09/09/01 DI/Downtown Business Owners Fear Mall's ImpactDowptown
By WILLIAM L. SPENCE
The Daily Inter Lake
business owners fear mall's 'impact
Just as massive ice floes carved new shapes
across the region 20,000 years ago, the pro-
posed Glacier Mall has the
potential to remake the local
retail landscape.
The 750,000-square-foot, fully
enclosed shopping center would
have four major department
store tenants — each twice the
size of anything in the Flathead
Valley today as well as 75 to
80 specialty shops, a movie the
ater and food court.
Developer James "Bucky"
Wolford has said his project would draw ten-
ants away from Kalispell Center Mall, but he
also believes it would expand Kalispell's
trade area and reduce the number of people
'Kalispell
will end up
looking like
Everywhere.'
— Leisa Baldwin,
Ena's Reflection
who leave here to shop in Missoula or
Spokane.
Few local retailers have opposed the pro-
posal during recent public hearings, but
many still have strong opinions about the
impact it would have.
A sampling of their views:
® Any retailer who doesn't
think business will be affected
by Glacier Mall "has their head
in the sand," said Bill Sargent,
owner of Sargent's Jewelry.
"There will be more compe-
tition and more places for peo-
ple to spend theirdisposable
income," Sargent said. "We'll
go from four or five jewelry
stores, to eight or nine — with
four of those in the mall."
As for Kalispell Center, "I think within
See DOWNTOWN on Page A3
Public
1 hearing1.
plan set forSept.
The Daily Inter Lake
The Kalispell City Council will hold a public
hearing on Sept. 17 on a master plan amendment
requested by Woltbrd Development.
The company wants to build a 750,000-square-
foot shopping mall in Evergreen.
Wolford needs the Kalispell City -County Master
Plan amended to allow commercial uses on 147
acres just northeast of the intersection of LaSalle
Road and East Reserve Drive.
The master plan currently designates a variety
See HEARING on Page A3
Store awnex°calls for united front
three years it would be emp-
ty," he said.
Sargent opened his jewelry
business 26 years ago. After
11 years on Main Street and
another 15 in Kalispell Cen-
ter Mall, he recently relocat-
ed to Depot Park Square,
across from Western Out-
door.
The argument that Main
Street retailers will benefit
from Glacier Mall's expanded.
trade area "is a bunch of
bunk," Sargent said. "I don't
believe it. I'm going to lose
business to the national chains
that move in there."
Nevertheless, as the
Kalispell City Council pre-
pares to address the master
plan amendment needed for
the project to proceed (see
related story), he isn't look-
ing for political interven-
tion.
"I think they have to leave
It up to the free market," Sar-
;ent said. "It all boils down
:o the consumer. If I'm not
;ood enough for them, then I
lon't deserve to be in busi-
less."
He readily accepts that chal-
enge — but with consumers
oday focused mainly on price,
•ather than value, it makes for
m uphill battle for small, inde-
)endent retailers.
"In a lot of cases, I don't
hink shoppers consider the
otal value picture," Sargent
aid. "Every time they spend a
Lollar, they're deciding which
iusiness will stay open.
'hey're voting for the kind of
election, prices and service
hat they want.
"I probably have one person
week come in who wants
7eir watch repaired," he said.
They bought it at a store that
oesn't offer service."
■ Several things about
'lacier Mall disturb Leisa and
na Baldwin, including its
npact on existing retail
pace.
"We can't fill the malls we
ave, and we have 80,000.
Iuare feet of space downtown
fiat's already empty," said
City manager wants city to retain oversight
of uses for the area, includ-
ing agricultural, commercial
and light industrial.
"We'll bold a public hear-
ing on Sept. 17," said
Kalispell City Manager Chris
Kukulski. "I'm not anticipat-
ing any council action at that
time."
The council will discuss
the project, as well as public
comments, during its Sept. 24
Ena, who 17 years ago opened
Ena's Reflection, a second-
hand women's clothing store,
on Main Street.
"The valley isn't ready for a
mall that size," she said. "I
have no argument with (Wol-
ford), but I have a problem
with the city council okaying
the project. It will destroy the
downtown area."
"This business will make
it — we're a destination
place," Leisa said. "But
Kalispell will end up look-
ing like Everywhere. There
are towns that have success-
fully fought off Wal-Mart or
Home Depot because they
want to keep the charm of
the area."
She paused to joke with a
couple of customers, both of
whom she knew by name.
"We're a second-hand busi-
ness," she continued. "We
take what's old and make it
new — and 1 think we can use
the building space we have
and make it better. We can
reuse it, versus pouring new
concrete."
■ The downtown area is a
vital part of any community,
and Debbie Snyder doesn't
expect that to change for
Kalispell even if Glacier Mall
is built.
"I think people will always
try something new, but they'll
be back," said Snyder, co-own-
er of Flowers by Hansen; a
long-time Main Street busi-
ness.
workshop, he said. A major
issue will be ensuring that
the city continues to have
some say in how the mall —
and the surrounding proper-
ty — is developed.
"Once the master plan is
amended, the city may never
be asked to the party again,"
Kukulski said.
Unless conditions can be
attached so the city retains
some oversight, "that might
be reason to postpone" any
Snyder, the wife of Daily
Inter Lake Trade Show Man-
ager Dan Snyder, recognized
that a florist wouldn't face the
same competition from a new
mall as other downtown retail
businesses. She also recog-
nized that free enterprise is
the foundation of our econo-
my.
"I think free enterprise is
good," she said. "It's what
keeps us going, and if each
business gives good service
and offers a quality product for
a fair price, people will
remember that. I think we can
stand on that."
■ The close proximity
between Kalispell Center Mall
and the downtown merchants
was one of the things Pat Bai-
ley liked about Kalispell
when he moved here four
years ago.
"I thought it was wonder-
ful," Bailey said. "But this
new mall will destroy down-
town and the Kalispell mall. It
will create a lot more office
space."
Bailey, the owner of Moun-
tain Aire Music, has 22 years
of experience in the music
business. Prior to moving to
the Flathead, he owned five
music shops in Ohio — four of
which had downtown loca-
tions.
Mountain Aire moved into ..
the KM Building a year ago. It
used to be located in Ever-
green, where Glacier Mall
decision, he said.
Depending on how the
Sept. 24 discussion goes,
"Oct. 1 would be the earli-
est we'd see any kind of
motion on the table,"
Kukulski said.
If conditions can't be
added, Kukulski said, "who
knows how long it will take?
We need to be very deliber-
ate and make sure we have
time to get the answers we
need."
would be built.
"I moved here because
there's more (consumer) traf-
fic," Bailey said. "I'm doing
way more business here."
However, while he cringes
at the thought of what
Glacier Mall would do to
downtown Kalispell; Bailey
is also critical of his fellow
retailers.
"You have to do what con-
sumers want," even if that
means staying open seven
days a week, he said.
"That's the first line of
defense" against competi-
tion.
"Christmas Eve last year
was on a Sunday," Bailey
recalled. "I was open, but
when I walked outside to
look around, I saw the other
stores on Main Street were
closed.
"At Kalispell Center Mall,
the parking lot was full and
cars were lined up along Cen-
ter Street," he said. "On
what's traditionally the sec-
ond or third biggest day of
the year, (downtown retail-
ers) blew it off because it was
a Sunday. It was my worst
Christmas Eve in 22 years of
business.
"When a downtown works
together, when it presents a
unified front, its a mall," Bai-
ley said. `But this downtown
isn't unified."