Northland Mall (Appleton, Wisconsin)

Northland Mall is a shopping mall in Appleton, Wisconsin. It features Festival Foods and Kohl's as anchor stores, with one vacancy previously occupied by Shopko. The mall is owned by Aetna Realty.

Northland Mall

Location	Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
Coordinates	44.28868°N 88.4203°W / 44.28868; -88.4203
Opening date	1969
Developer	Melvin Simon & Associates
Management	Aetna Realty
Owner	Aetna Realty
No. of stores and services	30
No. of anchor tenants	3 (2 open, 1 vacant)
Total retail floor area	189,125 square feet (17,570.3 m2)[1]
No. of floors	1
Public transit access	Valley Transit

History

Northland Plaza opened in 1969, one of the first retail developments in Appleton.^[2] Original tenants included W. T. Grant and a Kroger supermarket. Melvin Simon & Associates, now known as Simon Property Group, developed the original complex.^[3] The center struggled with vacancy within its initial years; by 1971, Kroger, SupeRx Drugs, Hallmark, King's Food Host restaurant, and a dry cleaners had all closed, leaving only W. T. Grant, So-Fro Fabrics, and Kindy Optical.^[3] Despite these vacancies, Shopko opened a store at the center in March 1971. The 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m²) store was the second in the Fox Cities.^[4] Although W. T. Grant closed in 1976, several new stores opened within the plaza within the following year, including RadioShack.^[5] The W. T. Grant store became Lathrop Furniture in 1979.^[6]

In 1983, Kohl's replaced the Lathrop Furniture store. The same year, an enclosed mall was built, linking Kohl's to Shopko, and the property was renamed Northland Mall.^[7] Kohl's expanded into the mall concourse in 1995.^[8]

On June 23, 2019, the Shopko location closed as part of the mass closure of all Shopko locations.^[9]

References

1. "Northland Mall". Aetna Realty. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
2. Burayidi, Michael A. (2013-10-16). Downtowns: Revitalizing the Centers of Small Urban Communities. Routledge. ISBN 9781134573462.
3. Knutson, Bill (September 1, 1971). "Out of business: high mortality rate plagues stores in Appleton's Northland Plaza". The Post-Crescent. pp. B1, B3. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
4. "New Shopko store to open Saturday". The Post-Crescent. March 12, 1971. p. B3. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
5. Grant, Phoebe (February 27, 1977). "No vacancy! Northland plaza bustling again". The Post-Crescent. pp. 14, 15. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
6. "Northland location looking good for Lathrop Furniture". The Post-Crescent. February 25, 1979. p. J21. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
7. Inside the Fox Cities. Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce & Industry. 1992-01-01.
8. Fox Cities Business. Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 1995-01-01.
9. "Shopko's last day: Shoppers scour stores for final deals as bankrupt company shuts down". Post-Crescent Media. Retrieved 23 June 2019.