Indian Creek Mall
Beatrice, Nebraska - circa 1973
This is a pretty cool shot here of the Indian Creek Mall in the early '70s, with what appears on the left to be a Tempo store(?) it looks like (never heard of it), and a Jack and Jill Supermarket, over on the right.
Even though you really can't see it all that well, the mall's entrance sign also looks pretty dandy! Today this 142,000 square foot, single level mall consists of anchor stores Alco, and Ashley Furniture, among others.
Mall history: 1973 - present
Current website: here
Current aerial view
Previous entries: none
posted by Keith @ 10/19/2006
18 Comments:
Wow, that thing was built in 1973. The Web site states it has more than 450 parking spaces! I can't believe something like this still survives. I guess only in a foreign country like Nebraska.
Scott
Seems that Tempo was a discounter in the lines of Kmart. I don't have any info on them, but there was one in Alpena that was later a Fisher's Big Wheel (now a Dollar Tree and Tractor Supply Company).
So what was Jack and Jill's? Was that a chain as well and is it still around?
I love the sign!!! And I love the individual letters. How come no one spells out letters individually anymore?
Jack & Jill's was a supermarket, he said so in the post
I saw the post what should have specified was what kind of supermarket, upscale, mid-scale or low scale. And my main wonder, was it a chain?
I can't find anything about them, but it seems that there're still some Jack & Jill supermarkets in Nebraska. Google is most unfriendly in turning up results. Similarly, Google doesn't want to disclose any information on Tempo.
Came across this pic, originally from Beatrice. I'm not old enough to remember Tempo, but I do know that Kmart went in there as far back as I can remember, probably early 80's. Jack and Jill was a small town midwestern chain of grocery stores. Another one went in there afterwords, but I forget the name. Now a chinese restaurant occupies it. Not sure how Alco stays open.
From beatrice; Tempo is correct. Alco and Tempo was where you went to get stuff. New the manager of Jack and Jill. They closed a bunch and he went to Grand Island, NE. They used to fly a plane low over this mall and drop ping pong balls with #'s identifying holiday prizes. Alco stays open because of a big senior citizen discount they give on Tuesdays. Jack and jill was replaced by a store run by grumpy old farm wives. A big part of my life was spent and still is spent in this little mall. And tell that fellow who calls Nebraska a foreign country to watch his step. We're pretty grounded here compared to Deep Space Wacko California.
knew the manager, I mean
Tempo was the discount-store division of the Gambles Hardware chain, located mostly in the Midwest. The company was a somewhat unwieldy conglomerate that include Red Owl grocery in Minnesota, Mode O'Day clothing stores, Aldens mail order catalog and a bunch of other stuff. The company was sold to Wickes Corp. (another unwieldy conglomerate that included Wickes Hardware and Wickes Furniture) in the late 1970s. Wickes went bankrupt a few years later, and the Gambles operations were sold off or closed.
Jack and Jill was a chain of small (in today's terms) supermarkets owned by Nash Finch, a wholesale grocery distributor that still owns grocery chains like SunMart, Econo Foods and Grocery Warehouse in the upper Midwest. Don't think many are left...and those that may be around are locally owned with owners buying the name from Nash Finch for continuity's sake.
There are at least 4 or 5 Jack and Jill stores left in Iowa. Old ones.
I noticed now, you like to collect old mall pictures, specially from the southern side of the country, well if this is the case you will resive many visits from my part.
Jack and Jill grocery stores were all over the Great Plains when I was a kid. As for Tempo, as has been stated, it was sort of a smaller 60's, 70's version of KMart. I remember one in Aberdeen, South Dakota as a kid.
I wonder if this mall is still open or is another ghost town... thanks for the awesome story!
It's still open I live in Beatrice unfortunately .
https://www.facebook.com/479503889063337/posts/942844999395888?s=100009538876745&sfns=xmo
Compassions photo 1973 to 2019 nearly 5 decades.
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