Nicollet Mall is a portion of Nicollet Avenue running through downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Working as a pedestrian and transit mall, it is also an upscale shopping and dining district. Along with Hennepin Avenue to the west, Nicollet Mall forms the cultural and commercial heart of the city.
Many iconic Minneapolis buildings line the Mall, notably the IDS Center, the former Dayton's flagship store (now Macy's), Orchestra Hall, and the Minneapolis Public Library. On Thursdays in the summer, Nicollet hosts a popular farmers' market; in the winter, the Holidazzle Parade lights up the Mall.
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The first commercial district in Minneapolis centered on the intersection of Nicollet and Hennepin Avenues, an area known as Bridge Square and (later) the Gateway. As the city grew and the area became more congested, businesses started moving south from Washington Avenue.
By the end of the 19th century, Nicollet Avenue had defined itself as the city's primary shopping street, as department stores such as Powers, Donaldson's and Dayton's all opened on this stretch. Elizabeth Quinlan, the first woman clothing buyer in the country, opened her store in the Young–Quinlan building, also on Nicollet.
In the mid-20th century, American society was changing. Suburbs were growing while the city was in decline. Southdale Center, the nation's first modern enclosed shopping mall, opened in neighboring Edina in 1956. It was developed by the Dayton Company, which also opened a branch of their downtown department store in the mall. People no longer had to do their shopping downtown.
Several efforts were undertaken in order to help downtown compete for retail. One was the construction of the renowned skyway system; the second was the creation of Nicollet Mall. In 1968, a dozen blocks of Nicollet Avenue were converted into a curving, tree-lined mall closed to automobile traffic.[1] This was the first transit mall in the United States, and it inspired the creation of transit malls in other cities, including Portland, Oregon and Denver, Colorado.[2] Civic and business leaders, including the Dayton Company, were instrumental in this transition. The wide sidewalks, leafy planters and outdoor seating turned Nicollet itself into an attraction.
The tam o'shanter cap toss by television character Mary Richards in the opening credits of The Mary Tyler Moore Show was filmed on Nicollet Mall, in front of what was at the time the flagship Dayton's department store. In 1999, Entertainment Weekly named this scene the second greatest moment of television history. In May 2002, TV Land erected and dedicated a statue of the character at the corner of 7th Street and Nicollet Mall.
The much-celebrated Dayton's department store at 7th & Nicollet was renamed Marshall Field's in 2001, and then Macy's in 2006, much to the dismay of locals. Still, the corporate descendant of Dayton's -- Target Corporation -- has a large presence on the Mall, with both their corporate headquarters at 10th Street and a two-level retail store at 9th.
Along with Macy's, there are two other department stores, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th Outlet which was converted from the only Saks Fifth Avenue store in the Twin Cities upon its closing in 2004. National retailers and local boutiques cluster around several locations, namely the Crystal Court, City Center and Gaviidae Common located on the Mall. City Center has a handful of shops like GNC and Hallmark. Recently Brooks Brothers reopened on the second floor of City Center after closing its store in Mall of America. Over the years, Nicollet Mall has seen the closing of several national clothing brands, including Polo Ralph Lauren, which was also its only store in the Twin Cities. Less than ten stores of that kind still remain, including Gap, Banana Republic, Cole Haan, Ann Taylor, Talbots and aforementioned Brooks Brothers. Other shops are either local boutiques or specialty stores. Though the mall is generally considered upscale by locals, designer stores like Gucci or Prada are not present. Upscale shopping in the area relies on department stores. The Macy's downtown, the headquarter of Macy's North from 2006 to 2008 before it was integrated into Macy's East headquartered in New York City, is arguably the most upscale Macy's in the Twin Cities, carrying brands comparable to Bloomingdales in Mall of America with some distinctions, and an in-store Louis Vuitton boutique, selling full lines of Louis Vuitton handbags and luggage. Some not-so-common designer brands like Jean Paul Gautier are also represented inside Macy's with limited choices. Designer brands including Gucci, Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Miu Miu, etc. can be found in Neiman Marcus on the Mall. There is a local boutique Hubert White inside the IDS Center, selling upscale men's clothing, mainly by Ermenegildo Zegna.
In addition to Target Corporation, Fortune 500 companies U.S. Bancorp and Xcel Energy also have their headquarters on Nicollet, while WCCO-TV (Channel 4) broadcasts from studios on the south end of the Mall, including a 'window to the world' news studio on the first floor of their facility.
As a transit mall, Nicollet Mall has been served by many Metro Transit buses, including several high frequency routes. All though many out-of-towners and suburbanites illegally drive their car on Nicollet mall, disobeying signage. Aside from buses, only taxis and emergency vehicles are allowed on the two-lane road. Bikes have access during non-weekday rush hours, although this is expected to change in March 2010 when several express bus routes are moved to Marquette and 2nd Avenues in the second phase of the "Marq2" project.[3] Metro Transit has also introduced a free circulator bus along Nicollet Mall that runs from the Minneapolis Convention Center to the Blue Line Nicollet Mall station.[4]
The Blue Line light rail system, opened in 2004, has a Nicollet Mall station, and connects downtown Minneapolis to the airport and the Mall of America in Bloomington. The future Green Line to downtown St. Paul will also stop at Nicollet Mall.
The Loring Greenway links the south end of the Mall to nearby Loring Park.
The Target Holidazzle Parades are a series of parades located on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. The parades are held from the day after Thanksgiving until a couple days before Christmas. The parade was started in the early 1990s in order to increase business for the downtown stores.[5][6]
Macy's, sponsor of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City and the Celebrate the Season Parade in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a former sponsor.[5] The current sponsor is Target Corporation; Target formerly sponsored the State Street Thanksgiving Parade in Chicago.