Shopping anniversary – Missoula’s Southgate Mall marks 25 years of business

It seems like only yesterday to managing partner George Lambros, but this weekend Missoula’s Southgate Mall will celebrate its 25th anniversary.

By MICK HOLIEN of the Missoulian

"It’s amazing how the 25 years have passed," Lambros said. "It seems like maybe a year. It’s all-encompassing."

In 1973, prompted by marketing surveys that indicated 70 percent of all retail business in the city was being conducted outside of Missoula – mostly in Spokane – a local partnership decided to build "the very best mall possible."

"The pent-up demand of new stores wanting to come to Missoula and not having a place to go and be organized under the auspices of a regional mall became apparent," said Lambros, who was a downtown real estate broker at the time.

Twenty-five years later the 585,000-square-foot shopping mall and adjoining properties boast more than 100 stores that draw shoppers to Missoula from up to 200 miles away.

"The mall is a very key player in this town," Lambros said. "Its impact is huge, and there’s over 7 million people that shop the mall every year. … There’s more people shopping Missoula than we had ever expected."

Maintained by a local ownership group, Southgate Mall was so-named because it was in the southern part of the city, which Lambros saw as a gateway of sorts for the community.

While four sites were considered, the Missoula City Council decided the L.A. Hamilton lumber mill site would be suitable for the project.

As a new shopping center, the mall had a rare 100 percent tenancy when it opened Aug. 2, 1978, and was committed from the early days to attracting national "anchor" stores, such J.C. Penny, Sears and Hennessy’s, as well as local merchants.

"The national stores are able to meet the needs of our diverse community," Lambros said, "and the local retailers add a unique flavor that enhances the shopping experience."

Always patterned after the Walt Disney doctrine of "keep it clean, keep it green, keep it safe," Southgate Mall is in a constant state of revitalization.

"Every couple of years, we’ve always got a remodel going on," marketing director Kimberly Roth said. "We’ve always got a facelift going on. You see interior changes, you see exterior changes, and in the past most developers haven’t done that. Our owners have been trying to do that from the beginning."

Such a financial commitment to upgrades has paid dividends, Lambros said, as customers feel ownership in the Missoula shopping center.

"They feel that it’s embracing and that it’s their mall. I love to hear people say ‘Our mall,’ " he said.

And such improvements, which most recently include the mall’s main entrance, brought the first-ever "Save America’s Visual Environment" award for landscaping from the city’s design, sign and review board.

But Southgate Mall is more than a regional shopping center – it’s promoted and utilized as a community activity center, as well.

"There’s a Missoula pride in the mall, and I think because the mall is owned by local owners we have become involved in local activities and local charities and our marketing director has always maintained a high profile for the mall to be used for local events," Lambros said.

"We have a local ownership that cares about the community as much as they care about the shopping center," Roth added. "They’ve always wanted to give them a shopping center to be proud of."

After 25 years of success, Southgate Mall’s owners are by no means content to rest on their laurels.

Along with a partner, there are plans to develop 10 acres behind Bob Ward and Sons with an "old town concept" and second-floor apartments, Lambros said. The project also could include amenities not currently available at the mall.

"We always hoped we could have a movie theater on our campus and a book store," he said. "… The market will determine whether we can get it or not, which has always been the case for Southgate Mall."

Reporter Mick Holien can be reached at 523-5262 or at [email protected]

http://missoulian.com/articles/2003/07/31/news/local/news03.txt