Theatre showed its first feature.
The next phase of expansion added a 1-level (65,300 square foot), Havre, Montana-based Buttreys Suburban department store. Built over the eastern half of the
Covered Mall, it began business on July 27, 1969. With its completion, HOLIDAY VILLAGE comprised approximately 510,300 leasable square feet, with a tenant list of fifty-two stores and twelve office spaces.
The Hesteds store went dark on December 31, 1975. It was given an interior and exterior renovation and expanded to incorporate the lower level of the structure. A 2-level (80,000 square foot), St. Cloud, Minnesota-based Herberger's was dedicated on August 5, 1976. The Suburban store closed, with its structure also being thoroughly remodeled. A (65,300 square foot) J.C. Penney, welcomed first shoppers on November 3, 1976. In May 1979, the Santa Monica-based Macerich Company acquired the shopping venue.
The Albertsons Drug Center had been rebranded as a Skaggs Drug Center in 1963. It was rebranded again in 1984, when it received an Osco Drug nameplate. The mall would house two Osco locations until the original Buttrey-Osco Food & Drug was demolished. It was replaced by a 1-level (75,400 square foot) Sears, which was dedicated on August 6, 1991.
The mall had no competitors during its early years. Other shopping centers in the area, such as WESTGATE MALL, EVERGREEN MALL or AGRI-VILLAGE CENTER, were community-class (or even smaller) properties. It wasn't until 1997 that anything resembling commercial competition came about. However, GREAT FALLS MARKETPLACE {3.1 miles southwest, in Great Falls} was also owned by Macerich.
By the turn of the century, several additional changes had been made at HOLIDAY VILLAGE MALL. Montgomery Ward was shuttered on May 31, 1999. Herberger's gutted the vacant store, rebuilt it and opened for business on August 27, 2000. The original Herberer's would sit vacant for over 6 years.
Albertsons Food Center, a 1959 charter tenant, shut down on October 28, 1999. The adjacent Osco Drug was rebranded, as a Woonsocket, Rhode, Island-based CVS, in December 2006. Ownership of the 576,900 square foot shopping complex had changed in July of the same year. Barrington, Illinois-based GK Development became its new proprietor.
By late 2007, all major vacancies had been retenanted. Fargo-based Scheels, who had operated a HOLIDAY VILLAGE store since 1968, remodeled the vacant Herberger's and opened for business February 10, 2007. New Jersey-based Bed, Bath & Beyond took the old Scheels location. The Albertsons space re-opened, as a Pleasanton, California-based Ross Dress for Less, on April 12, 2007.
In early 2010, CVS shuttered their HOLIDAY VILLAGE store. The space was leased to Columbus, Ohio-based Big Lots, who opened October 27, 2011. A major vacancy was created by the closing of Sears, on November 3, 2014. The building was divided between a (48,100 square foot) Hobby Lobby, (19,100 square foot) PetSmart. These opened for business in June 2017. The mall was presented with another major vacancy when Herberger's closed for good, on August 3, 2018.
Sources:
The Great Falls Tribune
The Missoulian (Missoula, Montana)
http://www.labelscar.com / "Prange Way"
https://www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.gkdevelopment.com / GK Development
"Holiday Village Mall" article on Wikipedia
