An extant asset
Having previously had a great time on my first trip to Montana at Great Falls with its quirky Holiday Village, I knew that subsequent visits were likely. My second trip was to Kalispell, a small mountain town near the top of my list for a visit due to its proximity to Glacier National Park, cozy hamlet vibes and the presence of a shopping mall just outside of its downtown.
1- The main lobby of the Red Lion Hotel. 2- The passage leading to the Kalispell Center Mall and an adjoining casino. 3 to 7- The breakfast seating area in all of its eighties glory, complete with flowing water feature. 8- The still closed entrance to the main concourse.
One of the anchors of the Kalispell Center Mall also served as my home during my short visit. The Red Lion Hotel occupies a prominent spot on the center’s eastern end. Not yet having stayed in mall adjacent lodging, this was a first for me.
My visit to Kalispell Center Mall started as soon as I arrived. I checked into the Red Lion Inn and was rather impressed with its hunting lodge inspired décor. In the lobby, the chandelier of antlers told me that, yes, I was truly in Montana.
1 to 4- The courtyard of the Red Lion Hotel. 5 & 6- The hotel’s exterior. 7 & 8- Differently styled mall signs just off of Main Street.
It wasn’t until the following morning that I got my first glance of the Kalispell Center Mall common areas. Heading down to grab some breakfast, I was glad to see that the seating was located just inside the hotel’s mall entrance. Through the lowered gate, I witnessed the dimly lit concourse, a scattering of still occupied storefronts and the sounds of echoing mall music.
After my hunger was satiated, I bundled up for a walk down Kalispell’s main street, which ran just to the mall’s east. Although I am a city boy through and through, I do love a stroll through these small cities’ downtowns. I was rather impressed with Depot Park, the Northern Montana History Museum and two fantastic examples of art deco, the Strand Theater and the City Garage.
1 & 2- The eastern end of Kalispell Center Mall including the Red Lion Hotel. 3 & 4- The common area from across West Center Street. 5 & 6- Herberger’s.
As my hands began to lose all feeling, I finally found myself back at the Kalispell Center Mall. Still less than an hour before its opening, it stretched for quite a good distance along West Center Street. On the west end, still labeled and in pristine condition as if it were about to welcome patrons along with the rest of the complex, was the long closed Herberger’s store.
Kalispell Center Mall pamphlet ca. 2015. View the full PDF version here.
The varying angles of the common area’s façade between Herberger’s and the Red Lion Hotel was dressed in earth toned brick and stonework with a wooden structure displaying tenant’s name stretching the entire distance. There were two main mall entrances with the eastern most access displaying the JCPenney logo as its building was located in the rear of the complex.
1 to 5- Herberger’s expansive store closed in 2018. 6- The westernmost front entrance to Kalispell Center Mall.
Kalispell Center’s Mall’s flanking side abutted what was once a railroad line that has now been transformed to the Parkline Trail. The rear also contains the JCPenney store with its lone, diminutive entrance labeled for package pickup. To its west was another junior anchor spot, once hosting a second location for Herberger’s before their expansion. Without much parking along the backside, it hosted no mall entrances.
I entered at the JCPenney labeled entrance just before Kalispell Center Mall’s official opening. The parking lot remained just as empty as it was an hour before and the concourse was empty minus a few mall walkers. The décor was pure eighties retail style with no updates that I could see. Still very clean and brightly lit, had half of the storefronts not been vacant, I would think that I was transported back to the decade of big hair, shoulder pads and tight-rolled jeans.
1- The varying angles marking the exterior of Kalispell Center Mall. 2- The western entrance. 3 & 4- The front façade between the two front entrances. 5 to 7- The eastern entrance leading to JCPenney. 8- The entrance to the Red Lion Hotel’s conference rooms.
Most occupied spaces were tenanted by local outfits with a few national names such as Bath & Body Works, Zumiez and Maurice's among them. The long departed nameplates of Payless ShoeSource, Claire’s and Herberger’s still marked their former homes. It was an absolute time capsule and I was loving it.
1- The rear of Kalispell Center Mall from the northeast. 2- The Red Lion Hotel and JCPenney from the north. 3 to 6- The JCPenney store with it nearly hidden exterior entrance. 7 & 8- The junior anchor spot once occupied by Herberger’s. 9 & 10- The flanking façade of Herberger’s.
It was nice to walk directly from the small confines of the Kalispell Center Mall directly back into my hotel without having to once again brave the temperature in the low twenties just outside. I would also make a few more visits during my stay, but even at later times, the number of shoppers remained sparce.
Kalispell Center Mall opened in 1986 on the site of a disused railway yard. Despite protests from some evicted businesses, the nearly 350,000 square foot facility debuted with Herberger’s, JCPenney and the Red Lion Hotel serving as anchors to its fifty smaller shops.
1 to 3- Just inside the western mall entrance. 4 & 5- Herberger’s darkened mall entrance. 6 to 8- The mall entrance and corridor leading to the junior anchor. 9 & 10- The western end of Kalispell Center Mall’s main concourse.
The new competitor’s opening had an immediate impact on Kalispell’s incumbent enclosed retail facility, Gateway West Mall, with the older center’s eventual conversion to a community center. Kalispell Center Mall saw several decades of success, with big changes coming in the latter half of the 2010s.
Kalispell Center Mall pamphlet ca. 2019. View the full PDF version here.
Herberger’s department store, having just completed an expansion nearly doubling the size of their footprint in 2017, closed its doors completely the following year after the bankruptcy of its owners, The Bon Ton Group. This left JCPenney as the lone retail anchor, which still seems to see respectable business today.
The main concourse in between the two front facing entrances.
Over the following years and through the pandemic, more tenants departed as online shopping and further retail developments along Kalispell’s northern outskirts were added to the landscape. In 2024, the complex was sold to Texas based developers Shop Cos. In 2025 they announced their tentative plans for the site.
Hoping to capitalize on the opening of the successful Parkline Trail project built on the northern fringes of the property, they proposed a renaming to the Parkline District. Most of the redevelopment would be focused on the vacant 80,000 square foot former Herberger’s while the Red Lion Hotel, JCPenney and the enclosed common area were to be spared. For now.
1 to 4- The court area in front of JCPenney’s mall entrance. 5 to 8- The eastern end of Kalispell Center Mall’s main concourse leading to the Red Lion Hotel. 9 & 10- The now opened entrance connecting the mall to the hotel.
The transformation includes better integrating the site into neighboring Main Street with the addition of green spaces, residential buildings and additional free standing retail. Plans also include venues for live music, a possible new public library location and even a sculpture garden. However, as of this writing, no earth has yet to be moved at the site of Kalispell Center Mall. But, as quick a trip Kalispell is from where I live, I definitely see a follow up visit in the future to see how Parkline District is coming along.
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