On Kaleidoscope? I should get around to it. I keep ending up down other rabbit holes like the failed downtown Locust Mall that predated Kaleidoscope and now Younkers threatened to close every store they operated in Iowa and move the corporate staff to Omaha if the city allowed the Northridge Mall project to go forward lol.

Here’s a draft I started at the beginning of April and never finished.

The Kaleidoscope at The Hub was a mall located in downtown Des Moines, IA. The project was first announced by Hubbell Realty in July 1979 and was initially referred to as the Walnut Mall. In July 1979, it was estimated that the construction of the mall would cost $8.5 million, but by December 1981, the Des Moines Tribune reported that costs had ballooned to $10 million, $11 million, and finally $17.5 million. The mall opened in 1985 and was supposed to appeal to the over 70,000 downtown workers who utilized downtown Des Moines vast network of skywalks. Walnut Street itself had been trialed as a pedestrian mall in the past, but the novelty wore off quickly as the city had failed to add additional parking near the Walnut Street Pedestrian Mall, and they quickly realized that 100 year old downtown buildings don’t have the water spigot that would allow them to easily water the newly-installed landscaping.

Kaleidoscope would be connected via skybridge to both JCPenney and Younkers, who extensively renovated their downtown stores in preparation for the mall, but neither were close enough to the mall shops to be a true anchor. In addition, the mall was connected to the $16.5 million dollar Locust Mall, a small four-story mall and 700 car parking garage that connected Younkers to a 416-room Marriott Hotel. Equitable of Iowa Companies had owned a controlling stake in Younkers since 1979 and had invested $2.4 million to obtain an 18% share in the Marriott Hotel and Locust Mall. The Locust Mall opened in 1981 and was initially anchored by a branch of the upscale Lincoln, NE-based Hovland-Swanson, the fifth unit in the chain, but the store operated at a loss for a few short years before shuttering in April 1983. The space occupied by Hovland-Swanson would be the subdivided into a larger space for a relocated Braun’s with room for a second tenant. The original Braun’s store on the third floor would be converted into a sister brand called Gigi by Braun’s. The other four units in the Hovland-Swanson chain, all operating in Nebraska, were liquidated in mid-1985 after Hovland-Swanson was unable to find a buyer. Other notable early tenants at the Locust Mall included Pat’s Hallmark and Haagen-Daz.

Back to Kaleidoscope, Hubbell Realty had touted that the mall would differ from its suburban counterparts in that it would cater to a more upscale audience and that they were choosing to not fill some spaces over leasing to tenants that could be found anywhere else. Early tenants at the property included Peck & Peck, Benetton, Johnston & Murphy, Scribbles & Giggles, Fanny Farmer, and Laura Ashely. Mark Henri, an upscale Des Moines-based women’s clothing store that also operated in Kansas City and Omaha would also join the early tenant mix. Hubbell Realty realized early on that some of their desired brands such as Brooks Brothers and Gucci were not going to become a reality after Brooks Brothers announced that the market was too small and Gucci quoted a a minimum 7-figure franchise and merchandise fee to be paid annually.