History Of The Mall

Shoppes At Wood Ridge has a long, rich history as part of the Marshfield Community. In 1978, local merchants decided that there was a need for a mall in Marshfield. The idea came to fruition in the fall of 1979 when the Northway Mall opened.

"We opened with a real bang," said Kutzie Wing, owner of Wing's Hallmark, who has worked at the mall since it opened. "We hardly had the doors open and they were flocking in," she said.

Originally, the mall had a capacity of 258,000 square feet of building space and approximately 1,447 parking stalls. There were 36 businesses, creating a total of 350 full-time and 150 part-time jobs for the City of Marshfield. The original owners were primarily local people.

In 1985, the controlling interest in the Northway Mall was sold for more than $8 million to Taggart Investment Corporation, a Texas-based real estate investment company. Shortly after that, the mall was once again acquired by the original owners, who later sold it to a Michigan-based investment company, Malan Realty Investors in June 1994.

With the expansion of K-Mart in October 1994, the mall gained 22,000 square feet in store space and lost about 150 parking stalls. The expansion made the Northway Mall approximately 288,000 square feet.

Some of the original stores are still located in the mall including JCPenney, Regis Salon, Radio Shack, Wing's Hallmark, the Tea Shop and Stone Fence.

Rita Navarre has been the manager at Stone Fence for the past 13 years. "It (the mall) is a lot different than 13 years ago," she said. She notes that being a fixture in the mall has helped Stone Fence because, "that long, people get to know where you are."

Good customer service is key, she said, for the longevity of the gift store. "They know I'll help them find the products that they need," Navarre said.

In 2002, K-Mart closed leaving a large vacancy in the mall. This was unfortunate because K-Mart was one of the mall's three anchors. The other anchors were Younkers and JCPenney.

"When we lost K-Mart, we lost traffic," Roger Machtan, who has been the director of maintenance at the mall since its opening, said.

But the mall bounced back from losing the anchor. In July 2003, all 288,947 square feet of the mall was purchased by Goldridge Group, a development company based out Eau Claire, WI.  Goldridge Group made exterior upgrades to the building in the summer of 2004 creating the facade look that the mall has today.

"The facelift was a nice change, for looks," Machtan said. Wing agrees. She said, "I think it's beautiful."

At the time of the exterior upgrades, a food court was also added on the south side of the mall.  This expansion made the mall approximately 298,000 square feet. Goldridge invested over $1 million in the mall for the updates.

In October of 2006, the owners of the mall were glad to welcome a new anchor called Steve & Barry's University Sportswear (now known as Steve & Barry's). The business moved into the space previously occupied by K-Mart.  The addition of Steve & Barry's created a new momentum for the mall.

"Steve & Barry's turned it around," Machtan said. Traffic in the mall increased dramatically and the general impression of the mall improved. In November 2006 Goldridge decided to change the name of the mall to Shoppes At Wood Ridge.  They also added all new signage including a new, digital readerboard sign which shows store names. Mall events and individual store promotions can also be listed on the sign.

In 2007, the owners of the mall look forward to turning a page in a great new chapter in the mall's history. Plans are in the works to bring in new stores, restaurants and other opportunities.

"The future is very bright here," said Terry Linduski, General Manager of Shoppes At Wood Ridge since 2006.

With the purchase in 2004 of the former grocery store property adjacent to the mall, the 2005 removal of the building and the establishment of a TIF district to assist with development, the mall property now includes sites (outside of the mall) for new stores and restaurants in addition to available space within the mall.

"Traffic is up. We have added new specialty stores and continue to work with other promising retailers and restaurants to come here. This year should be an exciting year here at Shoppes At Wood Ridge," Linduski said.