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Burnsville Center is located in
Burnsville, Minnesota Burnsville () is a city south of downtown Minneapolis in Dakota County, Minnesota. The city lies on a bluff overlooking the south bank of the Minnesota River upstream from its confluence with the Mississippi River. Burnsville and nearby subu ...
. It is one of the larger enclosed malls in Minnesota with 100 stores on 3 floors and approximately . The mall opened in 1977 with three anchor stores,
Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...
(closed in 2017),
Dayton's Dayton's was an American department store chain founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1902 by George Draper Dayton. It operated several local high end department stores throughout Minnesota and the Upper Midwest for almost 100 years. Although it ...
(became
Marshall Fields Marshall Field & Company (commonly known as Marshall Field's) was an upscale department store in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in the 19th century, it grew to become a large chain before Macy's, Inc acquired it in 2005. Its eponymous founder, Mar ...
in 2001, now
Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
since 2006), and Powers Dry Goods (became Donaldson's in 1985,
Carson Pirie Scott Carson Pirie Scott & Co. (also known as Carson's) is an American department store that was founded in 1854, which grew to over 50 locations, primarily in the Midwestern United States. Sold to the holding company of Bon-Ton in 2006, but still op ...
in 1987, Mervyn's in 1995, Steve & Barry's in 2004, and now split between a former Gordman's on the first level and Dick's Sporting Goods on the second level since 2009) as anchors.


History


1971–1976 planning and construction

Sears and Powers announced jointly in May 1971 that they had acquired a 114-acre plot of land in
Burnsville, Minnesota Burnsville () is a city south of downtown Minneapolis in Dakota County, Minnesota. The city lies on a bluff overlooking the south bank of the Minnesota River upstream from its confluence with the Mississippi River. Burnsville and nearby subu ...
from Rimnac and Hanson with the intention of developing a regional shopping center. The land purchased was located on the southwest corner of the intersection on Interstate 35W and County Road 42. Two years later, in June 1973, plans for the Burnsville shopping center were announced by the developer,
Homart Development Company Homart Development Company, a Chicago-based subsidiary of Sears, was one of the largest builders of shopping centers and malls in the United States from 1959 to 1995. Company history As retail development in the United States shifted away from d ...
, a Sears subsidiary. The mall was to be 1.4 million square feet, built at a cost of $30 million, and the largest shopping center in the area at that time. A late 1975 or early 1976 opening was anticipated. In January 1974, Homart stated that groundbreaking for the mall would be in the spring of 1974, and the mall was to be finished by late 1976. Based on a published article later in 1974, the mall's name was to be Burnhaven Shopping Center. The mall was undergoing construction and nearing completion as planned in November 1975; while Homart expressed some concern that population growth in the area had been sluggish, along with a recession, it felt confident the mall would succeed. It was also noted during construction that the mall would have many facilities and amenities available for disabled and handicapped shoppers, which was 15 years before the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ...
became law. In late 1976, the opening date was changed to August 1977.


1977 opening

Burnsville Center opened August 3, 1977. The grand opening celebration included
Pat Paulsen Patrick Layton Paulsen (July 6, 1927 – April 25, 1997) was an American comedian and satirist notable for his roles on several of the Smothers Brothers television shows, and for his satirical campaigns for President of the United States between ...
,
Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...
, and
Miss Minnesota The Miss Minnesota competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Minnesota in the Miss America pageant. Women from Minnesota have won the Miss America crown on three occasions. The most recent winner was Gretchen ...
.Full-page advertisement
Minneapolis Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...
, August 3, 1977, page 43.
It was estimated that opening day visitors numbered 29,000, and 10,800 cars were parked. The mall was designed to house approximately 165 stores when fully leased, and opened with approximately 95 stores on opening day.


Stores on opening day

The four anchor stores on opening day were
Dayton's Dayton's was an American department store chain founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1902 by George Draper Dayton. It operated several local high end department stores throughout Minnesota and the Upper Midwest for almost 100 years. Although it ...
, J.C. Penney, Powers Dry Goods, and
Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...
. Among the other stores open at the mall at that time were GNC, RadioShack, Jeans West, Topps & Trowsers, Berman Buckskin (later Wilsons Leather), Gallenkamp Shoes, Liemandt's, Rings 'n Things,
Peck & Peck Peck & Peck was a New York-based retailer of private label women's wear prominently located at 581 Fifth Avenue. Peck & Peck was known for its classic clothes. Like Bonwit Teller and B. Altman and Company's post–World War II fashions, Peck ...
, Nina B, Cedrics, B. Dalton, Goodman Jewelers, Schaak Electronics,
Thom McAn The surname Thom is of Scottish origin, from the city of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Angus, and is a sept of the Clan MacThomas. Thom is also a first name variant of the abbreviation " Tom" of "Thomas" that holds the "h". People with the surnam ...
,
Fanny Farmer Fanny Farmer was an American candy manufacturer and retailer. Fanny Farmer was started in Rochester, New York by Frank O'Connor in 1919, and grew to over 400 stores before being bought and consolidated. History O'Connor had previously star ...
, Toys Plus, Malings Shoes, The Banque Store, 1st Barber Stylist Company, Nutrition World,
Pearle Vision Pearle Vision is an American chain of eye care stores. It is one of the largest franchised optical retailers in North America. The company was acquired by Luxottica, an Italian eyewear company, in 2004. As of December 31, 2018, Pearle Vision oper ...
,
Kinney Shoes The G.R. Kinney Company was an American manufacturer and retailer of shoes from until . Its listing on the New York Stock Exchange, symbol KNN, began in March 1923. The shoe concern was started by George Romanta Kinney whose father ran a genera ...
,
Spencer Gifts Spencer Gifts LLC, doing business as Spencer's, is a North American mall retailer with over 600 stores in the United States and Canada. Its stores specialize in novelty and gag gifts, and also sell clothing, band merchandise, sex toys, room dec ...
, Desmond's Formal Wear, Artsign, National Uniform Shops,
County Seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
, Midland Records, Pipe Den, Unique Keepsake Diamond Center,
Foot Locker Foot Locker Retail, Inc. is an American sportswear and footwear retailer, with its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in 28 countries. Although established in 1974, and founded as a separate company in 1988, Foo ...
,
Hanover Shoe Hanover Shoe in Hanover, Pennsylvania, was once one of the largest and most successful shoe companies in York County, Pennsylvania. History Harper Donelson Sheppard was born in Pitt County, North Carolina, on October 9, 1868, the 13th of 15 chil ...
Store, Swiss Colony (later Colony Brands),
Foxmoor Casuals Foxmoor Casuals (founded as Foxwood Casuals) was a chain of mall-based women's clothing stores in the US, from 1963 until 1990. History Foxwood Casuals was founded in 1963, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The then 16-store chain was acquired by th ...
,
Waldenbooks Waldenbooks, operated by the Walden Book Company, Inc., was an American shopping mall-based bookstore chain, from 1995 as a subsidiary of Borders Group. The chain also ran a video game and software chain under the name Waldensoftware, as well as a ...
,
Record Bar The Record Bar is a former U.S. retail music/entertainment store chain founded in Durham, North Carolina. The company eventually grew from a single location to 180 stores. One of the largest music retailing chains, it was located primarily in the ...
, Gordon's Jewelers (later acquired by
Zale Corporation The Zale Corporation is an American jewelry retailer, incorporated in Delaware in 1993. The principal executive offices are located in Coppell, Texas. History The company began in 1924 in Wichita Falls, Texas, when the two Russian-Jewish imm ...
), Bachman's, Morrow's Nut House,
Frederick's of Hollywood Frederick's of Hollywood is an American lingerie brand formerly with stores in shopping malls across the United States. In 2015, all 111 retail stores were closed in advance of a bankruptcy filing. The brand was acquired by Authentic Brands Gro ...
, Bejeweled, Brown Photo, The Gap
Gap Inc. The Gap, Inc., commonly known as Gap Inc. or Gap (stylized as GAP), is an American worldwide clothing and accessories retailer. Gap was founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris F. Fisher and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The c ...
, Travel World of Minnesota, Bakers Shoes (
Edison Brothers Stores Edison Brothers Stores, Inc., was a retail conglomerate based in St. Louis, Missouri. It operated numerous retail chains mainly located in shopping malls, mostly in the fields of shoes, clothing and entertainment, with Bakers Shoes as its flagship ...
), Merry-Go-Round, Kreiser Real Estate, UA Theater (later acquired by
Regal Cinemas Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. A division of Cineworld, Regal operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with over 7,200 screens i ...
), Panache, Aladdin's Castle, Carousel Hot Dogs, Team Electronics, and Kinderfoto.


Late 1970s

One year after the mall opened, it was reported in August 1978 that J.C. Penney would be building a store and become the fourth anchor. In 1978 it was also reported that business at the mall was exceeding plans, with many tenants reporting they were pleased with their sales totals.


1980s

By 1983 Homart had sold the mall to Corporate Property Investors of New York, and mall management had passed to Pembrook Management by 1984.Robbins, Tom
"Burnsville Center: A Brief History of a Very Picky, (Un)mega Regional Shopping Center"
1998.
Donaldson's purchased Powers Dry Goods in June 1985, resulting in the first name change for an anchor at Burnsville Center. Ultimately Donaldson's would be purchased by
Carson's Carson Pirie Scott & Co. (also known as Carson's) is an American department store that was founded in 1854, which grew to over 50 locations, primarily in the Midwestern United States. Sold to the holding company of Bon-Ton in 2006, but still ope ...
; later Carson's properties in the Twin Cities would sell to Dayton-Hudson (later
Target Corporation Target Corporation ( doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a com ...
) and become Mervyn's. All of these name changes were reflected on the anchor building at Burnsville Center. A local newspaper listed the top 15 malls in sales volume in the Twin Cities in 1985, and Burnsville Center placed a disappointing 7th place, even though they were the area's largest mall at the time. However, when the mall celebrated its 10th birthday in 1987, 66 of the original tenants were still at the mall, and the leasing rate was in a high 90 percentile range. 1989 saw the carpeted ramp that stretched from floor to floor removed, and replaced with stairwells and elevators. By doing this, they were able to increase the food court capacity from 180 to 490. Restrooms were also upgraded with changing stations and infant seats.


1990s

Mall of America opened in nearby Bloomington, in 1992. Many area malls, including Burnsville Center, were concerned by the new competition, and made some adjustments in an effort to compete against the new mega-mall. Burnsville Center found that 69% of their shoppers were dual-income families, and would be better served by longer weekend shopping hours, and updated the mall's shopping hours to accommodate them.
CBL & Associates CBL Properties (previously CBL & Associates, Inc., then CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.) is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers, primarily in the Southeastern and Midwestern United States. The company is ...
purchased the 20-year-old mall from Corporate Property Investors in February 1998 for $81 million.


2000s-2010s

2001 brought what was described as the first major renovation to the mall since its opening, 24 years before, even though there had been some updates in 1989. The renovation in 2001 introduced new stores, new carpet, a remodeled foot court, carousel, sky lights, improved lighting, and other amenities. One of the store changes from 2001 was Dayton's renaming itself to
Marshall Field's Marshall Field & Company (commonly known as Marshall Field's) was an upscale department store in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in the 19th century, it grew to become a large chain before Macy's, Inc acquired it in 2005. Its eponymous founder, Mar ...
. After acquiring Marshall Field's, Dayton's renamed all of their existing stores to the Marshall Field's name, was reflected on the store at Burnsville Center. Later Marshall Field's parent company,
Target Corporation Target Corporation ( doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a com ...
would sell their Marshall Field stores to May Company, and they would ultimately be rebranded in 2006 as
Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
. With the closing of Mervyn's in 2004, the mall took the opportunity to update that former anchor space into two separate anchors; and in 2006 added a Steve & Barry's on the lower level, and a Dick's Sporting Goods on the upper level. They also added an exterior
lifestyle center A lifestyle center (American English), or lifestyle centre (Commonwealth English), is a shopping center or mixed-used commercial development that combines the traditional retail functions of a shopping mall with leisure amenities oriented toward ...
next to the Dick's entrance, constructed a 50 foot tall stone hearth fireplace, and removed the carousel which had been added five years earlier. There was speculation that Burnsville Center was at a crossroads in April 2017, as malls were becoming less traditional and needed to reinvent themselves in order to stay vital. It was noted at this time that Burnsville Center had not had additions to the mall or added any developments in 10 years, while other area malls had upgraded and made needed changes to their properties. In 2015,
Sears Holdings Sears Holdings Corporation was an American holding company headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It was the parent company of the chain stores Kmart and Sears and was founded after the former purchased the latter in 2005. It was the 20th- ...
spun off 235 of its properties, including the Sears at Burnsville Center, into Seritage Growth Properties. Sears closed this location in September 2017 as part of its plan to close 20 stores.


2020s

As of August 2020 there are approximately 90 stores and restaurants at Burnsville Center, and the Sears anchor store sits vacant. Gordman's filed for bankruptcy and their mini anchor site will soon be closed. In August 2020, CBL & Associates announced that Burnsville Center will go into foreclosure, as $64.5 million in loans is owed on the property, and they have been greatly affected by coronavirus-related shutdowns in 2020. The mall is expected to stay open. The mall’s debt at auction was sold for $18 million in October 2020 to the
Kohan Retail Investment Group Kohan Retail Investment Group is a shopping mall investment company based in Great Neck, New York. They primarily purchase endangered/troubled shopping malls. History Kohan bought Northland Mall from Developers Diversified Realty for $1.8 mill ...
. The auction did not included the JCPenney, Macy’s, or former Sears as they are separately owned. In February 2022, portions of the Burnsville Center that included Dick's Sporting Goods was purchased for $10.6 million by Pacific Square Burnsville LLC.


Transit

The mall is also used as a transportation stop in the region, with Minnesota Valley Transit Authority
bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
service linking the mall to other destinations. The MVTA bus stop at Burnsville Center is located near the former Sears automotive.


See also

* Bus Connections * Other Transit Facilities


References


External links


Burnsville Center official site
{{Twin cities shopping malls Shopping malls in Minnesota Buildings and structures in Dakota County, Minnesota Tourist attractions in Dakota County, Minnesota Burnsville, Minnesota Shopping malls established in 1977 Kohan Retail Investment Group