A Visit to Columbia Mall (ND)
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2024
- Columbia Mall is not doing too hot, nor does it look all that great. In more ways than one. However, Scheels has helped this mall borrow some time. We'll see if it works out.
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After Royal Forks left that Mall it was all downhill from there
At 1:13 a man tries to get out a door and it is locked and he has to move over. Then, when Doomie is leaving at 11:16 he tries to get out the SAME locked door and has to move over. Haha, amusing.
LOL!
Glad you got out of there without a POTHOLE swallowing your car.
Back in the 80’s there was a giant water fountain in the middle along with a big arcade on one end. Best spot was Godfather’s pizza and the record store down by target. 😊
I loved that fountain. Orange tiles, and the things the water came out of looked like three humongous dandelions gone to seed!!! It smelled like chlorine. And it was so noisy. Classic ‘70s mall fountain.
Man, I used to go here all the time in the 2000's and early 2010's. There used to be so many people all the time and I remember the arcade (which seems to have been replaced by the Men's Warehouse after a couple other stores), playplace (replaced by the Coca-cola vending machine), and RadioShack and spending a lot of time there (and the pet store of course). It's so weird seeing the place so empty and quiet.
Remember that Winnipeg alone has a larger population than all of North Dakota, and that Grand Forks at the time was a bit of a “weekend destination” for people from Winnipeg and the surrounding area.
In the late 2000s and early 2010s the Canadian dollar was close to par, and Grand Forks was the de facto “US shopping city” for people from Manitoba for many years. Now it is Fargo. It’s only an extra hour’s drive from Winnipeg, and has a far larger selection of stores to chose from.
For someone growing up in a small town a trip to Columbia mall was something to look forward to and the mall was always busy. Sears, Target, and the toy store were the highlights of the trip. I hadn't realized the place was so quiet these days. We still live somewhat close to Grand Forks and our malls here are still busy despite losing many of their anchor stores like Sears. I should stop in next time I'm passing by, just for the memories.
Growing up the mall was so fun. Kb toys , Sam goody , Wendy’s by the old target entrance and so much more. nostalgic memories of what once was.
What a perfect day to add footage of cats in this video. I spent a good amount of time today with my cat Ziploc. She was growling but later on she was also happy/purring. She's always like this lately. She always used to be only on the bright side and purring but now that she's older it makes sense that she wants to be left alone more often.😾😽😺💗💖
I love the food court at this mall. It’s beautiful.
Yep, nice food court, but no one selling food!
I agree the mall is blah and dark. There are many, many vacancies. I remember there used to be a pet store in every mall. That was an interesting surprise! It may be able to get converted to a mixed use center.
Yes Mel it sure was an interesting surprise. I wasn't expecting that either.😊😻❣
When I was a kid this mall was super popular and always packed. Nowadays it feels like a ghost town. I still swing by for pretzels every once in a while though.
Also, pronunciation, DeMers Ave is pronounced with the emphasis on the 2nd syllable, like "d''MURZ"
Same here, we lived about 90 miles away and Grand Forks was the nearest shopping center where you could get more than the basics. And Columbia mall was always on the list of places to go.
Man did we crush plates back at the Royal Fork after football games. 😅 Great memories. Thanks for the nostalgia trip!
I live in Forks. This place is an absolute ghost town on weekdays. A little better on the weekend though. But 70% of the shops that open up end up closing after a few months. Food, book/puzzle shops, clothing boutiques, you name it. None of them can seem to make it work.
Go there on a Wednesday morning at 10am and literally the only people in the whole place (besides the employees) are mall working senior citizens lol
A lot of the problem is that rent there is really high.
AAAAAWWWW, those kittens are oh so cute. I love pets.😊😻😽😼💛🧡
In memorium to Dru Sjodin, the Grand Forks woman who was abducted from the Columbia Mall parking lot on November 22, 2003. Her disappearance and murder garnered great media coverage throughout the United States and prompted the creation of the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Registry.
She was parked in the Penney's parking lot. I know roughly where. I never parked in that lot for years, but have recently started again since the only store I frequent is Penney's, but stay far away from where she was abducted. I worked with her aunt, who took a long leave of absence to help in the search for her. RIP Dru :(
With such the cold harsh winter weather Grand Forks gets you would think their mall would be doing better.
Yeah, it's sad this one is dying. I think West Acres Mall in Fargo, is doing a little better occupancy wise. Doomie also visited there on his Minnesota/Iowa/Dakotas trip. But as he has a lot of a backlog of malls he hasn't yet uploaded a video for yet(don't forget the backlog includes previous trips), who knows when he'll get around to his West Acres footage. I hope he does, at some point. From looking at West Acres' website, it seems to be thriving a lot more today vs. Columbia Mall. Too bad Columbia getting Scheels to open, hasn't boosted mall occupancy there.
@@BoratWanksta I think the other 3 malls in North Dakota are doing well. The ones in Bismark, Minot and as you said Fargo. It could jsut come down to poor management My local mall has been in decline since covid and I really wish it would get new ownership.
It's wierd seeing all these malls empty, when I was a kid they were always full of ppl, now they're ghost towns. Kinda sad to see.
So much of my childhood was spent there, late 90s, early 2000s. So many good memories. I’m gonna guess the pet store has the record for being there the longest.
Being a 90s-2000 kid/adult this mall was the best. Does anybody remember circus world.. KB Toys and FYE??
Men's wearhouse is where circus world arcade was
As kid I bought a PlayStation at kb toys
@@jody9766 my first PlayStation was also from KB Toys and my first furby and gigapet.
There was an arcade where men's wear house is now, I remember playing DDR there when we visited around 2013 I believe.
Back in the 80's and 90's, this was a pretty nice mall. Spent a lot of time there as a kid. It was always busy. In the early 80's my aunt worked at a clothing store as she was going to UND. Sad to see it now.
As a 90s kid, this was the place to be! It was always busy with families. I have so many great memories being here with my family growing up! It's nothing but a ghost town now and the only thing that's keeping it alive is JCPenny and Sheilds.
not a bad mall i do kind of like it. the stone pillars with the matching fireplace in the food court area are a real nice touch but the carpet has to go.
Yes, I agree. I really am not crazy about the carpeting.
It used to have terrazzo tile floors. Grayish white throughout, with dark gray terrazzo along the perimeters in every wing.
Opened in 1978, I was wild to go there and see it, sitting in the middle of planted fields. Almost everything nearby now was built because the mall was there, and now the mall is almost dead. I go to Penney's through the Penney's entrance and leave again through the Penney's exit. Sometimes, I go down to the pet store to look at the kitties and maybe Bath and Bodyworks if I have a coupon and need hand soap. I go to Scheels at Christmas to pick up presents for other people, but rarely go there otherwise.
The Columbia is in a sorry state. When target left it kinda started to go downhill. GK development also jacked the costs for many businesses after purchasing the mall causing quite a few to shutdown. There also was a movie theater that was located where the olive garden is today. Where that row of vending machines is just as you leave scheels was a Wendy's that was there many years.
7:59 spent a good majority of my high school years working at Deb. Crazy to see it years later
The mall in my city is on life support, they don't lock the doors to old business, I walked around in a rudy Tuesday's and a few other shops there
ND resident here, favorite places to go to in there is the pet store, Spencer's, and Hot Topics, they used to have a great toy store and arcade center but unfortunately they went out of business...pity!
I live in Forks and this mall is wildly different than it used to be. It's a lot more like a local market nowadays.
Pretty sure that pretzel stand has kept it alflaot all these years. Maybe hot-topic as well.
Agree with the dreary look… grey carpet ☹️ a lot of inline vacancies to fill… and I’m not a fan of very little natural daylight.. does the mall have a large catchment area ?… totally agree with entertainment options being included.. apart from a few shops , there’s not alot to entice customers from far..
Not a bad small town mall. Scheels is a place that would get a lot of my money. I wish they would put a store near me in Houston.
out of all the malls JC penny is fighting to the death
Crazy to see it dying like that. Used to travel down from Winnipeg to shop several times a year in the 90’s and early 2000’s. With the cost of everything going up and the terrible exchange rate it’s just not worth it anymore.
I've been in a lot of those stores
Havent heard of this one. Looks like a Hull mall that isn't as copy paste and disgusting.
Id love to sell my 3d prints there! :) a
Im an ND native!
Buckle store?! Wow!
Buckle moved to a spot next to Target down the street. As did Boot Barn.
Again another great video the mall definitely needs a facelift. The interior design is horrible.
Yes it's definitely far from my favourite. I also think the exterior is just ok, but with that being said, New Bern Mall's exterior/entrance is way nicer than this one. A bit off topic but still sort of related.
This is incredibly sad..the last time I went there was in 2018, and while it wasn't that great, it looked better than this with less shuttered stores. I live close to the US border and we used to come here all the time when I was growing up, the shopping was awesome back then. I bet the issues are stemming from the fact that malls in general are dying, people are shifting to online shopping, and, of course, the pandemic.
Doomie, what's your favorite mall restaurant?
All malls are failing. But if there’s anything special about this one, it’s that it’s out of the way.
If you’re going on us 2, it’s gonna take you at least an hour to get to the mall, shop, and come back. If you’re trying to make good time on your trip, you won’t. And if you’re on the interstate, it’s a little closer, but you might as well just stop at Fargo.
It looks like the backrooms now
I'm no businessman, but mall space has always been notoriously expensive. Why don't mall owners drop the rent by 50%, at least for the first year's lease? And have it go up to full price over the course of 3 to 5 years? That might mean dropping it for the stores already there to be fair, but you'd make up for it in having a lot more tenants. Got to be better than all this dead space generating zero income. In fact, all that dead space is eating income, just in maintenance costs and taxes. Somebody's got to start thinking outside the box. If not my idea, then I'm sure there are others.
It seems to be too big for the area
People would travel 100+ miles from the northeastern quadrant of the state to shop here.
Try the other mall next time :) it’s way more lively in there grand cities mall has a lot more local businesses to offer
Mall rat here. Nobody showed up until November or December. Businesses probably tired of having a store and making rent until the Christmas season.
Add Royal Fork omg.
Where is the kids zoon ?
The Columbia Mall and Grand Forks will always struggle until they grow in population. There is not enough disposable income to support all the businesses in town. Also Grand Forks lack a quality and service ethic. Many of the eating places serve subpar food and provide poor service. Its as if the community is discouraging growth..Grand Forks could easily be a Ghost Town in the next 20 years at the rate they are going.
1st. I see a GNC. I thought they all closed? You don't see pet stores in malls much anymore.
First
Thirty first
Does anyone happen to have any photos or videos of the Columbia Mall in the 2000s. Just trying to refresh my memory on what all stores where their..
I'm really not crazy about this mall, but I also don't hate it. I wish the carpeting was changed. I think that would seriously make a big difference. Also a really huge thing that saves this mall and makes me absolutely love part of it would be the food court. I also like that fireplace. This is one of the nicest food courts I've seen.😊🙂🤎
It is nice looking, but it needs to have places that actually sell food! 😆