The main entrance in 2006 |
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| Location | Nampa, Idaho |
|---|---|
| Opening date | 1965 |
| Developer | Max Boesiger |
| Management | Colliers International |
| Owner | Milan Properties, Inc. |
| No. of stores and services | 28 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 5 (one vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 545,000 square feet (50,600 m2) |
Karcher Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located in Nampa, Idaho, U.S.. The mall opened in August 1965 with Buttrey Food & Drug, Rasco/Tempo Company, and Skaggs Drug Centers as anchor stores. The mall was the largest shopping center in the Treasure Valley until 1988 when the Boise Towne Square Mall was opened in Boise. The new mall directed traffic away for the Karcher Mall and several retailers, including 20-year-old anchor JCPenney, departed the mall to move to Boise. Since then, the mall has been sold to numerous owners, each of which attempted to revitalize the mall to mixed results. Today, the mall has 28 stores, including anchor stores Burlington Coat Factory, Discount Furniture, Jo-Ann Fabrics, Macy's Clearance Center, and Ross Dress for Less, and is owned by Milan Properties, Inc.
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Daum Industries began construction on a former alfalfa field located at the intersection of Karcher Road and U.S. Highway 30 in 1963.[1] The mall was completed and opened in August 1965 with anchor stores Buttrey Food & Drug, Rasco/Tempo Company, and Skaggs Drug Centers.[1] During 1967, Daum Industries persuaded JCPenney to open a department store at the two-year-old shopping center.[2] After settling an agreement, JCPenney shuttered four nearby stores in Nampa, Caldwell, Emmett, and Payette before opeing its two-level, 134,000-square-foot (12,400 m2) store in 1968.[2]
The mall was expanded even more in August 1973, adding two more department stores, including Boise, Idaho-based Falk's Idaho Department Store and Seattle, Washington-based The Bon Marché, and a two-screen theater, Karcher Twin Theaters.[1] A free-standing Ernst hardware store was added in late 1976.[1] In 1986, Karcher Mall featured 74 businesses when it was sold from Daum Industries to Los Angeles-based Standard Management Co. for about $14 million and in 1987, the mall underwent a $1 million renovation just as Great Falls, Montana-based Sletten Companies was developing a major shopping mall in nearby Boise.
In late 1988, Boise Towne Square Mall, a much larger two-leveled shopping mall, was opened in Boise bringing in Canyon County residents into Boise for its new shopping choices. The new shopping center took a toll on the Karcher Mall and several major retailers, including the mall's twenty-year-old JCPenney store, vacated and moved to the new shopping center.[3] During late 1988, the mall was able to fill the lower level of the vacant JCPenney space with a Troutman's Emporium, with the upper level being used for warehouse space.[1] Sears relocated its aging Caldwell store to the Karcher Mall in 1990; the store only featured appliances and garden equipment. With in the next several years, the mall lost four anchor stores including PayLess Drug (1990), Anthony's (1994), Ernst (November 1996[1]) and Woolworth (July 1997[1]). By 2000, the mall added new retailers Hub Clothing Co.,[4] Intermountain Sports,[5] and Liquidation World to replace the vacant Anthony's, Woolworth, and Ernst stores, respectively. Jo-Ann Fabrics, which had purchased Karcher Mall anchor House of Fabrics in 1998, relocated from the former Buttrey store to the vacant PayLess Drug store in the mall by 2000.
In May 1998,[6] Karcher Partners LLC, composed of Tarrytown, New York-based DLC Management Corp. and Dallas, Texas-based Benton Companies, bought Karcher Mall for a reported $10.9 million.[1] In 1999, Karcher Partners LLC announced a $10 million renovation of the Karcher Mall that was started in September of that year.[1] The face lift of the declining shopping center included new storefronts, new flooring and lighting, and a new main entrance.[1] Initial plans for the renovation included adding a new anchor store into the upper level of Emporium, which had been used for warehouse space, and a food court; however, neither of these occurred.[1]
Despite the major renovations, the mall began losing more retailers and customers. The mall's movie theater was shut down in February 2000 after its owner, Reel Theatres, relocated to a larger movie theater across the street.[7] Short-lived anchor, Intermountain Sports left the mall abruptly in 2001,[8] though it was quickly replaced by variety retailer U.S. Factory Outlets by the end of the year.[9] Just one month after losing Intermountain Sports, the mall also lost Sears when it relocated to a newly constructed shopping center north of the Karcher Mall.[10] In 2003, Emporium, which was the mall largest tenant, was forced to close after its parent company, the Troutman Company, couldn't secure a new financing package or sell the stores after a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in 2002.[11] In 2003, Big 5 Sporting Goods and Ross Dress for Less were added to the mall to replace the former Sears and Buttrey/Jo-Ann Fabrics stores, respectively.[12] Neither retailers wanted interior mall access for their stores, instead preferring outdoor entrances only.[12]
In 2004, Karcher Mall was sold to LB Nampa Mall Holdings LLC.[6] The new owners hired Jones Lang LaSalle, a real estate services firm with offices in Chicago, to manage the mall and help attract new retailers to fill the mall's many vacant stores.[6] In 2005, the mall was sold once more to Chicago-based Baum Bros. LLC and again two months later to Anaheim, California-based Milan Properties LLC.[13] Milan Properties announced plans to remodel the 40-year-old mall and fill the long-vacant Emporium anchor with a new department store.[13] Milan Properties also hoped that the new Interstate 84 Interchange and the new nearby Treasure Valley Marketplace would help bring more traffic to the mall.[13] In 2007, Burlington Coat Factory, filling the former Emporium space, was the first new major retailer added to the newly-renovated mall.[14] In early 2008, clothing retailer Steve & Barry's replaced the former U.S. Factory Outlets store, which closed in 2005; however, 11 months later the store was closed when Steve & Barry's liquidated.[15]
During 2008, Macy's, which previously operated as The Bon Marché until 2003 and Bon-Macy's until 2005, announced plans to shutter its Karcher Mall location to relocate to the newly constructed Nampa Gateway Center in late 2009.[16] The new Macy's at the Nampa Gateway Center opened on October 17.[17] No plans to close the Macy's Clearance Center were ever announced or planned. In September 2009, Northern Light Cinema Grill, an independently owned movie theater and restaurant, opened in the long-vacant Nampa Reel Theatres building.[18]