SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – 2024 has been a busy year for the Empire Mall with the opening of the new department store, Dillard’s, hosting pop up shops and preparing for new store arrivals.
So far this year, the mall welcomed the women’s clothing store Garage in August, Miniso in April and Dillard’s back in March.
“The community has really embraced it and received it. It’s an upscale, total shopping experience,” said Brian Rehnke, the Empire Mall’s Director of Marketing. “They added 40,000 additional square feet onto it to make it one of the largest, if not the largest, single story dealers in their entire portfolio.”
After three months of closing, the teen fashion store, Rue 21 was brought back earlier in September. Rue 21 was in the mall near JC Penny’s for multiple years before closing down in June due to bankruptcy. They are back in the same location.
“Then they were bought out by someone else, and we were one of just a select few stores that were able to reopen,” Rehnke said.
By November, the J. Crew Factory in the old PacSun location will be open. Rehnke said that since it’s a factory and straight to outlet, the clothing options will be more affordable.
Also opening by November is the new Stir Fry Express in the food court. The restaurant will be going into the old Jackie’s location and Jackie’s bought the Fuddruckers building on 41st Street.
Although the exact opening day for Stir Fry Express hasn’t been announced yet, the location will be serving free food for all customers from noon to 3 p.m. their first day.
“Because (the owner) says, “I believe in my food, I make good food, and I want people to know it,” Rehnke said. “It’s not all day, but at least for that lunch rush, it’s free food for anybody that comes.”
The mall will also be getting a 7 Brew drive thru coffee shop out by the Burger King in the parking lot, which will be open by the holidays, Rehnke said.
As for what to expect in future, Rehnke said more retailers are interested in setting up shop in the Empire Mall and there will be more stores coming soon.
“We try to partner with people like that, and we’re doing more outreach,” he said. “But then there’s other national retailers. There’s other people that are saying, ‘Hey, you do have such a thriving mall, we want to be in there. How do we get in?’”
Upcoming events for the Empire Mall include Mall-O-Ween on October 31. Santa will set up shop for the season on November 15. Rehnke noted they will also have events planned for next year during the mall’s 50th anniversary.
“The mall’s been around for 50 years, there’s over 110 stores and restaurants and retailers,” Rehnke said. “It’s a mix for everything, for everyone. There’s just a lot of stuff. We are a gathering space for northwest Iowa, southwest Minnesota, southeast South Dakota.”
