Opening and expansions

The idea of the Holiday Village Mall was conceived in 1956 by owners Don F. Robinson, Theodore J. Mitchell and John T. Mitchell.^[1] The first store in the shopping center, an Albertsons food and drug store, opened for business in November 1959.^[1] The shopping center's formal grand opening was held in January 1960.^[1] Among the first stores in the 100,000 square-foot center were Hesteds, Rosana, Kops Music Mart, and Holiday Jewelry and Gifts.^[1]

The first expansion of the shopping center, completed in September 1962, added an enclosed wing with several new shops and a 4B's buffet-style restaurant.^[2] Another addition, a larger Hesteds department store, opened in November 1962.^[3] Skaggs Drug Centers acquired the Albertsons pharmacy in July 1963.^[4]

Ground was broken for another expansion of the mall in February 1966.^[5] The new expansion, which was completed in September, included a Montgomery Ward department store and service center.^[6] A third expansion of the mall was constructed in 1967.^[7] This expansion included the addition of a Buttrey-Osco food and drug store and a first-run, 796-seat movie theater.^[7] The opening of the new section was briefly delayed after a fire caused damage to the new Buttrey-Osco store.^[7] In July 1969, a Buttreys Suburban department store opened at the mall.^[8]

Anchor changes

In November 1975, Hesteds announced its plans to close by the end of the year.^[9] Four months later, Buttreys Suburban announced plans to close as well.^[10] By the end of the year, the former Hesteds space was sold to Herberger's, while J. C. Penney moved into the former Buttreys Suburban space.^[11] In 1979, Holiday Village Mall was acquired by Macerich, which renovated the mall the same year.^[12]

Following the merger of American Stores and Jewel Companies, Skaggs Drug Centers was rebranded as Osco Drug in February 1985.^[13] The Fox Holiday Theater was closed in January 1989^[14] and demolished in October 1990 for additional parking.^[15] In November 1989, Buttrey-Osco announced it would close its store in early 1990.^[16] In August 1990, after months of speculation, Sears confirmed plans to close its downtown Great Falls store and relocate to the site of the former Buttrey-Osco store in late fall 1991.^[17] During 1991, Herberger's expanded its store after acquiring 8,500 square-feet of space on the mall's lower-level from Big Bear Sports Centers.^[18]

In January 1999, Montgomery Ward announced it would close its store after 33 years at the mall and 70 years in Great Falls.^[19] Shortly after the announcement, The Bon Marché, which had recently closed its downtown Great Falls store, announced it was considering opening in the vacant Wards space.^[20] In August, Albertsons, the mall's first tenant, announced it would close at the end of October.^[21]

In March 2000, Herberger's announced it would move from its current store into the empty Montgomery Ward space.^[22] In December 2001, Osco Drug announced it would move from its current space to a free-standing location on the site of the former Montgomery Ward auto center.^[23] However, Osco Drug officials later scrapped their plans.^[24] Ross Dress for Less announced plans to open a store in the vacant Albertsons space in March 2005.^[25] After numerous delays, the store was finally opened in April 2007.

Changes since 2005

In November 2005, Scheels, which has operated in the mall since 1968, announced plans build a larger store on the site of the former Herberger's building.^[26] Plans were later changed to remodel the vacant space, instead of the demolishing the vacant building.^[27] After much anticipation, Scheels opened its new store in February 2007.^[28] The empty Scheels space was quickly filled by Bed Bath & Beyond in October 2007.^[29]

In July 2006, Macerich sold the shopping center to GK Development.^[30]

In 2009, CVS Pharmacy, which acquired Osco Drug from Albertsons in 2005, closed its store after a new free-standing location was built nearby.^[31] The old CVS store was replaced by Big Lots in November 2011.^[32] Sears announced the closure of its store in September 2014.^[33] A Sears Hometown Store was opened in the mall in November 2015^[34] but closed in 2018.^[35]

Hobby Lobby and PetSmart moved into the vacant Sears space in early 2017.^[36] In April 2018, Herberger's parent company The Bon-Ton announced it will liquidate and close all 267 stores.^[37] A Harbor Freight Tools store was added to a portion of the former Herberger's building in January 2019.^[38]

In January 2023, Bed Bath & Beyond announced the store at the mall will close in March.^[39]