What's up with Southridge? (Des Moines, Greenfield: section 8, sale, homes)

[El Rhino]

Went to Southridge today to do my Christmas shopping. Looks like Shoe Carnival is going out of business. That place had been there since maybe 1990-ish or so.

Who ever is running the show at Southridge better start thinking fast of ways to save that mall.

[thatguy1]

Originally Posted by El Rhino

Went to Southridge today to do my Christmas shopping. Looks like Shoe Carnival is going out of business. That place had been there since maybe 1990-ish or so.

Who ever is running the show at Southridge better start thinking fast of ways to save that mall.

Can you say - Consolidated Office Space - Same exact situation with Southroads in Bellevue, NE. (although Ameritrade is leaving so they are probably screwed)

[Stevie]

I was just reading about Southridge on Wikipedia and it had some interesting information. It mentioned that Southridge first opened in 1975 and it actually opened two months AFTER Valley West did. I had no idea Valley West was that old.

Just type in "Southridge Mall (Iowa)" on Wikipedia to find the page.

[El Rhino]

Fact: My dad met my mom when she was working at Coach House in Southridge.

So I guess I kind of owe my existence to Southridge.

[Luke9686]

I remember that waterslide! I moved to the DSM area in 85, and it was there then.

Jordan Creek and Southridge may not be far apart in the mileage sense, but in the demographic sense they are WORLDS apart like previously mentioned.

[zz4guy]

Originally Posted by SharpHawkeye

You answered your own question. Jordan Creek happened. Jordan Creek opened, and the Highway 5 bypass made it so easy to get over there...

Sounds like Coralridge mall syndrome. Same thing happened to Westdale mall on the south side of CR. The mall is just about empty. Coralridge is only 15 minutes south and as soon as it went up Westdale started emptying out. It used to be the biggest and most popular mall in CR.

[JoeisSweet]

I really feel sorry for Southridge. It seems like to me that Southridge could possibly close in the next ten or twenty years.

One thing I always wondered was the lack of development around the mall. South of Southridge there is literally nothing but a few houses and SkateSouth. And as soon as you drive east of SE 14th, ArmyPost becomes a country road practically.

And the mall has been here since 1975? You would think that there would be more.

[Chris19]

I have been by Southridge a couple times when visiting my brother in the Des Moines area and am surprised that the city ends not too long after the Southridge Mall. If there was more development there along with some updating, the mall would be in better shape. Kind of sad to see it decline though.

The mall can have a new lease on life and a number of dead malls do. An example is the Western Mall in Sioux Falls, SD. The mall had a good go in the first few years after opening in the late 1960s. The Empire Mall opened up in the mid 1970s about a mile or so west of the Western Mall and really hurt the Western Mall. Montgomery Wards pulled out and I can remember the mall being mostly empty when I was six with the exception for the 1/2 Price Store (now Gordman's and relocated to the Empire Mall area), Best Buy (but in a smaller retail space), and Phar-Mor (an interesting store to say the least) along with a movie theater. The Western Mall reinvented itself in the late 1990s as a lifestyle center/office center. In the inside mall corridor area, a number of offices moved in where there were vacant storefronts. Best Buy moved where the old Phar-Mor was and the old 1/2 Price Store was torn down and a new and larger Scheels relocated in the space along with a retail center on the side with a Papa Murphy's, HuHot Mongolian Grill, and a couple of other stores. South Dakota Furniture Mart moved into space vacated by the old Best Buy and took up a portion of the old corridor space and old storefronts. Yes, there are a few vacant spaces, but the mall has been in healthy shape for the past ten years. The management from the mid 1990s on was local and the management before was from far away and were probably not as much in tune with the property.

Southdale may get reincarnated in some form, but may take time to do that. If Des Moines grows south and a little east along with improvements to the mall area, the Southdale Mall may get a new lease on life.

[tcbabs]

I remember the water slides being on the south end of the mall, probably where the Finish Line is now...looked like fun but never tried it...the old theatre was attached down by Sears...their remodel took the place of the hall that lead to the theatres....used to be a "Disc Jockey" CD/Record store there on the corner by Sears. I remember going to "Happy Joes" for pizza and several B-Day parties...Corn Dog Factory, Big Al's, The Record Shop, and even an old Stereo store in there somewhere as well...They had a big arcade (at least busy) alladin's castle...There was also a "Magic" shop in the food court for awhile. Southridge was the place to go when I was a kid. I was there yesterday and found out that not only is Shoe Carnival closing very soon but now Waldenbooks will closed by January 28th, 2009. The Valley West store will close by July 2009.

[El Rhino]

Originally Posted by tcbabs

I remember the water slides being on the south end of the mall, probably where the Finish Line is now...looked like fun but never tried it...the old theatre was attached down by Sears...their remodel took the place of the hall that lead to the theatres....used to be a "Disc Jockey" CD/Record store there on the corner by Sears. I remember going to "Happy Joes" for pizza and several B-Day parties...Corn Dog Factory, Big Al's, The Record Shop, and even an old Stereo store in there somewhere as well...They had a big arcade (at least busy) alladin's castle...There was also a "Magic" shop in the food court for awhile. Southridge was the place to go when I was a kid. I was there yesterday and found out that not only is Shoe Carnival closing very soon but now Waldenbooks will closed by January 28th, 2009. The Valley West store will close by July 2009.

I remember going to Happy Joe's a lot as a kid...and Corn Dog Factory, man, that place was amazing. If I remember right, it was a younger kid and his dad who ran that place. I would love to get a cheese corn dog and fries from that place again.

Waldenbooks is closing? Damn.... That was one of the few worthwhile stores there. Southridge really is a sinking ship right now.