Brookdale Center

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Brookdale Center is a large shopping mall in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Originally constructed in 1962 to meet the needs of some of the first north suburban Minneapolis residents, it became the second mall in the suburban Twin Cities, after Southdale Center, constructed in 1956 by Dayton's as their first suburban location in the southwest Minneapolis suburbs. Both embodied the "new suburban downtown" idea of Austrian city planner Victor Gruen.

Contents 1 History 2 Early Years 3 Middle Years 4 Later Years 5 The Dales 6 Anchors 7 External links

[edit] History

After the revolutionary success of Southdale Center in affluent Edina in 1956, Dayton's set their eyes to the immediate northwest Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center, which had also experienced immense growth in the immediate post-war years. The mall was seen as best suited to the area as to not compete with Knollwood Mall, constructed in 1955 in St. Louis Park, or Apache Plaza, constructed in 1961 in the northeast Minneapolis suburb of St. Anthony. As they had done at Southdale Center, Donaldson's, Dayton's chief downtown competitor, bought land conjoined to the mall complex so they would own the land underneath their store and their store while stiill being part of the mall. A site was chosen at the intersection of Mn Highway 100 and Mn Highway 152, both extremely busy roads prior to the construction of the Interstate Highways in the Twin Cities area. The Department Store chains of Woolworth's, J.C. Penney, and Sears also joined the mall by it's opening.

[edit] Early Years

The mall did extremely good business after it's opening in 1962. Although it's customers were not quite as affluent as the people of Edina, Brookdale Center drew from a large area of the north metro. As Interstate 94 and Interstate 694 and their intersection were constructed nearby, traffic and residents, as well as business in the area grew. The 694/494 interchange became the second interstate strip in the state, with the 1960's construction of the Pillsbury chain Steak & Ale, as well as a Howard Johnson's restaurant, along with many other businesses and homes.

[edit] Middle Years

By the mid 1980's, Brookdale began to change, as new malls were constructed within the mall's originally expansive turf. Northtown Mall, built in 1972 in Blaine was one of the first. The Baby Boomer population of Brooklyn Center also had grown up and moved away from home, leaving their middle aged parents behind. During these years, the mall continued to do well, but the area began to gradually change, as the expansive Twin Cities suburbs beyond first-ring Brooklyn Center grew and prospered.

[edit] Later Years

By the 1990's, Brooklyn Center had changed a great deal. The Ranch Homes bought inexpensively by thousands of returning GI's and their young wives were slowly being sold as the Greatest Generation aged. Moving in were people of lower socioeconomic status than the departing original middle-class inhabitants. Unlike Edina, which had featured more expensive construction from the the early post-war years, Brooklyn Center had homes that were decidedly middle-class. As the original inhabitants, who had more economic clout slowly moved away, Brookdale began to lose surrounding businesses. Brookdale hung on as businesses that had been there since the 1960's posted signs saying "Moving to Forest Lake" Brookdale hung on, however, and did not lose an anchor until 2002, with the closing of Mervyn's, and then the 2005 closing of J.C. Penney. Both stores are still vacant. Then the management did a mild remodel, including a new food court. However, Brookdale Center is still one of the most original old malls in the Twin Cities area. The former Dayton's and Sears are extremely original, with little remodeling.

[edit] The Dales

It is part of the four "Dale" shopping centers circling the Twin Cities, originally developed by The Dayton Co. The others are Southdale Center, Rosedale Center, and Ridgedale Center. Located at: 1108 Brookdale • Brooklyn Center, MN 55430

[edit] Anchors

• Kohl's (75,000 sq. ft.)
• Macy's (195,368 sq. ft.)
• Sears (180,169 sq. ft.)

[edit] External links

• Brookdale Center