Thoughts about Miller Hill Mall (Duluth, Maplewood: garden, cars, stone)

[demtion35]

Originally Posted by ttaleg

mall???,, even talking about a mall, i feel lame. having to live in a place where i have to go to the mall is part of why duluth sucks. and yea , as far as malls go, its 3rd rate.

ttaleg, Why do you feel like you "have to go to the mall"?

[duluthian2008]

The Miller Hill Mall has slowly been renovating the front exterior. First with Barnes and Noble, then the street scape, then Ulta, and now the Great American space. I too hope a major renovation isn't far down the road!

[nateduluthnative]

Yes, the individual stores have been doing new fronts for quite a while now. Besides Coldwater Creek, the other two storefronts are lame and the AT&T store belongs inside the mall. But I wish the mall entrances would get an upgrade and a new logo. All the major malls in the Cities and elsewhere got a major renovation in the 2000's but Duluth's didn't. Big surprise.

[duluthian2008]

There actual is a very nice new mall entrance by Coldwater Creek. That is the model for all the future ones. With the major renovation of the former Great American Space it wouldn't surprise me at all of the mall choose to remodel that main entrance too with all the construction going on with the space next to it.

[duluthian2008]

Went through the mall today. Noticed that Old Navy is almost finished with their remodel. It's kind of neat to see their two prototypes next to each other right now, I still kind of prefer the exterior of the old one.

Lost Lake Gifts has moved... again! It is now located in the former space of Kay Jewelers old location. Thus meaning the space next to Finish Line is available... again.

The mall has interdouced a lot of new marketing into the mall. Seems like there are banners everywhere and little walkway signs too!

Looks like Great American has completely moved out! Now let's hope they gut the place and renovate it!

Has anyone ever thought that maybe, just maybe, DSW might move from their current location into the old part of Old Navy? It's more of the size of the current prototypes. Just a thought.

[pedro161]

Saw Old Navy put up a new sign in back of the mall aslo the Direct TV is in the old verison space. Anyone know what is happening to the space next to that? It's been a few things and looks like its becoming something new.

[jasper1372]

Originally Posted by duluthian2008

The Miller Hill Mall has slowly been renovating the front exterior. First with Barnes and Noble, then the street scape, then Ulta, and now the Great American space. I too hope a major renovation isn't far down the road!

I went to the Miller Mall for the first time in 6 months with my wife a few weeks ago and walking in from the parking lot to the main entrance I was apalled at the condition of what I was seeing. I looked like a Mall that needed some serious attention and sprucing up. It was built in the 70's (although I didn't live here than) and it just looked like it was for the most part (exterior) it was still living in the 70's. Inside it was better....but still some areas needed serious updating.

Oh....and the main sign out front on the Miller Trunk side.....that thing should have been torn down/replaced about 20 years ago. It's certainly doesn't give you much hope that what's inside will be very nice. It kind of reminded me of the condition of a lot of the cars around here....dirty, rusty and in serious need of upgrading.

I guess we pretty much live at the end of the line and don't get nearly as much attention as Malls in more prosperious places....but all in all, major parts of it still it seemed pertty bad to me.

[tvdxer]

Originally Posted by nateduluthnative

I hope Chipotle and Panera go in there! Come on Miller Hill Mall, no more crappy temporary places, Duluth needs more quality restaurant chains!

Duluth does not need ANY more restaurant chains. It needs quality local places. I can't stand it when people go to the Olive Garden when there is Va Bene or the Elbo Room or Applebee's when there are many local American restaurants.

[pedro161]

I'm with nateduluthnative, bring on Chipotle, TGIF, Red Robin! Local places are great and there are many but we can always use more! :-) I would eat at more of the local places if they tasted as good as places like the olive garden but Va Bene and Elbo room are not as good in my book.

[Duluth07]

I've never cared for the mall in Duluth - the only memories I have are that of a dark shopping center with no natural light coming in, kind of a backwoods feel rather than a 'this is where things happen' feel, no pedestrian walkways and the implication that you better have a car if you plan on spending time in that area - good luck walking from the mall to Target or grocery stores in January.

I look back on what the plans were before the mall was built here - imagine instead of the 'mall', Duluth would have given the proper funeral for the dilapidated pieces of junk downtown (rather than Ringsred trying to save every tacky beer hall) and instead Duluth could have had something similar to Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. With that, downtown could have had real residential potential rather than the best views taken up by Section 8 housing (Tri Towers, Gateway, etc) or shelters/halfway houses. Whoever did the planning here in the 60's-70's really didn't think. The city is as strong as it's core, and the core here looks pretty bad - I'm not saying it's all bad, because there has been a healthy amount of work put into the downtown. But the problem with Duluth right now is, those with the money have left, and while newer, renovated buildings look better than, say, the Kozy Bar, we have nobody to move in them. The city now has so many people who are here for one single reason: they have no money to get out. It only gets more expensive as you head towards the larger cities. If you are hardly staying afloat here, you won't be able to afford Minneapolis/Chicago/Denver rents. And that is why the stores here look like stores you see in places like Oklahoma, east Texas or Tennessee - nobody has any money here. You'll never see a Trader Joe's or a (real) Whole Foods or Lifetime Fitness- the population that could afford those places got out of here 5-10 years ago, and what's left can hardly afford a bus pass to get to the mall!