A Visit to West Acres Mall (ND)
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- Опубліковано 2 тра 2024
- West Acres Mall is an anomaly in this "retail bloodbath" that the legacy media loves saying. It is doing quite well for itself, bringing in crowds, while still maintaining a pleasant mall interior.
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The brightly painted bison @9:28 is part of a collection/herd that reside at various locations in the Fargo-Moorhead area. They were created for "Herd About The Prairie: A Virtual Art Stampede" in 2005. Each has a name and was painted by different artists. Finding them around the area is an excursion in itself.
I remember the "Herd about the prairie" bison, my uncle almost bought one
They made around 40 but I think only maybe half of them were around Fargo/Moorhead some were taken by businesses and donors and kept privately
@@bbiscuit3000 I know, my parents and I actually found them all at the beginning
The best part of Friday! The fountain was incredible!
Lol - I have to admit I didn't think the fountain was even still there. I guess I walk by it and don't even notice it anymore.
That's not even kind of busy. Come back on a Saturday or Sunday when all of the out of towers come, you'll actually understand busy mall.
During a weekend when there is a bison home game, it's a total zoo.
It's not very often I'm proud to be from Fargo, but every once and a while I remember I love this place.
I was born and raised in Fargo and remember when West Acres was all by itself except for Hornbachers. That area is all filled up with people and places. Fun memories of the mall when we were kids.
You should have gone to the lower level! The sports card store is huge. There's also some other small shops plus you get to see a glimpse of what the mall looks like in its early days as much of that back hallway remains intact from when the mall originally opened.
do you live near the area? (i recognize you from twitter of all places LMAO)
Yeah I got a zoids liger from that store
Holy I actually follow you on twitter also lol
You could always stay at Brewhalla! The local brewery, Drekker, added on a minimall to their brewery, right next to downtown Fargo. Its like $200 a night at their hotel, you have access to free beer in your room, and all of the restaurants and shops downstairs are owned locally! They have a steakhouse, burgers, pizza, oysters, coffee, ramen, and a couple of sweets shops. One specializes in pastries, the other, dairy. In fact, the Cow's and Co creamery and daury farm is two hours northwest of here, and you can just taste the freshness!
nicely done Fargo. looks like a decent size mall for a city that size. well lit nice decor & one of the nicest fountains i've seen in any mall.
It's the original fountain, but it's not in its original place. When they did the massive remodel in the 2000s, it moved down to the JCPenney corridor. I reside in this city and I met this mall at least once every few weeks.
@@RetroPC i just wish more malls had fountains like this one
Almost 300k in the metro. It’s weird there aren’t more malls.
Our fountain has a fun history, and fun fact: every coin tossed into the Fountain of Abundance goes right back into the community!
@@delvictor7570 eh? Shouldn't that be 200k?
Love your video man! I showed this to my girlfriend and she loved it so much, thanks for the awesome video of such an awesome busy place! :)
I've lived in Fargo for almost 20 years! I think it's been about 7 years since the last time I set foot inside the Mall... It's nice to see how much it's changed since the last time I felt the need to shop there!
We are constantly bringing new things to West Acres! We hope you get a chance to visit us soon!
Nice to see a lively mall. This mall looks very nice and that BestBuy entrance is pretty interesting. Cool mall
Best Buy lived across the street from this mall for decades until just a few years ago! They took over the old Sears anchor.
Wow it’s nice to see a mall that’s doing well! That foundation is really beautiful.
Glad to see the mall is doing well. Didn't recognize by name at first but I saw the thing on the left in the beginning and realized something. Oh shit, this is the mall with the Roger Maris Hall of Fame in it. Forgive me DG I'm a sports nerd and Maris for those who don't know was a legendary baseball player who grew up in ND. Good video man.
This is so fun! We are very proud to be home to the Roger Maris Museum! There is a lot of fun history here at West Acres, and many people visit us to see this museum!
deLendrecie's is pronounced de Lendre c's where the Lendre is pronounced laundra as in laundry. It is an extremely historic business and its original store in downtown Fargo is a historic landmark and the building is still named after it.
Fargo is named for the same guy Wells Fargo bank is half named after, William Fargo. He served some time as a director of the Northern Pacific railroad, the railroad that serviced the city. His name has certainly lent itself well to a delightful number of puns.
When West Acres was new, it was often called "Wasted Acres" as a pejorative for being located in the middle of nowhere. Luckily the gamble paid off. It's so embedded into the built-up part of the city that I had grown up assuming that it was always in the middle of town from the beginning.
Nice video! I lived in Fargo for 29 yrs. Moved to TN 20 yrs ago. West Acres was a great hangout in the 80's & 90's. Also, Wahpeton is pronounced "Wop-uh-ton."
Kudos to you sir, for doing actual research on these malls. Most would not bother, but I find it makes these videos actually interesting rather than just curiosities. Nicely done!
This is so amazing! 😊 Thank you so much for visiting West Acres and making this wonderful video! We would love for you to join us again in the spring of 2025. We have some exciting things coming, like Von Maur opening up on the west side of our mall! ❤
Well done on this video!! There is still hope in malls. Thank you for showcasing a lively mall instead of only your typical dead or dying malls. It’s given me a sense of hope that malls still can be revitalized and reinvented to stay alive. Some areas were overbuilt with malls and the competition is fierce. It’s like survival to the fittest. Anyway, thank you for your work on documenting these once cherished places to gather, hang out and enjoy spending our hard earned money. Really appreciate your work. 👍
Bet most of the people in the mall are from Manitoba, Canada
West Acres survives because its near 2 interstates and because the other malls died so it actually is built up the right amount
Moorhead center mall has since been torn town to make way for mixed retail, apartment housing and the new library. It was dying anyhow.
What's funny is they want a downtown like downtown Fargo. Prior to the 70's, Moorhead had a downtown like Fargo. They forced everyone to move, and hit the stragglers with eminent domain, tore down their entire downtown, and put Moorhead Center in its place. They then tried inviting all the people they kicked out back to the mall. It's no surprise it's been empty since day one.
Love seeing this! I grew up going to West Acres and remember before they remodeled the main entrance. It didn't look much different than the other entrances, and was where the clinic was.
The store was was pronounced "De-LAWN-dra-sees."
Some of the recipe tiles in the food court were donated by my family.
Spent many a summer holiday in Fargo with my parents.....we would drive there from Winnipeg. Would take us 4 hours heading straight south.
Loved the Roger Maris museum, and I believe there was a comic shop in the basement!
We would stay at The Kelly Inn....had an outdoor pool!
Thanks for this!
This is so fun to read! We love hearing your stories. Fun fact: there is a JWW Sports Cards and Gaming store in the lower level that you should check out!
Saying the cost if living here is dirt cheap is so far from the truth. Fargo is becoming a very expensive place to live
I'm glad you followed through and filmed this video. Not only did I like it, but it's nice to see a mall you really liked too.
It nearly brought tears to my eyes, as my gf and I are from Bismarck, and used to go to Fargo (and West Acres) at least twice a year when times were better. We haven't done so in at least 6 years due to cost of medical and car repair expenses, but man we miss those trips! I'm at the age where I'm afraid the nostalgia is getting to me. :-)
Love this mall and I live real close to it! Hope it's around for a long time! ❤ great video, love the aesthetic and research work on the history.
Nice choice for the intro jam.
I moved to the Red River Valley from Minot about 10 years ago, and I am very proud to call Fargo my hometown. Fargo is an awesome city to live in.
We love Fargo and our community so much!
1st. I knew this would be a live mall with all the cars in the parking lot.
This is my home mall! I love our mall. It has a super regional draw that is only getting bigger as other malls in the region continue to languish. Plus, the Iowa department chain Von Maur is filling the last "empty" anchor area. Construction is well underway as of April 2024.
We are so excited to welcome Von Maur in 2025! They will be a great addition to our community!
8:09 Gah! You walked right by the lower level! I was dying to see what was still down there. There used to be a comic book shop, among other things. I'm in Bismarck, and haven't been able to get to Fargo in 5 years or so, but yeah, West Acres was always a booming place to be, and we'd go there every time we could. Things were constantly changing there, which kept each visit interesting. For instance, I did not know that Best Buy had moved into the mall proper. I used to have to trek across the lot. Also that amazing fireplace is new. The owners are making an effort and spending the money to keep the place interesting. Really nice video.
There's a sports (& various other) card shop downstairs. It has a few comics in slabs but not many by any means. Lots of cards though for card collectors. Fargo has two comic book stores though, Comic Junction on South University & Paradox Comics and Cards which is downtown on Roberts St., but is moving to the old Mexican Village location on Main Ave, still downtown.
We are constantly trying to bring new things into our space! Being locally owned and operated helps us listen to and evolve with our community. We hope you visit us soon, as we have some exciting new things coming, like Von Maur in 2025!
I remember that's been there forever. I used to go to The Pitates Den above it. Miss that arcade
Wow, what a gorgeous mall. In Fargo of all places. Amazing!
This is so sweet! Thank you!!
Hopefully you stopped off and saw the woodchipper. 😄. Fargo is a really great place to live. Moved from Lincoln, NE to there in 2019 and lived there 4 years. We now moved on up to Grand Forks. Always loved West Acres.....great food court. Lots of good food.
I travel for work and see a lot of malls, and it always surprises me how nearly all of them are such depressing places. Mostly empty, most outlets closed, the few places open are usually going out of business. West Acres has always been thriving since I moved here in 1997 and I just never realized that it's the rare case, not the other way around. Just take a look at Moorhead Center Mall on the other side of the river. That place is a total bummer. I actually don't know if it's even still standing!
Currently being demolished in phases for redevelopment.
Another great entertaining, enjoyable and informative video, Keep em Rolling!
FOR REAL THOOO!!!!!!
Very Wonderful Video!!!!!! I LOVE THE FOUNTAIN!!!! A Very Highly Favorite and Like!!!! Corey Coyle
I was probably at work when you visited. 🤣Senior assistant manager of that Spencer's.
Great video. I live in Fargo and you are right the West Acres Mall is truly a great indoor space and is always busy. Sorry if someone pointed it out to you already, but you seemed to have missed one of the best things in the mall: the Roger Maris Museum. You walked past it as you entered and left the mall. Tons of memorabilia from his MLB career and his historic *61 homer season.
It's called Fargo after William Fargo who was the founder of Wells Fargo and the head of the Northern Pacific Railroad at the time.
The Roger Maris Museum is a true gem; we are very proud to have it within our mall!
I should say I'm originally from that area, still live close. You're right, the cost of living is so cheap. I moved away for a while, couldn't wait to move back. Medora, Theodore Roosevelt national park is amazing and one of my favorite places in the world. Hotels will be expensive because of this.
And it's Whap we ton, which isn't what you would think!
I'm so happy you enjoyed west acres, they really have done a nice job. Your history about the mall is spot on!
I'm from Bismarck, such a beautiful mall. I'll have to go again next time we're in Fargo, haven't been in there in years.
I live in fargo and growing up i would go quite often. Its quite the staple of Fargo.
That is a pretty interesting mall layout. This mall has a lot of character, especially in the JCPenney court.
I don't get to the mall that much since post-Covid but nice to see it's still doing well. Back when Sears was still a thing I got there fairly often. And I've had a lot of good times meeting friends for lunch there over the years.
Grew up here in the FM, lived in a lot of cities and states. This is the ONLY 'mall in America' where it's still alive and vibrant. We went to this mall in 72, last time in 2011 and that will be the last time I see my home town till I come back in another life. Till then FM...
I'm almost afraid to ask why you can't come back?
Lovely mall!
I’m feeling Doomie found his new home… 🎉🎉🎉
Nice video 😊
Love the groovy music
I like the fountain.
Beautiful mall. Very nice food court too.
For years I ate there, many times a week. Nice play area for the children too.
Great prices at the food court. They had subway, DQ as well.. also places that serve Cajun food etc.
Reminds me of a mall near where I used to live in Orem, Utah. It’s called University Place (formerly University Mall). It’s got very similar aesthetics.
I haven’t been in that mall in a very long time BUT it was the spot to go back in the day. Down by that water fountain there was an arcade and it was a good time. Many hours playing Mortal Kombat, Street fighter and TNMNT … good times
This is so fun! 😊 Thank you for sharing! We love hearing about all the things you love at West Acres.
We pronounce it: De Lawn dru sees
Hope that helps.
Thanks for the video about our largest mall!
It's call Fargo because you have to go far out of your way to get there! LOL. Perhaps it's someone's name. Very nice well-kept mall. Looks healthy to me.
I just ate at that Crave in this mall just a few days ago. That place is awesome.
You're right, this mall is nearly perfect. I also like the embroidered lantern style decorations with the flowers on top. Also the fountain is pretty nice. I liked seeing people in the parking lot. That's a clear sign that a mall is doing more than well. This mall overall for me is a decent one.😊💚🎹🧵🪡🧶⛲🌸💮🌺🌼
The fireplace and the fountain are actually very nice. It is like they breathe life into the space. I am actually surprised you found lodging in Wahpeton (Whop-a-ton).
I should mention the Roger Maris museum near the beginning. I remember a time when some old-timers would talk about when they played Legion baseball with him. Maris was well-respected by the people who knew him.
The mall is always packed even during school season
So much crime in such a small area puts you at the vicinity of the problems a lot the red river valley is kinda outgrowing it’s self in entertainment transportation services etc also those fire places are very functional it’s very nice coming in from the cold
This is my home! I don't go to the mall all that often, but my primary care doc is there lol
Wahpeton is pronounced like "water". Thanks for the video!
Wow! I saw customers instead of a few mall walkers. This place looked great, what a nice fountain, and the food court being huge and airey, with a giant fire place. This place looked nice and was busy, did you hit your head on something? Great video!
Herberger's was a chain similar to Dayton's and Macy's.. what was unique about it , you could walk in and start a Charge Account. I live in Bismarck and we have the Kirkwood Mall. I've been shopping there since 1973. It's nothing like the 70s thru the 90s. They changed the Carpeted floors for Tile floors in the 2000s. Makes it harder to walk as you get older.
Since young people don't work jobs like they did last century, young people traffic is way down.
Fargo was named for a Director of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
Proud to say im from this state. Never heard someone pronounce Wahpeton (wuh-peh-tn) that way lol
Keep em Rolling, Thanks!
Theyre building some apartment in that mall actually, its being constructed. I worked there two years ago.
My parents are mall walkers at this mall now. Grew up chucking pennies into the fountain before they moved it. My favorite highschool girlfriend and I hung out here. Wife bought our first kitty here when we were college students. Lots of memories.
Deh-LAWN-dreh-sees
WAW-peh-ton. Pretty sure that last one is stolen from native americans.
No shade just sharing pronounciation !
Grand Forks needs to take notes on how a mall should be ran. It's completely night and day when you compare the two! You don't even have to go the West Acres Mall to shop, you can meet up with friends and family and have lunch or go on a lunch date with your spouse and just sit around and visit.
Joe's Cajun Cafe is good (at least in my opinion) if you ever drop by West Acres again. Crave too though it's a bit more expensive.
These are all great recommendations!
Its interesting to me that you thought this was almost too busy to film.. This mall gets way busier! West Acres is a good mall, and has only gotten better, especially in the last few years. Fantastic food court with the best ramen place in town (which is high praise, Fargo has great restaurants all around), lots of sitting areas, vending machines that dispense local art, and a generally clean and comfortable environment. You didn't show it but there is even a few shops downstairs, including a card shop that holds events for things like Pokémon and Smash Brothers. Pokemon Go is also huge at this mall as the fountain is a gym, which I think brings people in also. Definitely a great place just to hang out and get out of the cold in the winter! Most people come in from the food court entrance, so having the fireplace right there really does make for a nice place to warm up real quick before shopping. The only real issue I think is the mall is showing it's age in some places, and the ac doesn't always work well so some stores have to use portable ac units which don't help much. Something I hope they fix in the future. Anyway, you reading this, if you're ever in fargo and love malls west acres probably is the best one until you go out to the twin cities in Minnesota and even then I'd rather go to West Acres than brave the MOA
The kirkwood mall in Bismarck North Dakota is still doing well also.
De-lawn-dra-cees. Good attempt though . Live that you covered what the farmers used to call Wasted Acres
Those stairs @8:10 (next to US Bank) once upon a time led down to The Pirates Den arcade. I spent many many quarters there when I was a "yoot". And yes, place names are hard if you're not from the local area. DeLendrecie’s is dee-Lahn-drah-cees. Wahpeton is wop-ah-ton. Thanks for visiting!
Now it leads to a sports and card shop, Seamstress, watch maintenance guy
i swear every time i go to west acres the entire population of nd is there
Love this mall! I had a chance to visit when I was in Fargo last year for the marathon. It’s really not that far from downtown 😅
Did you check out the cool barcade they have in Fargo?
0:02 nice turn there buddy
According to Wikipedia there were plans for an At Home store on the fmr Herburger's. But Von Maur is even better.
Officially it was just announced (May 25th) that Von Maur is coming to West Acres.
I’m from Bismarck and Kirkwood is also a very busy mall
Its really all a numbers game. The more malls you have in an area the more likely there will be dying malls. Retailers choose to consolidate stores at malls that they perceive to be more successful. The malls that lose retailers due to regional consolidation lose foot traffic because there is less reason to go there. So although that leaves some malls to thrive now I believe eventually all malls will have to redevelop in order to stay relevant. If people keep losing stores at their local malls they will be less likely to shop at those retailers because they simply won't be exposed to them. Eventually more and more retailers will go bankrupt if they aren't able to reach the attention of the consumer.
nice lively mall
You missed the lower level/basement with a really cool card shop at 8:10 . Small area but a cool Easter egg.
I live in Fargo. I visit the mall often.
I have no idea what this channel is or why UA-cam recommended it to me, but I work at one of the local stores here...
Lululemon is a popular store and it's Canadian. Finally us Canadians get to talk about a successful/popular Canadian business. There's also Garage, but I don't know if there are stores in the U.S. I wouldn't be surprised if there are. Also, Doomie it's pronounced Lulu🍋. You're welcome.
Garage DEFINITELY has stores in the US. I didn't realize they were Canadian, myself. Same with myself weirdly not realizing Lululemon was Canadian, myself.
For this video I ate some artificial flavoured chicken ramen noodle soup with some garlic and parmesan chips. For dessert I ate some strawberry and vanilla sponge cake with strawberry/vanilla frosting. This cake was store bought, but imported I think. I really love imported products. They're always better I find. Oh my goodness, I haven't eaten cake in eons. I also had some blueberry tea.🍜🧄🧀🍰🍓☕🫖
I drank a bottle of Mountain Dew. 🙂
Its craxy I'm from North Dakota I live right in between Grand Forks and Fargo and its crazy to see how much West acres is thriving and the Columbia Mall is declining. I wish whoever owned West acres would buy Columbia mall and revamp.. make it a West acres parody.
Grandin?
The Columbia Mall in grand forks is still open, but on deaths door.
Very sad to hear. I grew up with that mall.
They did post on their website that von maur is actually opening there
5:16 Radiohead - No Surprises
😄
Just a correction on how to pronounce Wahpeton: pronounce it like the whopper from Burger King.
(Whop-er-ton) or (Whop-eh-ton) are both accepted pronunciations.
Malls are doing just fine. My local mall is constructing a $200 million addition because they are running out of space. This includes a new anchor.
Where is that? There’s 2 malls by me, one is doing well and the other is dead,
@@melbrown6019 Rosedale, Roseville MN
I wish but I heard about the Express bankruptcy recently they are reducing their stores by 20% so more bad news.
I hate to nitpick, but Fargo had a population of almost 60,000 and the FM area had almost 130,00 when West Akers opened, not exactly a "town".
I get it's not exactly a massive population but its a little annoying to see it always portrayed as such.
It's pronounced D-lawn-dress-ease. Emphasis goes on the second syllable.
i travel 3hrs once or twice a year 2 shopp here
We are so happy you chose to shop with us! Thank you!!
Doomie Grunt, can you please visit the Dover Mall in Delaware?
I never heard of this mall and I've never seen it on Doomie's channel. I also don't think I've ever seen it on other mall/dead mall channels.😊Would be nice to see someone cover it.
DeLendrecies😂
Do Hulen Mall fort worth texas
Doomie Grunt, Fargo is eating Grand Forks lunch in every way. Fargo has a lot of disposable income hence the reason why their mall thrives.
You shouldve gone to aberdeem sd and looked up the super city mall. It’s old as dirt
It's pronounced Wha-pet-ton.
'
It's pronounced Dee laundry sees. 😊