The Mall Comes to Duluth

Linda's Thoughts from Duluth

My friend Nancy, from New Jersey, read my blog. She commented that she especially liked the one about the mall because she and her husband remember coming to Duluth to visit us for the first time in 1975. By then, we had our “Mall”…it was big for here, everyone thought it was great. It wouldn’t have compared to malls in the east, but it was nice to have in Duluth, stores all under roof. I can’t remember the year, but I think the mall was built in 1972 or so. The most poplar thing about the mall was the FOOD COURT. Everyone was in love with the food-court. It had a lovely Caribbean theme, very tropical, and lots of choices of foods to indulge in!

By 1975, when Nancy and Laurence visited, one thing that was new just weeks before their visit was the K-MART store. In fact, the first time I went there was with them. Now, Target would get competition for discount shoppers from the new K Mart. For a few years, K Mart sat alone there. Today, there are many other stores all along the K Mart strip, including a Grandma’s Restaurant and a Bridgeman’s Restaurant. (Local,someday I will write about them).

The hill was starting to get developed in the middle 70’s. The first national fast food chain came, it was McDonald’s. Also, Arthur Treachers (remember them, they had fast food fish, and went bankrupted nationally a few years later). Eventually Pizza Hut came. Now, a few mile strip is lined with fast food spots, gas stations, photo shops, pizza shops,
fast auto lubes, tire franchises, auto franchises.

Duluth was coming up in the world!