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Several weeks ago, I was in Aberdeen, WA and visited the South Shore Mall. I was last in the mall roughly 15 years ago, and at the time nothing seemed amiss. Now, however, it is very close to death and Sears is the only anchor store (and still has Times New Roman signage on the outside).

I am trying to determine two of the original anchors of the mall. The closed store at the north end is a former JCPenney which still has signage inside, and a merchandise pickup sign on the outside. There is a big, gaping empty hole where a store once stood at the front (east side), that I am 99% sure was a Kmart. However, I am unclear if this mall also had a fourth anchor at one point. There is a theater on the west side of the mall, and the way it is situated, looks as though an anchor store may have operated there at one point. One possibility is Emporium, on their Wikipedia page it states that a location opened in Aberdeen in 2000. However, it does not specify WHERE in Aberdeen, and could have also been in a strip mall development nearby where there is a Walmart, TOP Foods, and other stores. However, I got to wondering if Emporium may have operated where the current mall theater is. And, given the fact this mall opened sometime in the early 80s, if another anchor may have existed before Emporium (if they were in the mall).

It appears that General Growth Properties once owned this mall, but did little in the way of upkeep and retaining tenants. It struck me as being too big of a mall for a town of this size, but may have relied on tourist traffic to bring in business.

I have found virtually no information on the history of this mall, surprising given the fact that the mall has existed since at least the early 1980s.

The big gaping hole was indeed a Kmart that closed in 2003.

There was a second mall in Aberdeen called Wishkah Mall, which was anchored by Lamont's, Ernst, and Top Foods. That mall was torn down in 2000 except for the Lamont's (by then a Gottschalks, now a Ross) and Top Foods (which stayed until 2015).

As far as I can tell, the theater is original. Many of the design cues are congruent with other 80s GGP malls such as Colony Square in Zanesville, which had a nearly identical theater/food court setup.

TenPoundHammer wrote:The big gaping hole was indeed a Kmart that closed in 2003.

There was a second mall in Aberdeen called Wishkah Mall, which was anchored by Lamont's, Ernst, and Top Foods. That mall was torn down in 2000 except for the Lamont's (by then a Gottschalks, now a Ross) and Top Foods (which stayed until 2015).

As far as I can tell, the theater is original. Many of the design cues are congruent with other 80s GGP malls such as Colony Square in Zanesville, which had a nearly identical theater/food court setup.

I never would have guessed that there were once two malls. I have been to the strip mall where TOP Foods was, and it seems like a bad location due to the fact you have to cross railroad tracks to access it.

I am still curious though where Emporium operated.

I passed through Aberdeen back in July on my way to a vacation at Olympic National Park but did not go by the South Shore Mall. I did however see that TOP has been replaced by a Tractor Supply Co. store.

The area still does not strike me as having a good economy though. Still seems very depressed in the area.

Super S wrote:

TenPoundHammer wrote:I am still curious though where Emporium operated.

Troutman's Emporium was based out of Eugene, Oregon. They operated primarily in WA, OR, and ID, but also had two strip mall stores in NV (Elko and Winnemucca), plus one in Chico, CA. The Chico store was just called "Troutman's" because of the existing, unrelated San Francisco chain called Emporium (or Emporium-Capwell).

TenPoundHammer wrote:

Super S wrote:

TenPoundHammer wrote:I am still curious though where Emporium operated.

Troutman's Emporium was based out of Eugene, Oregon. They operated primarily in WA, OR, and ID, but also had two strip mall stores in NV (Elko and Winnemucca), plus one in Chico, CA. The Chico store was just called "Troutman's" because of the existing, unrelated San Francisco chain called Emporium (or Emporium-Capwell).

I meant to say where in Aberdeen they had a store. I know about the general chain.

Blah, I keep getting Troutman's and Gottschalks mixed up for some reason.

Anyway, Wishkah Mall in Aberdeen was where the Troutman's was. It's a Ross now, and the only part of the mall that survived.

Super S wrote: ↑01 Sep 2017 10:43

TenPoundHammer wrote:The big gaping hole was indeed a Kmart that closed in 2003.

There was a second mall in Aberdeen called Wishkah Mall, which was anchored by Lamont's, Ernst, and Top Foods. That mall was torn down in 2000 except for the Lamont's (by then a Gottschalks, now a Ross) and Top Foods (which stayed until 2015).

As far as I can tell, the theater is original. Many of the design cues are congruent with other 80s GGP malls such as Colony Square in Zanesville, which had a nearly identical theater/food court setup.

I never would have guessed that there were once two malls. I have been to the strip mall where TOP Foods was, and it seems like a bad location due to the fact you have to cross railroad tracks to access it.

I am still curious though where Emporium operated.

I passed through Aberdeen back in July on my way to a vacation at Olympic National Park but did not go by the South Shore Mall. I did however see that TOP has been replaced by a Tractor Supply Co. store.

The area still does not strike me as having a good economy though. Still seems very depressed in the area.

The Kmart actually closed in November 2000 and is now town down (Facade is still intact).