A Visit to West Acres Mall (ND) 

The brightly painted bison @9:28 is part of a collection/herd that reside at various locations in the Fargo-Moorhead area. They were created for "Herd About The Prairie: A Virtual Art Stampede" in 2005. Each has a name and was painted by different artists. Finding them around the area is an excursion in itself.

You could always stay at Brewhalla! The local brewery, Drekker, added on a minimall to their brewery, right next to downtown Fargo. Its like $200 a night at their hotel, you have access to free beer in your room, and all of the restaurants and shops downstairs are owned locally! They have a steakhouse, burgers, pizza, oysters, coffee, ramen, and a couple of sweets shops. One specializes in pastries, the other, dairy. In fact, the Cow's and Co creamery and daury farm is two hours northwest of here, and you can just taste the freshness!

A handful of years ago, I would walk around this mall for 20 minutes of exercise. I remember a young lady would sometimes be playing the mall piano with a tip jar that said "help me get to Seattle." She had some skills, and she was putting in work to her playing! Always worth standing and listening for a minute until she switched to the next song. I've moved around a bit, but recently made it into the mall again and took another lap around. When I see that piano, I think of her and wonder if she made it where she wanted to or found a different path to follow. Whatever the case, I hope she's doing well!

Nice video! I lived in Fargo for 29 yrs. Moved to TN 20 yrs ago. West Acres was a great hangout in the 80's & 90's. Also, Wahpeton is pronounced "Wop-uh-ton."

We're SO EXCITED that Von Maur is coming to the empty anchor store. It's SUCH a good dept store. I go to the one in Chicago, and it carries such beautiful women's clothing, and the largest selection of pajamas I've ever seen!

That's not even kind of busy. Come back on a Saturday or Sunday when all of the out of towers come, you'll actually understand busy mall.

It's not very often I'm proud to be from Fargo, but every once and a while I remember I love this place.

This is so amazing! 😊 Thank you so much for visiting West Acres and making this wonderful video! We would love for you to join us again in the spring of 2025. We have some exciting things coming, like Von Maur opening up on the west side of our mall! ❤

I was born and raised in Fargo and remember when West Acres was all by itself except for Hornbachers. That area is all filled up with people and places. Fun memories of the mall when we were kids.

The best part of Friday! The fountain was incredible!

Wow it’s nice to see a mall that’s doing well! That foundation is really beautiful.

I moved here from Portland Oregon. Lloyd Center has totally shut down and Clackamas Town Center is barely holding on. I actually filmed West Acres and the bathroom to show all my west coast friends how beautiful this mall was and not all infrastructure is crumbling.

nicely done Fargo. looks like a decent size mall for a city that size. well lit nice decor & one of the nicest fountains i've seen in any mall.

I've lived in Fargo for almost 20 years! I think it's been about 7 years since the last time I set foot inside the Mall... It's nice to see how much it's changed since the last time I felt the need to shop there!

You should have gone to the lower level! The sports card store is huge. There's also some other small shops plus you get to see a glimpse of what the mall looks like in its early days as much of that back hallway remains intact from when the mall originally opened.

Glad to see the mall is doing well. Didn't recognize by name at first but I saw the thing on the left in the beginning and realized something. Oh shit, this is the mall with the Roger Maris Hall of Fame in it. Forgive me DG I'm a sports nerd and Maris for those who don't know was a legendary baseball player who grew up in ND. Good video man.

Kudos to you sir, for doing actual research on these malls. Most would not bother, but I find it makes these videos actually interesting rather than just curiosities. Nicely done!

Love seeing this! I grew up going to West Acres and remember before they remodeled the main entrance. It didn't look much different than the other entrances, and was where the clinic was. The store was was pronounced "De-LAWN-dra-sees." Some of the recipe tiles in the food court were donated by my family.

deLendrecie's is pronounced de Lendre c's where the Lendre is pronounced laundra as in laundry. It is an extremely historic business and its original store in downtown Fargo is a historic landmark and the building is still named after it.

Well done on this video!! There is still hope in malls. Thank you for showcasing a lively mall instead of only your typical dead or dying malls. It’s given me a sense of hope that malls still can be revitalized and reinvented to stay alive. Some areas were overbuilt with malls and the competition is fierce. It’s like survival to the fittest. Anyway, thank you for your work on documenting these once cherished places to gather, hang out and enjoy spending our hard earned money. Really appreciate your work. 👍

This is my home mall! I love our mall. It has a super regional draw that is only getting bigger as other malls in the region continue to languish. Plus, the Iowa department chain Von Maur is filling the last "empty" anchor area. Construction is well underway as of April 2024.

Moorhead center mall has since been torn town to make way for mixed retail, apartment housing and the new library. It was dying anyhow.

Nice to see a lively mall. This mall looks very nice and that BestBuy entrance is pretty interesting. Cool mall

8:09 Gah! You walked right by the lower level! I was dying to see what was still down there. There used to be a comic book shop, among other things. I'm in Bismarck, and haven't been able to get to Fargo in 5 years or so, but yeah, West Acres was always a booming place to be, and we'd go there every time we could. Things were constantly changing there, which kept each visit interesting. For instance, I did not know that Best Buy had moved into the mall proper. I used to have to trek across the lot. Also that amazing fireplace is new. The owners are making an effort and spending the money to keep the place interesting. Really nice video.

My parents are mall walkers at this mall now. Grew up chucking pennies into the fountain before they moved it. My favorite highschool girlfriend and I hung out here. Wife bought our first kitty here when we were college students. Lots of memories. Deh-LAWN-dreh-sees WAW-peh-ton. Pretty sure that last one is stolen from native americans. No shade just sharing pronounciation !

I'm glad you followed through and filmed this video. Not only did I like it, but it's nice to see a mall you really liked too.

This is so surreal. I used to live within walking distance of this mall, not too long ago.

I moved to the Red River Valley from Minot about 10 years ago, and I am very proud to call Fargo my hometown. Fargo is an awesome city to live in.

I should say I'm originally from that area, still live close. You're right, the cost of living is so cheap. I moved away for a while, couldn't wait to move back. Medora, Theodore Roosevelt national park is amazing and one of my favorite places in the world. Hotels will be expensive because of this. And it's Whap we ton, which isn't what you would think! I'm so happy you enjoyed west acres, they really have done a nice job. Your history about the mall is spot on!

Love your video man! I showed this to my girlfriend and she loved it so much, thanks for the awesome video of such an awesome busy place! :)

Wow, what a gorgeous mall. In Fargo of all places. Amazing!

Hopefully you stopped off and saw the woodchipper. 😄. Fargo is a really great place to live. Moved from Lincoln, NE to there in 2019 and lived there 4 years. We now moved on up to Grand Forks. Always loved West Acres.....great food court. Lots of good food.

Great video. I live in Fargo and you are right the West Acres Mall is truly a great indoor space and is always busy. Sorry if someone pointed it out to you already, but you seemed to have missed one of the best things in the mall: the Roger Maris Museum. You walked past it as you entered and left the mall. Tons of memorabilia from his MLB career and his historic *61 homer season.

I'm from Bismarck, such a beautiful mall. I'll have to go again next time we're in Fargo, haven't been in there in years.

Spent many a summer holiday in Fargo with my parents.....we would drive there from Winnipeg. Would take us 4 hours heading straight south. Loved the Roger Maris museum, and I believe there was a comic shop in the basement! We would stay at The Kelly Inn....had an outdoor pool! Thanks for this!

Nice choice for the intro jam.

Nice work that was awesome! Good job sir!

Beautiful mall. Very nice food court too. For years I ate there, many times a week. Nice play area for the children too. Great prices at the food court. They had subway, DQ as well.. also places that serve Cajun food etc.

Grew up here in the FM, lived in a lot of cities and states. This is the ONLY 'mall in America' where it's still alive and vibrant. We went to this mall in 72, last time in 2011 and that will be the last time I see my home town till I come back in another life. Till then FM...

I travel for work and see a lot of malls, and it always surprises me how nearly all of them are such depressing places. Mostly empty, most outlets closed, the few places open are usually going out of business. West Acres has always been thriving since I moved here in 1997 and I just never realized that it's the rare case, not the other way around. Just take a look at Moorhead Center Mall on the other side of the river. That place is a total bummer. I actually don't know if it's even still standing!

I live in a small town about 50 miles from Fargo and if we wanted to buy anything cool, we’d go to West Acres. I’ve spent many hours shopping there back as far as the late 70s when I’d go with my parents. It used to be a lot busier even on a week day. But it still really hops on the weekends. I rememeber tossing coins in that fountain as a very little kid. I’d have to stand on my tip toes to see over the edge and I could almost smell the chlorine-y water as you filmed it. It’s always been a nice mall.

It is usually MUCH busier than this. I am also proud of this mall for persevering.

I haven’t been in that mall in a very long time BUT it was the spot to go back in the day. Down by that water fountain there was an arcade and it was a good time. Many hours playing Mortal Kombat, Street fighter and TNMNT … good times

1st. I knew this would be a live mall with all the cars in the parking lot.

I live in fargo and growing up i would go quite often. Its quite the staple of Fargo.

Love this mall and I live real close to it! Hope it's around for a long time! ❤ great video, love the aesthetic and research work on the history.

That is a pretty interesting mall layout. This mall has a lot of character, especially in the JCPenney court.

Very Wonderful Video!!!!!! I LOVE THE FOUNTAIN!!!! A Very Highly Favorite and Like!!!! Corey Coyle

We lost most of the big name stores years ago, some as much as 30 years back. Sad!😢

Love a decent mall stroll 😂

It's call Fargo because you have to go far out of your way to get there! LOL. Perhaps it's someone's name. Very nice well-kept mall. Looks healthy to me.

Gonna have to update this after the reconstruction they are doing!

I’m feeling Doomie found his new home… 🎉🎉🎉

wow, lots of empty stores, and a few with signs on some store windows stating that they're leaving the mall.

The fireplace and the fountain are actually very nice. It is like they breathe life into the space. I am actually surprised you found lodging in Wahpeton (Whop-a-ton).

I was probably at work when you visited. 🤣Senior assistant manager of that Spencer's.

The mall is always packed even during school season

Joe's Cajun Cafe is good (at least in my opinion) if you ever drop by West Acres again. Crave too though it's a bit more expensive.

I’ve been to Fargo many many times and it’s so good. The mall is amazing the food they’re so good.

Another great entertaining, enjoyable and informative video, Keep em Rolling!

You're right, this mall is nearly perfect. I also like the embroidered lantern style decorations with the flowers on top. Also the fountain is pretty nice. I liked seeing people in the parking lot. That's a clear sign that a mall is doing more than well. This mall overall for me is a decent one.😊💚🎹🧵🪡🧶⛲🌸💮🌺🌼

I just ate at that Crave in this mall just a few days ago. That place is awesome.

Keep em Rolling, Thanks!

According to Wikipedia there were plans for an At Home store on the fmr Herburger's. But Von Maur is even better.

YAS I LOVE WEST ACRES BUT THE PAST FLOODS ID SAD I WANNA MOVE FROM FARGO BUT IDK

Reminds me of a mall near where I used to live in Orem, Utah. It’s called University Place (formerly University Mall). It’s got very similar aesthetics.

Herberger's was a chain similar to Dayton's and Macy's.. what was unique about it , you could walk in and start a Charge Account. I live in Bismarck and we have the Kirkwood Mall. I've been shopping there since 1973. It's nothing like the 70s thru the 90s. They changed the Carpeted floors for Tile floors in the 2000s. Makes it harder to walk as you get older. Since young people don't work jobs like they did last century, young people traffic is way down. Fargo was named for a Director of the Northern Pacific Railroad.

Fargo is named for the same guy Wells Fargo bank is half named after, William Fargo. He served some time as a director of the Northern Pacific railroad, the railroad that serviced the city. His name has certainly lent itself well to a delightful number of puns. When West Acres was new, it was often called "Wasted Acres" as a pejorative for being located in the middle of nowhere. Luckily the gamble paid off. It's so embedded into the built-up part of the city that I had grown up assuming that it was always in the middle of town from the beginning.

I like the fountain.

Wow! I saw customers instead of a few mall walkers. This place looked great, what a nice fountain, and the food court being huge and airey, with a giant fire place. This place looked nice and was busy, did you hit your head on something? Great video!

Its interesting to me that you thought this was almost too busy to film.. This mall gets way busier! West Acres is a good mall, and has only gotten better, especially in the last few years. Fantastic food court with the best ramen place in town (which is high praise, Fargo has great restaurants all around), lots of sitting areas, vending machines that dispense local art, and a generally clean and comfortable environment. You didn't show it but there is even a few shops downstairs, including a card shop that holds events for things like Pokémon and Smash Brothers. Pokemon Go is also huge at this mall as the fountain is a gym, which I think brings people in also. Definitely a great place just to hang out and get out of the cold in the winter! Most people come in from the food court entrance, so having the fireplace right there really does make for a nice place to warm up real quick before shopping. The only real issue I think is the mall is showing it's age in some places, and the ac doesn't always work well so some stores have to use portable ac units which don't help much. Something I hope they fix in the future. Anyway, you reading this, if you're ever in fargo and love malls west acres probably is the best one until you go out to the twin cities in Minnesota and even then I'd rather go to West Acres than brave the MOA

Rosedale mall is pretty active too. Next to it is Harmar which has a lot of up and downs.

So much crime in such a small area puts you at the vicinity of the problems a lot the red river valley is kinda outgrowing it’s self in entertainment transportation services etc also those fire places are very functional it’s very nice coming in from the cold

Its really all a numbers game. The more malls you have in an area the more likely there will be dying malls. Retailers choose to consolidate stores at malls that they perceive to be more successful. The malls that lose retailers due to regional consolidation lose foot traffic because there is less reason to go there. So although that leaves some malls to thrive now I believe eventually all malls will have to redevelop in order to stay relevant. If people keep losing stores at their local malls they will be less likely to shop at those retailers because they simply won't be exposed to them. Eventually more and more retailers will go bankrupt if they aren't able to reach the attention of the consumer.

this mall slaps

I don't get to the mall that much since post-Covid but nice to see it's still doing well. Back when Sears was still a thing I got there fairly often. And I've had a lot of good times meeting friends for lunch there over the years.

Wahpeton is pronounced like "water". Thanks for the video!

Grand Forks needs to take notes on how a mall should be ran. It's completely night and day when you compare the two! You don't even have to go the West Acres Mall to shop, you can meet up with friends and family and have lunch or go on a lunch date with your spouse and just sit around and visit.

This is my home! I don't go to the mall all that often, but my primary care doc is there lol

I go here all the time. I'm less than an hour away. Too bad you couldn't come to Westridge Mall in my town. Sad to see it so empty. Ghost town.

i swear every time i go to west acres the entire population of nd is there

Proud to say im from this state. Never heard someone pronounce Wahpeton (wuh-peh-tn) that way lol

Lovely mall!

Theyre building some apartment in that mall actually, its being constructed. I worked there two years ago.

Those stairs @8:10 (next to US Bank) once upon a time led down to The Pirates Den arcade. I spent many many quarters there when I was a "yoot". And yes, place names are hard if you're not from the local area. DeLendrecie’s is dee-Lahn-drah-cees. Wahpeton is wop-ah-ton. Thanks for visiting!

Love this mall! I had a chance to visit when I was in Fargo last year for the marathon. It’s really not that far from downtown 😅 Did you check out the cool barcade they have in Fargo?

Nice video 😊

Fargo will probably always have a busy mall, I live in Fergus Falls our mall is barely alive sadly.

You passed the stairwell to the lower level! Also, it's pronounce WHOP-pet-en.

It's pronounced D-lawn-dress-ease. Emphasis goes on the second syllable.

I’m from Bismarck and Kirkwood is also a very busy mall

We pronounce it: De Lawn dru sees Hope that helps. Thanks for the video about our largest mall!

I live in Fargo. I visit the mall often.

Malls are doing just fine. My local mall is constructing a $200 million addition because they are running out of space. This includes a new anchor.

Lululemon is a popular store and it's Canadian. Finally us Canadians get to talk about a successful/popular Canadian business. There's also Garage, but I don't know if there are stores in the U.S. I wouldn't be surprised if there are. Also, Doomie it's pronounced Lulu🍋. You're welcome.

For this video I ate some artificial flavoured chicken ramen noodle soup with some garlic and parmesan chips. For dessert I ate some strawberry and vanilla sponge cake with strawberry/vanilla frosting. This cake was store bought, but imported I think. I really love imported products. They're always better I find. Oh my goodness, I haven't eaten cake in eons. I also had some blueberry tea.🍜🧄🧀🍰🍓☕🫖

The kirkwood mall in Bismarck North Dakota is still doing well also.

0:02 nice turn there buddy

Just a correction on how to pronounce Wahpeton: pronounce it like the whopper from Burger King. (Whop-er-ton) or (Whop-eh-ton) are both accepted pronunciations.

i travel 3hrs once or twice a year 2 shopp here