Northpark Mall is a super regional mall located in Joplin, MO. Northpark Mall, located on Range Line Road on the east side of Joplin, first opened its doors in 1972. When it first opened, Montgomery Ward was located to the north, JCPenney was located to the south, and Newman’s was located in the middle. Other stores included Walgreens, McCrory’s, Ramsay’s Department Store, For All Bible (which moved out in 2016, and permanently closed the next year), Wyatts cafeteria, as well as many other stores.
Newman’s was renamed Heer’s in 1987, the same year that a new wing was constructed and the mall underwent its first major remodeling project. The new wing of the JCPenney shop stretched eastward from the existing one. Famous-Barr and Venture, two new anchors, were installed in this new wing.
A food court was also added as part of the refurbishment, as well as a new 5-screen cinema. Heer’s closed its doors in 1994, and Famous-Barr relocated its men’s apparel and home goods operations to the former Heer’s location. Sears opened a new store next to Montgomery Ward in the same year, relocating from an older store in downtown Joplin’s downtown area. The mall underwent a brief refurbishment in 1998, with the color scheme being the only thing that was changed.
In 1998, the mall’s anchor store was changed to Shopko after the Venture chain went out of business. However, Shopko went out of business in the early 2000s as a result of the closure of Montgomery Ward in 2001. Famous-Barr stores in both New York and Los Angeles were rebranded as Macy’s in 2006.
It was not until mid-2007 that Montgomery Ward was repurposed, with its space being shared by TJ Maxx and Steve & Barry’s, the latter of which closed in 2008 and was replaced by Vintage Stock. In 2006, the mall underwent its first major refurbishment in nearly 20 years, with the color scheme being changed, all new lighting and floor tiles installed, and the food court being transformed into a Route 66-themed restaurant.
In December 2015, For-All Bible announced that they would be relocating to a new site outside of a shopping mall. For-All Bible was one of the final original tenants in the mall, and they were forced to close its doors permanently in 2017, leaving JCPenney as the sole remaining original tenant in the shopping center.
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