Arrowhead Plaza Shopping Center

Arrowhead Plaza

Arrowhead Plaza is a neighborhood strip mall located on 3rd Street betweeen Boulevard and Arikara Avenues. Arrowhead was Bismarck’s first shopping center and, by some counts, the first in North Dakota.

Arrowhead Plaza opened in 1953 and saw a major expansion in 1960. Until 2018, it was anchored by the original “Dan’s” Supermarket. Family Dollar replaced the former Dan’s space in 2019.

Despite its smaller footprint and relatively low-traffic location at the heart of a residential neighborhood, Arrowhead has held steady occupancy throughout the years, maintaining a strong presence as a major shopping destination.

History

Local real estate developer T. Clem Casey built Arrowhead Plaza to enhance his neighboring housing development. The shopping center officially opened on November 11, 1953. The first “Dan’s” Supervalu was an original tenant, complimenting Bismarck Supervalu in downtown Bismarck, which was founded in 1949.

In 1960, Arrowhead roughly doubled in size by expanding northward to its present 60,000-square-foot footprint. The $249,800 expansion brought with it a relocated and significantly larger Dan’s Supermarket store, at approximately 14,400 square feet, where it remained until its 2018 closure. A bank (now U.S. Bank) and hardware store (noted to later be Scheels) was also added at this time.

Previously, Dan’s was located in the long-time home of Ben Franklin (1974-2007), which also housed Lee’s variety store for a time.

A $300,000 exterior renovation concluded in late 1980, extending the public sidewalk and adding an overhang. The decorative “corner towers” were also implemented at this time.

In 2011, the center modernized its exterior, including a warmer color scheme from the greenish hue of the 1980 renovation, to its present-day appearance.

In 2018, Dan’s Supermarket – an original tenant – departed Arrowhead Plaza. National retailer Family Dollar occupied the space in 2019.

Major Tenants (as of 2019)

Plaza Beer Depot
Arrowhead Plaza Drug/Hallmark
Uniform Center
Roots Boutique
The Walrus
Arrowhead Cleaners
U.S. Bank
Family Dollar (ant. 2019)

Notable Past Tenants

Dan’s Supermarket was an original tenant at Arrowhead Plaza, and its principle anchor until closing in 2018 after nearly 65 years. It relocated into a larger space, roughly 14,400 square feet, in 1960 with the mall’s expansion.
Ben Franklin was one of the mall’s longest tenants. The Bismarck franchise opened in 1974 as one of the company’s variety stores before transitioning into a craft store. The store was located in the original Dan’s location at the mall, just to the north of present-day Plaza Drug.
Gizzmoz was a local pizzeria, video rental, and party favor store at Arrowhead Plaza. The business, which operated from 1992-1995, was owned and operated by Tim Pudwill, who also owned Plaza Beer Depot. Today, this space houses The Walrus.
Scheels acquired Arrowhead Plaza Hardware in 1967 and consolidated its other Bismarck store – the former Elf Hardware – into the Arrowhead location. It remained there until selling the hardware store in 1988 as the company shifted focus towards sporting goods at its “All Sports” Kirkwood Mall location. The space later became home to Advantage Appliance before returning to a hardware store (as Mustang Hardware). The space was vacant as of 2017.
Plaza Barbershop operated from 1955-2014.
Arrowhead Tesoro, on the mall’s outlot, was the last surviving full-service gas station when it closed in 2015. It opened in 1956.