The Crossroads (72 & Dodge)

Padre · Post by **Padre** » Sat Mar 07, 2020 3:32 pm

At one point I rememeber someone saying B&N wanted to reopen when they renovated Crossroads. If they wanted to stay in the neighborhood there are a couple open spots right around 78th and Dodge. Probably the better one would be right next to Goodwill.

laserdisque · Post by **laserdisque** » Sun Mar 08, 2020 8:15 pm

Found this in the Omaha subreddit about B&N.

"I'm an employee there. Just got word our last day open is coming up soon(ish). There's been nothing in the paper, no news coverage. Other stores in the mall have no idea, including the mall manager. We were supposed to have inventory but it got cancelled because the mall is being demolished and then we were told we're closing. I'm hoping it's a miscommunication."

empires228 · Post by **empires228** » Sat Mar 28, 2020 10:14 pm

laserdisque wrote: Sun Mar 08, 2020 8:15 pm Found this in the Omaha subreddit about B&N.

"I'm an employee there. Just got word our last day open is coming up soon(ish). There's been nothing in the paper, no news coverage. Other stores in the mall have no idea, including the mall manager. We were supposed to have inventory but it got cancelled because the mall is being demolished and then we were told we're closing. I'm hoping it's a miscommunication."

I was just in Omaha two weeks ago and the mall had just had an event in the Dillard's wing earlier that day, but it was clear that the end was near. The northern entrances were both locked, a woman found herself unable to get back into the parking garage from the door she came out of, etc. B&N should move to West Roads. I'm sure Brookfield would help them carve up a chunk of Younkers.

Padre · Post by **Padre** » Sun Mar 29, 2020 6:50 pm

empires228 wrote: Sat Mar 28, 2020 10:14 pm
laserdisque wrote: Sun Mar 08, 2020 8:15 pm Found this in the Omaha subreddit about B&N.

"I'm an employee there. Just got word our last day open is coming up soon(ish). There's been nothing in the paper, no news coverage. Other stores in the mall have no idea, including the mall manager. We were supposed to have inventory but it got cancelled because the mall is being demolished and then we were told we're closing. I'm hoping it's a miscommunication."
I was just in Omaha two weeks ago and the mall had just had an event in the Dillard's wing earlier that day, but it was clear that the end was near. The northern entrances were both locked, a woman found herself unable to get back into the parking garage from the door she came out of, etc. B&N should move to West Roads. I'm sure Brookfield would help them carve up a chunk of Younkers.

Granite City’s spot is open.

hatwate · Post by **hatwate** » Sat Apr 04, 2020 2:40 pm

Padre wrote: Sun Mar 29, 2020 6:50 pm
empires228 wrote: Sat Mar 28, 2020 10:14 pm
laserdisque wrote: Sun Mar 08, 2020 8:15 pm Found this in the Omaha subreddit about B&N.

"I'm an employee there. Just got word our last day open is coming up soon(ish). There's been nothing in the paper, no news coverage. Other stores in the mall have no idea, including the mall manager. We were supposed to have inventory but it got cancelled because the mall is being demolished and then we were told we're closing. I'm hoping it's a miscommunication."
I was just in Omaha two weeks ago and the mall had just had an event in the Dillard's wing earlier that day, but it was clear that the end was near. The northern entrances were both locked, a woman found herself unable to get back into the parking garage from the door she came out of, etc. B&N should move to West Roads. I'm sure Brookfield would help them carve up a chunk of Younkers.
Granite City’s spot is open.

On another social media group, someone was looking for info about Crossroads being imploded on 6/30/2020. Didn't source their sparse info, but thought I would pass it on.

bbinks · Post by **bbinks** » Sat Apr 04, 2020 3:17 pm

hatwate wrote: Sat Apr 04, 2020 2:40 pm
Padre wrote: Sun Mar 29, 2020 6:50 pm
empires228 wrote: Sat Mar 28, 2020 10:14 pm
laserdisque wrote: Sun Mar 08, 2020 8:15 pm Found this in the Omaha subreddit about B&N.

"I'm an employee there. Just got word our last day open is coming up soon(ish). There's been nothing in the paper, no news coverage. Other stores in the mall have no idea, including the mall manager. We were supposed to have inventory but it got cancelled because the mall is being demolished and then we were told we're closing. I'm hoping it's a miscommunication."
I was just in Omaha two weeks ago and the mall had just had an event in the Dillard's wing earlier that day, but it was clear that the end was near. The northern entrances were both locked, a woman found herself unable to get back into the parking garage from the door she came out of, etc. B&N should move to West Roads. I'm sure Brookfield would help them carve up a chunk of Younkers.
Granite City’s spot is open.
On another social media group, someone was looking for info about Crossroads being imploded on 6/30/2020. Didn't source their sparse info, but thought I would pass it on.

Target still owns their building and parking lot. So hard to implode the whole thing.

S.O.Boy · Post by **S.O.Boy** » Sun Apr 05, 2020 11:00 pm

I always thought what happened to Crossroads was management didn't care. You have Fairacres a mile away, so there should be shoppers. I remember going there and seeing groups of 20 to 30 teens They weren't doing anything, but that many could make some feel nervous.

Dundeemaha · Post by **Dundeemaha** » Sun Apr 05, 2020 11:06 pm

Fairacres is only dozens of homes.

Malls fell out of style and corporate raiders feasted of the still breathing corpses of American enterprises. Buying companies with their own debt and sucking them dry to buy a dozen more mega yachts.

Times change and just like the Center Mall before it Crossroads will become something new to fit the times or be a blight on the landscape for another decade or two.

Busguy2010 · Post by **Busguy2010** » Tue Apr 07, 2020 11:59 pm

I guess it sounds like the mall will be demolished for the the 4th time.

https://www.wowt.com/content/news/Cross ... CsTtDEWx_4

Athomsfere · Post by **Athomsfere** » Wed Apr 08, 2020 8:22 am

Busguy2010 wrote: Tue Apr 07, 2020 11:59 pm I guess it sounds like the mall will be demolished for the the 4th time.

https://www.wowt.com/content/news/Cross ... CsTtDEWx_4

I feel like it might get demo'd, but sit empty now.

Greg S · Post by **Greg S** » Wed Apr 08, 2020 8:57 am

Are there new owners? I don't remember Century Development being referred to in previous plans to redevelop this property.

Greg

ita · Post by **ita** » Wed Apr 08, 2020 9:29 am

Greg S wrote: Wed Apr 08, 2020 8:57 am Are there new owners? I don't remember Century Development being referred to in previous plans to redevelop this property.

Greg

It's Franck Krejci's company. Previous articles have always just said that Krejci is the owner; it's true, he just owns it through Century.

https://journalstar.com/business/local/ ... 03286.html

Greg S · Post by **Greg S** » Wed Apr 08, 2020 10:02 am

ita wrote: Wed Apr 08, 2020 9:29 am
Greg S wrote: Wed Apr 08, 2020 8:57 am Are there new owners? I don't remember Century Development being referred to in previous plans to redevelop this property.

Greg
It's Franck Krejci's company. Previous articles have always just said that Krejci is the owner; it's true, he just owns it through Century.

https://journalstar.com/business/local/ ... 03286.html

Ok thanks. Wonder if this signals he's doing it without Rod Yates?

ita · Post by **ita** » Wed Apr 08, 2020 10:24 am

Greg S wrote: Wed Apr 08, 2020 10:02 am
ita wrote: Wed Apr 08, 2020 9:29 am
Greg S wrote: Wed Apr 08, 2020 8:57 am Are there new owners? I don't remember Century Development being referred to in previous plans to redevelop this property.

Greg
It's Franck Krejci's company. Previous articles have always just said that Krejci is the owner; it's true, he just owns it through Century.

https://journalstar.com/business/local/ ... 03286.html
Ok thanks. Wonder if this signals he's doing it without Rod Yates?

Yeah, Rod Yates is a goner on this project and will not be working with Frank. This was reported last year. Rumor is Frank is working with Lockwood, per previous posts on the subject.

Here's that article about Yates: https://www.omaha.com/money/crossroads- ... f13db.html

ita · Post by **ita** » Wed Apr 08, 2020 10:54 am

I feel for all the tenants who will be losing their location at the Crossroads, but I was especially concerned about the Czech museum/store. I was hoping they would move to Little Bohemia, but based on the Facebook page they are moving to a spot somewhere in La Vista.

Padre · Post by **Padre** » Wed Apr 08, 2020 11:56 am

When they demolish it, will they also tear down the old Bag n Save and Best Buy building next door? What happens to Applebee’s?

Padre · Post by **Padre** » Wed Apr 08, 2020 12:17 pm

ita wrote: Wed Apr 08, 2020 10:54 am I feel for all the tenants who will be losing their location at the Crossroads, but I was especially concerned about the Czech museum/store. I was hoping they would move to Little Bohemia, but based on the Facebook page they are moving to a spot somewhere in La Vista.

Czech and Slovak Museum
8106 South 84th Street
LaVista, NE 68128.

bigredmed1 · Post by **bigredmed1** » Wed Apr 08, 2020 6:11 pm

Padre wrote: Wed Apr 08, 2020 12:17 pm
ita wrote: Wed Apr 08, 2020 10:54 am I feel for all the tenants who will be losing their location at the Crossroads, but I was especially concerned about the Czech museum/store. I was hoping they would move to Little Bohemia, but based on the Facebook page they are moving to a spot somewhere in La Vista.
Czech and Slovak Museum
8106 South 84th Street
LaVista, NE 68128.

13th Street would be a cool location, but they have a lot of stuff to display and I bet the rent on 13th is really high.

omaha79 · Post by **omaha79** » Thu Apr 09, 2020 8:01 am

Padre wrote: Wed Apr 08, 2020 12:17 pm
ita wrote: Wed Apr 08, 2020 10:54 am I feel for all the tenants who will be losing their location at the Crossroads, but I was especially concerned about the Czech museum/store. I was hoping they would move to Little Bohemia, but based on the Facebook page they are moving to a spot somewhere in La Vista.
Czech and Slovak Museum
8106 South 84th Street
LaVista, NE 68128.

Interesting. That's somewhere in the Brentwood strip. Not sure which bay.

djc311 · Post by **djc311** » Thu Apr 09, 2020 2:10 pm

I may have asked this before but I'm hoping to find some pics of the old Crossroads Santa station they had in the mall years ago... to be more specific, I believe it would have been the early 1980s and I "think" it was when they put Santa towards the end by Brandeis (unless it was the opposite end which would have been Sears). Regardless, it was years before they put the circus tents in the middle and added the food court.

My recollection is they had a small village set up that you walked down the middle of to visit Santa. Each side of the village had some buildings that had animatronic Elves or other characters hanging out of the windows. This is all coming from my memory 40 years ago so I might be off a little, but this is what I remember.

Specifically I was hoping someone might have pictures of the scenery/village portion. With the demise (or demolition) of Crossroads soon, I imagine these things could be harder to find.

On a separate note, when I ran my small business, The Omaha Chocolate Co years ago we had a spot in Crossroads for about 2 weeks. This was after everything of significance was more or less already closed... I think we sold about 2-3 pops in our store the entire time we were there. It's pretty disappointing to see how it's basically fallen apart. Anyway, when I was thinking of putting a pop up store in the mall the property manager took me into the basement, I think to see if they had fixtures I could use from previously closed stores. I guess back in "the day" they had a movie theater and/or video arcade down there? I'm 45 and don't remember that at all, so I don't know if that closed before I was old enough to remember visiting the mall or if my parents just never took me down there.

On an sentimental note, I grew up near Target on Saddle Creek RD (another disappointment knowing they tore that down as well). Crossroads was THE mall for my family when I was a kid. Mr Bulky's, Jolly Time arcade... and if I remember correctly my parents would go into the basement in the middle of the mall occasionally because there was a post office or county assessor office to pay taxes, I can't remember for sure. But when they built the circus tents I remember it was a huge deal. Younkers sold Guess, Leggoons and Swatch watches... Maybe this is how my parents feel when they think of things they were able to do when they were younger but no longer can. Must have something to do with getting old.

bigredmed1 · Post by **bigredmed1** » Thu Apr 09, 2020 3:41 pm

Both the Crossroads and the Westroads had county offices in their basements. I don't remember much about the Crossroads' basement, but the Westroads had the county offices (and a lot of stuff could be done there) and a helipad by where Penneys and Von Maur is now. Sucks that they are all gone.

jag42 · Post by **jag42** » Thu Apr 09, 2020 5:57 pm

Djc311:
Yes the basement of Crossroads used to have an arcade and a 2-screen movie theater. I remember when I was a kid, a new Star Wars arcade game came out and "Darth Vader" made an appearance in the old downstairs arcade to promote the new arcade game.

A few years later, in the late 1980s, I was a teenager working at a restaurant in the food court. Our storage space and other mall tenants' storage space was in that old downstairs arcade. It was always weird seeing the peeling paint on the walls from when it was the arcade, whenever I had to go down there to get a box of cups, lids, paper plates or whatever.

Post by **Omaha Cowboy** » Thu Apr 09, 2020 8:54 pm

It’s curious, to me at least, that the only media outlet reporting this news is WOWT.. No other Omaha media outlet I’m aware of has collaborated this Crossroads demolition story..

If another has, please enlighten me. If not, given the history of supposed Crossroads demolitions of the past, I question the 100% legitimacy of this news story..

We shall see...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

ita · Post by **ita** » Thu Apr 09, 2020 9:52 pm

Omaha Cowboy wrote: Thu Apr 09, 2020 8:54 pm It’s curious, to me at least, that the only media outlet reporting this news is WOWT.. No other Omaha media outlet I’m aware of has collaborated this Crossroads demolition story..

If another has, please enlighten me. If not, given the history of supposed Crossroads demolitions of the past, I question the 100% legitimacy of this news story..

We shall see...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

To be fair, though the title of the article is click bit-y, the journalist does make clear that 1) the tenants have been told that the mall will be demolished and they are claiming it will be demolished and 2) the developer declined to respond. Based on the mayor's last visit with grow Omaha, she commented that new plans would be announced soon by Krecji and the city concerning crossroads.

Regardless of the rumors, the fact is the matter is that the tenants are being evicted. I am as wary of rumors as you when it comes to development plans (it's not happening til there are shovels in the ground or, in this case, bulldozers at the door), but I can't imagine him leaving it completely empty without a stream of income for too long before moving forward with any plans he may have.

Post by **Omaha Cowboy** » Thu Apr 09, 2020 11:15 pm

ita wrote: Thu Apr 09, 2020 9:52 pm
Omaha Cowboy wrote: Thu Apr 09, 2020 8:54 pm It’s curious, to me at least, that the only media outlet reporting this news is WOWT.. No other Omaha media outlet I’m aware of has collaborated this Crossroads demolition story..

If another has, please enlighten me. If not, given the history of supposed Crossroads demolitions of the past, I question the 100% legitimacy of this news story..

We shall see...

Ciao..LiO...Peace
To be fair, though the title of the article is click bit-y, the journalist does make clear that 1) the tenants have been told that the mall will be demolished and they are claiming it will be demolished and 2) the developer declined to respond. Based on the mayor's last visit with grow Omaha, she commented that new plans would be announced soon by Krecji and the city concerning crossroads.

Regardless of the rumors, the fact is the matter is that the tenants are being evicted.

I hear what you’re saying..

But, even during a pandemic, this would be significant local news worthy of multiple Omaha media outlets collaborating and reporting on the same information..But all we have is WOWT?..

Are we certain it’s “fact” that the tenants are being evicted?..We’ve walked this dog before and we’ve come up goose eggs..

Just sayin’..I have my doubts...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

bbinks · Post by **bbinks** » Fri Apr 10, 2020 12:06 am

I did see it on KETV, KPTM, and KFAB

Post by **Omaha Cowboy** » Fri Apr 10, 2020 1:11 am

Interesting. I see no evidence of a story on either the KETV or KPTM websites. I’m not a regular listener to KFAB, except for Grow Omaha on Saturday mornings..

Thanks for the heads up and I’ll take your word for it, but I still have my doubts...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

bbinks · Post by **bbinks** » Fri Apr 10, 2020 5:22 am

Here's the KETV one, I can't find the KPTM in my history.

https://www.ketv.com/article/crossroads ... d/32086626

Post by **nebugeater** » Fri Apr 10, 2020 6:15 am

https://kfab.iheart.com/content/2020-04 ... emolished/

KFAB is just reporting the news as reported by WOWT, their news partner. They have talked about this on air.

Post by **Omaha Cowboy** » Fri Apr 10, 2020 7:08 am

Thanks for the info guys..

Still sounds like there are a lot of “unknowns” as it relates to all mall tenants needing to get out by the end of the month- especially B&N and Target.. I also find it quite a bit unusual that during the dog days of a pandemic, the mall owner would elect to have tenants move out by the end of April.. That the city has yet to approve a demolition permit is also a red flag..

We shall see. I still have some doubts...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

bbinks · Post by **bbinks** » Fri Apr 10, 2020 11:23 am

Target owns it's building, land, and parking lot.

I think they stay.

buildomaha · Post by **buildomaha** » Fri Apr 10, 2020 1:12 pm

Maybe developer wants to make use of low interest rates right now. Kind of genius if you ask me.

cchandler790 · Post by **cchandler790** » Sat Apr 11, 2020 2:26 pm

Target is staying for now, and barnes and noble is leaving

S.O.Boy · Post by **S.O.Boy** » Sat Apr 11, 2020 4:36 pm

Still getting emails from B&N listing this store as my local store.

Post by **Omaha Cowboy** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 1:35 am

My doubts continue...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 8:59 am

Crossroads Mall redevelopment project on the front burner again

After a 22-year run at the Crossroads Mall, anchor bookstore Barnes & Noble was told to pack up.

(Target owns its own building on the east end of the mall property and has said before that it has no plans to move.)

Post by **Omaha Cowboy** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 1:11 pm

I wonder if this B&N store will relocate..or shutter completely..

Leavening a 1 million population Omaha metro with one lone B&N left.. There are many metros Omaha’s size to several hundred thousand smaller that still have multiple B&N locations open...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

S.O.Boy · Post by **S.O.Boy** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 2:22 pm

Omaha Cowboy wrote: Sun Apr 12, 2020 1:35 am My doubts continue...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

I will doubt the demolition, till it starts.

Post by **Omaha Cowboy** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 3:05 pm

S.O.Boy wrote: Sun Apr 12, 2020 2:22 pm
Omaha Cowboy wrote: Sun Apr 12, 2020 1:35 am My doubts continue...

Ciao..LiO...Peace
I will doubt the demolition, till it starts.

No doubt (pardon the pun)...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

S.O.Boy · Post by **S.O.Boy** » Sun Apr 12, 2020 3:56 pm

Omaha Cowboy wrote: Sun Apr 12, 2020 1:11 pm I wonder if this B&N store will relocate..or shutter completely..

Leavening a 1 million population Omaha metro with one lone B&N left.. There are many metros Omaha’s size to several hundred thousand smaller that still have multiple B&N locations open...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

I thought I saw someone say the employees were told the store will close, but I am unable to refind where I read that.