Valley Fair
Construction on Valley Fair began on July 1, 1953. It was located in the Town of Menasha until the land on which it stood was annexed to Appleton. The mall was built by Hamilton Construction Company under the name Hoffman Shopping Centers, Inc. Designed by George Narovec, it was one of the first malls in Wisconsin to be enclosed. The mall's grand opening was March 10, 1955 and it opened fully on August 11, 1955. The mall originally had six stores: Krambo Supermarket (later renamed Kroger), House of Camera & Cards, Badger Paint & Hardware, Donald's, Hamilton Bakery, and Eddie's Self-Service Liquor to be joined later by such national retailers as Woolworth, W. T. Grant, Walgreens, and Thom McAn shoes.
Even though Grant's, one of the mall's anchors closed in 1976 due to the company's bankruptcy, Kohl's moved in shortly thereafter and the mall continued. It had little competition until the mid 1980s when the super-sized Fox River Mall was developed and built off US 41. Attempts at making it a family-oriented venue failed and by 2007, the mall was ready for the wrecking ball.
i sure wished they could have kept business in Valley Fair. I got my many times stolen bike from the Gambles Hardware Store.
ReplyDeleteYes it would have been nice to rebuild it, especially for the people who live in that area. For some it isn't easy to get all the way out to the FRM. Valley Fair was a beautiful mall and gave all of the people happy memories.
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