Uptown Willmar
Stores
- AMC Theaters
- Bath & Body Works
- Book World
- Carmike Cinemas
- Claire’s
- Dunham’s
- Famous Footwear
- Finley Florence Bridal Co.
- Foot Locker
- GameStop
- Glik’s
- Golden Ticket Cinemas
- Goldfine’s
- Hallmark
- Harbor Freight
- Herberger’s
- Herberger’s Home Store
- Hot Spring Store
- JCPenney
- Jo-Ann Fabrics
- Kandi Theaters
- Kinney Shoes
- Kohl’s
- Kmart
- Maurices
- Metro by T-Mobile
- Paffrath Jewelers
- rue21
- Sears
- Sears Hometown
- The Fan Zone
- TradeHome Shoes
- Willmar Indoor Golf
History
Uptown Willmar, then known as Kandi Mall opened in 1973 in Willmar, Minnesota, it was named after the county it was in, Kandiyohi County. it opened with a massive anchor store called Goldfine’s, it had plenty of popular mall shops too such as Kinney Shoes, Snyder’s Drug, Maurices, & later a movie theater opened next to Goldfine’s called the Kandi Twin Theaters. Goldfine's, amid financial difficulties, closed their location due to bankruptcy. the mall was sold to Watson Centers, they planned to fill the former Goldfine’s space & expand the mall. There was a possibility of Herberger’s to fill the space, but it wasn’t going to happen. In 1979 the mall was sold again to Union Real Estate Investments but this time the expansion would happen. The former Goldfine’s would be remodeled into a brand new Kmart and in 1980 construction would start on a brand new Kandi Mall. The Expansion included a brand new Herbergers as well as plenty of more stores. The expansion opened in 1981 along with a new screen in the Kandi Twin, renaming it to Kandi I-II-III. Later in 1983 Kandi I-II-III became Kandi 4. That same year, Kandi Mall phase 2 began construction featuring a JCPenney. Kandi Mall became very popular with 3 anchor stores. In 1992, one of the malls popular Junior Anchors closed, it was Spurgeon's. The closure of Spurgeon’s caused a downhill spiral from then on. Later Wallace’s closed, then Ben Franklin, then Sears closed. In 1995 more stores would close including Fashion Bug. But in the same year Midco announced construction of a brand new theater called Midco 6. The original theater closed and would never be replaced. Sears would later reopen in the Herberger’s wing. In 1998 Kandi Mall would be sold to J. Herzog & Sons. The Kandi Mall would go on to lose more stores, but in 2006, Dunham’s Sports would open a location at the mall. In 2012, Sears would become Sears Hometown. In the same year, Kmart would close their location. In 2018 Herberger’s would close their location as park of the bankruptcy of Bon-Ton. More stores would close the same year. The movie theater would be sold by AMC Theaters to Real Lux. Sears Hometown would close in 2019, but Kohl’s would anounce opening a new store in the former Kmart, the other part of Kmart would become Harbor Freight. In 2020, Kandi Mall would be renamed to Uptown Willmar. Also in 2020, JCPenney would close their location.
References
RetailMan2, CattanoogaCats. "Kandi Mall, J. Herzog & Sons, Inc". Mall—J. Herzog & Sons, Inc. J. Herzog & Sons, Inc. Retrieved Saturday, August 16th, 2025.. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)</ref>
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