Minnesota: Mall Capital of America (Marshall, Farmington: movie theaters, malls, gardens)

[Slig]

I've seen a couple movies at the Southdale movie theater and it's a pretty impressive theater, I think both times I went it was a Friday night and we were basically the only ones at the movie. Both movies were box-office hits so I'm guessing that theater isn't doing too well.

[golfgal]

More MN mall history, I am pretty sure the the Miracle Mall in Rochester was the first "mall" but it is all outdoors-has anyone else heard that?

[asitshouldbe]

Apache Plaza was the first indoor mall. The mall was torn down a few years ago to build luxury condos. The mall was located on Silver Lake Road in St. Anthony MN.

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by golfgal

More MN mall history, I am pretty sure the the Miracle Mall in Rochester was the first "mall" but it is all outdoors-has anyone else heard that?

Part of the confusion is related to "Mall" changing meaning at some point. I believe the current context tends to make indoor implicit where that was not true back in the day. I have head Southdale referred to as the first indoor shopping mall, and the first mall. I think the former is correct, the latter is questionable. Not sure where this apache plaza mentioned by another poster in St. Anthony fits into the picture.

[hudson2009]

i shop quite a bit and here are MY personal rankings
1 - Rosedale (
2 - MOA
3 - Southdale
i luv Rosedale bcos they have the Marshall Fields converted to Macys here which is very different from the MOA Macys - you dont get all brands in the MOA Macys)
Herbergers is also in the mall and they have recently added my fave JCREW here too!
i go shopping and then go to my fave restaurant BigBowl which is in the mall!

I go to the MOA only if i want to go to Nordstrom, bloomingdales, Guess or the Apple stores!

[uptown_urbanist]

I agree with Clifford63 that the terminology was confusing; while Southdale was the first indoor shopping mall, it was definitely not the first mall. (Gruen himself had earlier designed an outdoor mall in Detroit) I think once you get into the question of outdoor malls it quickly gets more complicated, as definitions get more and more subjective. I believe Apache Plaza opened in 1961, making it the second indoor mall in the country. It was sad to see Apache Plaza go - I hope Southdale manages to survive without being destroyed too much in any future "updates."

[Slig]

The only threat to Southdale is some yuppy buying it so they can demolish it and build a mcmansion.

[asitshouldbe]

I don't care for the layout of Southdale. The only time we head over to that area is to go to the Cheesecake Factory.

[chilaili]

Originally Posted by Slig

I've seen a couple movies at the Southdale movie theater and it's a pretty impressive theater, I think both times I went it was a Friday night and we were basically the only ones at the movie. Both movies were box-office hits so I'm guessing that theater isn't doing too well.

That's a shame. I used to like that cinema a lot, especially if the movie was on upstairs and across the little "gangway". I saw a lot of good stuff there. It's one thing I missed about the TC - it has some really cool places to go see movies.

[Norsky1]

Originally Posted by Slig

The only threat to Southdale is some yuppy buying it so they can demolish it and build a mcmansion.

Or some old lady driving and crashing into it. Be careful of the rich old ladies that drive up and down France, they can't see you Literally... LOL