MOORHEAD (KFGO) – Earlier this month, Roers – a Fargo-based construction and development company – announced that tenants in the Moorhead Center Mall had been given notice that operations must be wrapped up by the end of the year. This received mixed reactions from tenants and owners directed toward Roers and the City of Moorhead.
“We knew it was going to happen, so I guess I’m glad it happened,” Mary Fabre-Berndt said. “Now, we have to push forward.”
Fabre-Berndt has had a Merle Norman franchise in the mall for 36 years. She said she’s not ready to throw in the towel and plans to stay in Moorhead. Where she lands in Moorhead is up to the corporate office.
Barbara Schramm owns The 3 Bees Boutique and has a month-to-month lease at the mall. She said she knew Roers had plans for the mall, but didn’t know when things would start to happen. That was until May 12, when an email came letting them know they had until the end of the year to cease operations.
“Up until that point, we had no idea,” Schramm said. “And we’ve been asking. We’ve had meetings with Roers to ask, and they would never give us a date. So, actually, I think it was quite a shock that it came much faster than we thought it would.”
Moorhead Drug Pharmacist in Charge, Jackie Hjelle said they knew it was coming and have already made plans to find a new location.
“We were already working with realtors to find us a place close by,” Hjelle said.
Hjelle said it would have been nice to hear about the closure themselves rather than from the media. She said they will move about a block and a half away around Sept. 1.
Roers CEO Jim Roers said he thinks most people realize the mall has been dying for years and it’s gotten to a point where the financial burden for Moorhead taxpayers is so large that something had to be done.
“Everybody wants to know, ‘when’s it going to be over?’ So, we picked a time, that being December 31 of this year,” Roers said. “It’s over. We’re going to shut her down. We’re going to shut down portions of the building.”
Roers said there are three residents of businesses in the mall – month-to-month tenants, who were given notice of the Dec. 31 closing date, long-term tenants, and owners.
Roers said some month-to-month tenants have expressed relief about the announcement of the closure date, and others are worried that shutting the mall on December 31 will kill their business.
One example is Jack Henrichs with Comfort and Joy Antiques who said they have been working on a plan for some time, and he’s pleased with the announcement because now he knows they have to be out by the end of the year.
“I can’t say bad about anything. My heart goes out to the merchants that are hung up, in limbo on what they’re going to do, or should do,” Henrichs said.
Henrichs said he’s more disappointed in the City of Moorhead than Roers and said they will not stay downtown.
“We have to dig for everything we get from the city, and we’ve gotten nothing,” Henrichs said. “Then again, I have no real grievances.”
Schramm also said she wishes the City of Moorhead could have been more supportive of the small businesses in the mall.
“I do not find that Moorhead is supporting the [businesses,” Schramm said. “They say they are, but in comparison to [other cities in the area], Moorhead has not been supportive to us.”
Derrick LaPoint of Downtown Moorhead, Inc., which is not part of the City of Moorhead, but works as an association in conjunction with them, said he understands this is an emotional and complex time concerning the mall. He said they have been working with tenants to find relocation and incentive options. Those include a Renaissance Zone, a city-wide commercial industry property tax incentive, and gap financing to help with operations and remodel.
“What’s complex about the situation is those incentives vary on location, on building versus leasing versus owning versus remodeling,” LaPoint said. “So, there’s a lot of different variety in the situation, and understanding what the future holds for some of these tenants.”
LaPoint said they’ve also been working to provide active real estate listings to those asking for it, offering real estate portfolio options for all available options in Moorhead. He said they’ve also been trying to connect tenants to local resource opportunities like the West Central Initiative Foundation that provides free business planning and small business resources like financing to the Department of Employment and Economic Development.
“We understand that change is difficult, (and) understanding that this is still a private matter between a tenant and landlord too,” LaPoint said. “Those that we have had conversations with, we are definitely providing any and all information that we have available to us to facilitate whatever their future plans may be.”
LaPoint said they are trying to put their best foot forward with policies and programs, and making sure resources are available so tenants can make the best decision possible.
Roers said there are three long-term tenants who they have relocation plans for and have been in constant contact with. So, those tenants know where things are at.
Mary Jane Kreps owns Kreps Family Farm Corner Coffee and has a lease through Feb. 28, 2024. She said they haven’t heard from Roers.
“Our lease goes until the end of February, so I’m not sure how that’s going to work because we haven’t been notified that we’re done before the end of our lease,” Kreps said.
Kreps said they haven’t had any help from Roers in finding a new place to relocate.
“They haven’t helped us at all,” Kreps said. “They said, ‘oh, go see Economic Development. Talk to your banker.’ They wouldn’t help us.”
The Department of Motor Vehicle has a lease in the mall that runs through November of 2025. Clay County issued a statement on the announcement of the mall closure and said the Clay County Board of Commissioners requested a strategic plan for a future location.
“The Commission has approved a pre-design study to assess options, including building a new facility or moving to an existing location,” the statement said. “Clay County will provide additional information as it becomes available.”
Roers said they are working with the DMV and indicated they are willing to be flexible as the DMV settles on a long-term fix.
“They want to have their own identity,” Roers said. “They’re looking to have a facility that is more accessible for large vehicles. This is not a good, permanent fix for them, so they’ve been looking to find a location, to build a facility that fits their needs more appropriately. We’re going to help them do that, but we’re not going to kick them out on the street. If it takes them two years, that’s what we’re going to do.”
Schramm said she thought they could be in the mall as long as the DMV was there. She said selling off her inventory in six months will be difficult.
Roers said the third group is the owners. He said they will be working with that group over the next couple of months.
“As condominium associations go, the majority rules. We own 97% of that association,” Roers said. “So, we will have a meeting June 8, and the owners will be asked to vote – ‘do you want to continue or not?’”
