Gateway Fashion Mall

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Gateway Fashion Mall (formerly Gateway Mall) is an enclosed shopping mall in Bismarck, North Dakota.

1 History
2 Gateway Mall Today
3 Current Anchors
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

The mall was opened in September 1979 with anchor stores Sears, A.W. Lucas and Co., and White Mart. The mall served for many years as a viable alternative to the larger Kirkwood Mall, originally featuring a three-screen movie theater and food court to complement the three anchor stores and several inline tenants.

Thrifty White began closing its White Mart operations in the late 1980s; the store at Gateway Mall was soon taken by Menards, a Wisconsin-based home improvement chain. Menards recently re-located outside the mall, and a portion of the location was turned into a "Medical Mall" housing numerous clinics managed by the PrimeCare Health Network, while the remainder of the former White Mart/Menards was converted to Hancock Fabrics. A.W. Lucas' closure made way for Herberger's, which later closed in 1994. The space, which later became Jacob's, then World's Greatest Deals, has been taken over by Conlin's Furniture.

The mall's theaters were expanded to the "Midco 8", and at the time of expansion, the complex was the largest theater in the city. The theater remains today, competing solely with the nearby Grand 15 Theaters. The theater is now owned by Carmike Cinemas.

For many years, the Gateway to Science Center had a location inside the center of the mall. This store allowed visitors to try various science-related activities and experiments. The Gateway to Science Center recently moved to a new location outside the mall.

The mall saw the loss of many tenants over the years, including the majority of the food court tenants. Currently, subway and an ice cream shop are the only tenants in the food court.

In 2006, Osco Drug, an original tenant, was converted to CVS/Pharmacy.

[edit] Gateway Mall Today

Over the past three years, the mall has been sold three times. Gateway Mall historically has a hard time keeping its tenants. On May 10, 2006 it was announced that the center was purchased by Raymond Arjmand, of Encino, California at a purchase price of $13.25 million.^[1] It celebrated a grand re-opening on November 18, 2006, and is now known as "Gateway Fashion Mall". Arjmand plans a $10 million renovation to the mall. The new Macy's store will be 30,000 sq. ft., much smaller than a typical Macy's, but more suited for the market. Also slated for the mall is discounter Tuesday Morning.