Background In 1943, architects
Victor Gruen and
Elsie Krummeck were asked to submit a proposal to envision a prototype of what a shopping center would ideally look like after
World War II for "Architecture 194X", a competition in the
Architectural Forum magazine. Prototypes by the pair emphasized the communal aspects of their proposed shopping center where services like the
public library and the
post office could be incorporated with the functions of
retail. They also strived to make the centers visually appealing and inviting to encourage shoppers to stay longer. While stranded in
Detroit during a snowstorm in 1948, Gruen approached Oscar Webber, head of
Hudson's, the second largest
department store in the nation at the time (behind
Macy's in
Manhattan). Gruen asked Webber to help fund a shopping center in the
suburbs of Detroit with Hudson's as the main draw. Webber initially declined, but a year later Hudson's agreed to finance a set of malls including
Northland Center as customers moved out of the city and into the suburbs.
1952–57: Construction and grand opening Through Oscar Webber, Gruen was introduced to the
Dayton family, who owned an eponymous chain of stores after their father's death and were looking to expand and build a shopping center to accompany one of their stores in
Edina, Minnesota. Webber insisted that the Dayton family work with Gruen to assist in their efforts. On June 17, 1952, the first plans unveiled for the shopping center were announced by Gruen and Donald Dayton, president of Dayton's. They estimated the cost to build the shopping center to be around $10 million. Gruen was a European-style socialist; he found individual stores in downtown venues to be inefficient, and the suburban lifestyle of 1950s America too "car-centric" and wanted to design a building that would be a communal gathering place, where people would shop, drink coffee, and socialize, as he remembered from his native Vienna. Southdale Center was loosely modeled on the arcades of several heavily populated European cities and purposely included "eye-level display cases" to "lure customers into stores". Gruen imagined that Southdale would eventually include "a medical center, schools and residences, not just a parade of glitzy stores." In a statement to the
Minneapolis Sunday Tribune (now the
Star Tribune), Gruen and his economic consultant Lawrence P. Smith described the regional shopping center as a place that could "take care of today's needs and today's living" and would bring the community together by providing "a new outlet for that primary human instinct to mingle with other humans." The neighborhood surrounding the center was specifically built to accompany the mall. Groundbreaking for Southdale took place on October 29, 1954; 800 construction workers were needed to build the three-story, , center, which had 5,200 parking spaces, 72 available tenants, and cost $20 million to construct. Due to Minnesota's harsh climate in the winter, Gruen constructed the center with a roof and air-conditioning system capable of maintaining a comfortable temperature of year-round. Over 40,000 visitors attended the grand opening ceremony for the center on the morning of October 8, 1956. An additional 188,000 customers visited the mall throughout the following week. The center was constructed to successfully bring the community together by "gathering art, culture, and entertainment under one roof with retail." The Dayton's store was modeled after Dayton's flagship store in
Minneapolis, Minnesota. In November 1956,
organic architect Frank Lloyd Wright visited the mall as part of a tour of new buildings in Minnesota; he critiqued Southdale's overall design, stating "[the] garden court has all the evils of the village street and none of its charm", further criticizing several other buildings in nearby
Minneapolis. He unfavorably added that Gruen "should have left downtown, downtown."
JCPenney announced their interest in opening a location at Southdale Center. Along with the new anchor store came an entire new mall corridor connecting JCPenney to the original structure of the mall. In 1987, Donaldson's announced the discontinuation of their chain of stores, which would shut one of the mall's original anchors. Instead, Donaldson's merged with Chicago-based department chain
Carson Pirie Scott.
1991–2008: Expansion, Dayton's merger, and store closures In 1991, Dayton's announced plans to construct a significantly larger store directly north of their current location. These plans included the demolition of the original Dayton's store to be replaced with more stores, plus a larger "garden court", and the construction of various multi-level parking garages; these plans were eventually constructed and finalized in the early 1990s. On June 30, 1997, Southdale Center was sold to the O'Connor Group, a New York-based real estate company for $125 million. Around this time, Southdale converted most of its basement into a singular anchor store, which became
Marshalls; surrounding the new anchor were several specialty shops and mall management offices. Dayton's acquired
Marshall Field's and rebranded with the
Marshall Field's nameplate in 2001. During the early 2000s, following fear of competition from nearby
Eden Prairie Center and
Mall of America, Southdale announced further plans to renovate the center again. A complete remodeling of the center occurred in 2001, followed by a large addition to the southern half of the property; the addition included a sixteen-screen movie theater along with an entertainment district of restaurants and shops called "The District on France". A renovation of the less-traveled third floor also occurred, with the addition of teen-geared stores; this addition was called "Trendz on Top". Throughout the mid-2000s, Southdale began struggling with maintaining a low vacancy rate.
The May Department Stores Company acquired
Marshall Field's in 2004, and promptly closed the Twin Cities area
Mervyn's. After the closure of Mervyn's in 2004, several tenants followed and ended their leases as well; national retailers like
The Bombay Company,
Crate & Barrel,
Ritz Camera, and
Select Comfort all announced closures of their Southdale locations. Talks of a
Dick's Sporting Goods filling the space formerly leased by Mervyn's occurred, but those plans never took off and eventually dissolved. In 2006, Marshall Fields was rebranded as
Macy's.
2009–2016: Ongoing renovations In February 2011, Simon Property Group announced that Southdale would soon be anchored by
Herberger's, a local department store chain, and would lease the space previously used by Mervyn's. Along with this announcement came the mention of a brand new food court to replace the nearly vacant one on the less-traveled third floor, a housing development consisting of apartments and condominiums, and expanded retail. The food court's construction would include six tenants, which was later increased to eight tenants. However, the new food court forced the closure of one of Southdale's oldest tenants, Ralph's Shoe Service, which originally opened at the mall in 1957. Following several tenant terminations, the mall's Marshalls anchor announced that their Southdale location would move to a different shopping center in
Bloomington, Minnesota. The new food court located by JCPenney was completed in 2012 and featured "upscale" dining options, such as
Qdoba Mexican Grill and
Smashburger; several other projects took place, such as cosmetic changes for the mall and the construction of new corridors. Since 2015, several stores and businesses have opened up locations at Southdale Center.
Gordmans, a
Nebraska-based discount retailer, filled the vacancy previously leased by Marshalls in July 2015; however closed just two years later after filing bankruptcy. Other new openings were a
Dave and Buster's restaurant, filling the vacancy of the original food court. A
Homewood Suites by Hilton resort was approved by the City of Edina and constructed in the shopping center's northeast parking lot in late 2016.
2017–present Following the announcement of JCPenney closing nine stores throughout Minnesota, the Southdale Center location closed on July 31, 2017, after 45 years at Southdale. The former JCPenney's building was razed, and in its place, a $43 million
Life Time Fitness multi-level complex was constructed, featuring a rooftop pool, which opened in 2019. Bon-Ton announced on April 17, 2018, that it would close and liquidate all
Herberger's stores in their 200+ locations after two liquidators, Great American Group and Tiger Capital Group, won an auction for the company. On August 26, 2018, the Herberger's Southdale anchor location closed. Simon, the mall owner, continued to revitalize Southdale as a mixed-use development by utilizing all corners of the parking lot. The southwest corner of the parking lot saw new construction of
RH (formerly Restoration Hardware) in 2018. In October 2018, a newly constructed
Shake Shack on the northwest corner of the property held its grand opening. Luxury apartments were also constructed on the southeast corner of the parking lot. An opening date was set for 2022, however, the move was ultimately put on hold. Planning for a replacement Southdale Library building resumed in 2023; the Southdale Library facility closed on January 6, 2025, and Hennepin County broke ground on a new combined Southdale Library and Edina Art Center building in October 2025. In 2023, Simon Properties announced that the former Donaldson's/Mervyn's anchor would be replaced by a
Kowalski's Markets grocery store and a Puttshack restaurant. Additionally, the sparsely-occupied District on France portion of the mall would be remodeled into "a blending of highly sought-after retail brands with a curated mix of dining and entertainment that will enhance the center's positioning as the market's pre-eminent experiential shopping destination," in the style of
The Shops at Crystals. == References ==