Conestoga Marketplace looks to revive retail in Grand Island

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (KSNB) - The Conestoga Mall is well on its way to being transformed into the Conestoga Marketplace.

Grand Island Chamber of Commerce President Cindy Johnson said construction is “ahead of schedule.”

Crews are still working on the north side with the next step will be finalizing it for retailers to occupy. A hotel, apartment complex, and entertainment area will be featured. The hotel will be owned and operated by Paul Younes. The entertainment area will be an addition to the cinema company as a way to give people a physical activity to participate in.

Johnson said the marketplace module connects everything together, and having a facility with multiple functions will make it appealing to visitors. Residents will be able to plan their outings around what the Conestoga Marketplace will have to offer. Johnson hopes this project puts Grand Island back where it once was.

“Grand Island use to have a really strong market draw when it comes to retail sales,” Johnson said. “We would draw people in the range of 200,000 to 250,000 each year, and they were coming from all over out state Nebraska to shop in Grand Island.”

Johnson said the people enjoy spending time in Grand Island, and the new marketplace will restore that. Within the last 10 years there was a decline in attendance at the mall. Johnson said in that time frame, shopping has changed.

The north side won’t be complete until late 2024, completion of the entire marketplace is scheduled for 2025, and Target in 2026. The new design will give a different look and feel for shoppers.

“We’re moving back somewhat to the downtown model,” Johnson said. “Individuals will be able to park by the store that they intend to shop at. They’ll be able to walk into that store, do their shopping, and walk back out.”

Johnson said tenants that will be in the marketplace love the idea of outside facing storefronts. Adding, it makes it easier to identify customers who are coming into their store. During construction, foot traffic in the mall has slowed a bit, but that hasn’t stopped people from shopping.

“We’re doing record breaking sales, buy one get one half off that we’ve never done before,” said Brian Danner, manager at Tradehome Shoes. “We’re running sales on different products we never run, Dr. Martens, Sorel, (are) buy one get one get one half off. We’re just running a lot more sales than we ever have, just because the environment a little tough and everyone’s been running crazy deals.”

Danner said a variety of stores in the mall are having great sales. Tradehome Shoes has been in the Conestoga Mall for 35 years, and they always planned on staying. They feel they have the best location in the city.

Click here to subscribe to our KSNB Local4 daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.