Northtown Mall (Blaine, Minnesota)

The mall opened in 1972 with 33 stores,[4] and was originally anchored by Montgomery Ward, Powers Dry Goods and Woolworth.[5] MainStreet was added as a fifth anchor in 1983 and by 1988, the short-lived MainStreet chain's stores were converted to Kohl's. Powers Dry Goods was converted to Donaldson's when the Powers chain was purchased. In 1992, Target Greatland opened as part of a strip mall across the street from the mall in the nearby city of Coon Rapids. The old Woolworth's was divided between HomePlace and Best Buy in the late 1990s, the same year that a food court was added to the mall. Donaldson's would later be converted to Carson Pirie Scott, then later to Mervyn's, Herberger's, and Becker Furniture Outlet.[6] In 2006, The Home Depot opened in the Mall's North Outlot.

There used to be 30 foot Titanic model on display from December 1972 till 1985 when model was moved to Marine Museum at Fall River.[7]

In 2001, HomePlace and Montgomery Ward closed the last of their stores; HomePlace was replaced with Steve & Barry's in 2003. Three years later, Kohl's relocated outside the mall; the same year, Mervyn's closed its Twin Cities locations.[8] (The Mervyn's at Northtown Mall was the highest-performing Mervyn's in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.)[9] Kohl's has been replaced with Burlington Coat Factory, which opened in 2005.

In 2007, LA Fitness was added to the mall as part of a renovation. This store displaced mall retail space.[10] Also, the former Montgomery Ward has been demolished and The Home Depot has been built on the site of the former store; however, Home Depot does not open out into the mall itself.[11]

On January 23, 2008 Bon-Ton announced that they will be opening a Herberger's in the former Mervyn's location. The store opened on September 10, 2008.[12] The store assumed an anchor position in the mall once occupied by Carson Pirie Scott, which was a corporate sibling of Herberger's; Herberger's closed on August 30, 2018. A Spirit Halloween store opened in September 2009.

There was a renovation that started in August 2014 and was completed in fall 2015. New Hobby Lobby store opened in 2015 with 55,000 square feet floor area.[13] Like Home Depot, Hobby Lobby does not open out into the mall either.

• WP Glimcher