Alpena Mall: Wikis

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The Alpena Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located in the city of Alpena, Michigan, but it also serves most of northeastern Michigan. It originally consisted solely of a Kmart store; the mall itself was added around 1983. Its other anchor store is J.C. Penney.

Throughout its history, the mall has consisted of a barrage of stores, many of them chains. Many of the original tenants, or at least very early tenants, included Circus World (which later became K•B Toys), Winkleman's clothing store, Fashion Bug (and Fashion Bug Plus), Waldenbooks, The Id, Suzy Shop, Kotwicki's, The Leather Quarters, The Cookie Bin,and GNC (General Nutrition Center). The mall also had a sit-down restaurant (Charbonneau's), and a bank (which is now a credit union). Other fixtures of the Alpena Mall was its video arcade, Two-Bit Operation, and a New Age inspired shop called the Blue Moon Gallery (a space which is now occupied by Claire's); before becoming either of these stores, it was a jewelry shop called Froggett's.

The mall itself has not experienced very many significant changes, and to this day it still looks like a 1980s-era shopping center. One of the first major changes was when the Seifert's clothing store closed in the center court; J.C. Penney quickly moved its home goods to the former Seifert's space, creating a "J.C. Penney Home Store". It was around this time that the Charbonneau's restaurant closed; a candy store called Jeannie's Sweet Shop moved from the Kmart wing into the old restaurant.

The biggest change to Alpena Mall came in 1997. Kmart's store in the mall was quite small, and it could not be easily expanded, so a new Kmart was built across the street. This left the mall without an anchor on the south end. However, a clothing store called "Stage" and a Gordon Food Services store soon opened up in most of the former Kmart space. Stage later pulled out of Michigan and their store was replaced with Glik's.

While the mall itself is not very busy, and only about two-thirds it is occupied, it is not a dead mall by any means. There are many strong tenants present, such as a dollar store, Waldenbooks, and f.y.e. (for your entertainment). However, the mall's oldest tenant, a Hallmark Cards shop, recently closed up. The mall does face some competition now, with several big-box and mall-type stores like Bath & Body Works, EB Games, and Kohl's cropping up in nearby Gaylord, Michigan.