prairie hills mall – Dustin Monke

After a year of plenty, Dickinson’s independent retail businesses prepare for more normal year-end sales

Out of Town owner and manager Brooke Leno, left, helps employee Chloe Jazvic as she helps a customer and Melissa Moos folds clothing on Friday, Nov. 29, 2015, at the store in the Prairie Hills Mall in Dickinson, N.D. (Dustin Monke / The Dickinson Press)

Holidays can make or break the profit margins of small retail businesses.

In Dickinson, the time carries even greater meaning for relatively new businesses — especially those that sprang up in recent years around the promise of the burgeoning energy industry and population growth, only to see commerce wane in the wake of the industry’s slowdown.

“In general, business is slower,” said Brooke Leno, manager of Out of Town and Out of Town Kids in the Prairie Hills Mall. “People aren’t coming in and dropping a bunch of money like they used to. They’re being more strategic about their purchases. It’s nothing that’s going to make or break us. It’s definitely slower and you can tell. But it seems like the last few days, people are getting into that Christmas shopping.”

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Theater ownership still planning expansion outside of mall

The Cine 3 theatre is shown Tuesday in the Prairie Hills Mall in Dickinson.

The company that runs the Cine 3 theatre in the Prairie Hills Mall says it’s getting closer to building its own facility, but that it’s more than a year away from making any such move.

Odyssey Entertainment, based in the Twin Cities suburb of Maple Grove, Minn., said while it has a long-term lease with the mall’s ownership group, the company continues to actively search for development sites in the city because it hopes to build at least an eight-screen stand-alone theater.

“We’re seeking alternative options, and we have plans to redevelop a theatre,” said Bryan Sieve, head of development for Odyssey. “It won’t be at the mall.”

Since coming to Dickinson in January 2012 and replacing Carmike Cinemas, Sieve said Odyssey has made it known that while the company is happy with the amount of business it brings in at its three-screen location, its longterm plans are to grow and the mall facility won’t allow for that.
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Thrifty White Pharmacy leaving mall in March

0215 Business Notebook 1 web — The new Thrifty White Pharmacy building is shown on the Third Avenue West frontage road Friday in north Dickinson.

A longtime tenant of the Prairie Hills Mall is leaving for its own space.

Dave Reuter, vice president of personnel for Thrifty White Pharmacy, said the Dickinson business is relocating to its own building nearing completion on the Third Avenue West frontage road between Brady Martz and Eyewear Concepts and behind the North Hills Shopping Center.

The new pharmacy plans to be open in its new location Monday, March 2, Reuter said. Its final day at the mall is Saturday, Feb. 28.

“This really gets us into a real building that’s a professional pharmacy,” he said.

The store, commonly known by its former name, White Drug, is selling out of its food and other merchandise at the mall location through the rest of February.

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Prairie Hills Mall to add popular food chains

Qdoba, Jimmy John’s and City Brew Coffee on the list

Two popular fast-food restaurants and a coffee shop are making plans to locate in the building being constructed in the Prairie Hills Mall east parking lot.

The mall announced the addition of Qdoba Mexican Grill, Jimmy John’s and City Brew Coffee Co. on Wednesday in a news release.

“This is a very exciting project for Prairie Hills Mall,” Peggy O’Brien, Prairie Hills Mall’s manager, said in the release. “Our construction of the new outbuilding allows Prairie Hills Mall to continue our ongoing dedication to Dickinson and the surrounding communities by welcoming tenants who share our commitment to quality.”

Qdoba is a popular food chain that serves Mexican-style food. Jimmy John’s is a sandwich restaurant that is also known for specializing in delivery.

City Brew is a Montana-based company founded in 1998 that has 17 locations in Montana and two in Wyoming. Dickinson will be the company’s first North Dakota store. It’s Dickinson location will feature a drive-thru. “City Brew Coffee Company is honored to be part of the growing community of Dickinson,” Jared Smith of City Brew stated in the release.

Kmart out, Cash Wise in: Big-box store to be replaced by supermarket after 36 years in mall

The first big-box store in Dickinson is closing its doors at the end of the year and a new supermarket is taking its place.

Representatives for Kmart and the Prairie Hills Mall announced Tuesday that the store will close in early December after 36 years. About an hour later, Coburn’s Inc., owner of Cash Wise Foods and Cash Wise Liquors announced that it plans to move into the space and open the supermarket and liquor store by spring 2015.

“We’ve been working to find the right opportunity to come to Dickinson for some time now and I’m glad everything has come together to allow us to open in the spring,” Chris Coburn, Coburn’s president and CEO, said in a news release.

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