New Website Now Online

Bismarck Pride's newest website is now online. Not much has changed in the site's overall function or design, but features many new and exciting features including, for the first time, a fully searchable database and self-hosted blogs. This new venture is only a test, however if all goes well, it become a permant upgrade.

New or upgraded features:

• Fully searchable database, including the Bismarck Dictionary.


• Self-hosted blogs and articles.


• Slightly reworked design and layout, featuring a new drop-down menu bar.


• Brand-new homepage with featured articles, sections, and content.

If the new website features prove to be a success, there will no longer be any further blog postings at this location, instead future postings will be at http://www.bismarckpride.com/blogs.
More changes are on the way. Stay tuned for further details.

New Home For Conlin's Furniture?

Rumor has it, this warehouse on the corner of 17th Street & Broadway Avenue will soon be home to Conlin's Furniture upon its departure from Gateway Fashion Mall later this year. This building has been owned by Conlin's Furniture for several years, one of two warehouses the retailer owns in Bismarck, and is currently undergoing major renovation that is said to include the installation of public restrooms.

Furniture stores tend to be destination-type stores, meaning they don't need to be situated in high traffic areas to be successful, instead relying on reputation and product lines. This new building seems to be a good fit for Conlin's Furniture, and returns to their pattern of owning their buildings as their location at Gateway Mall was the first in the company's Bismarck history to be leased, rather than owned by the company.

Conlin's Furniture is regional furniture chain with locations in the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wyoming, and Montana. This move will mark their fourth location since Conlin's purchased Bismarck-based Reff's Furniture in 1955.

Learn more about Conlin's Furniture here: http://www.strekonline.com/bismarck/terms/conlins.htm

Bill Barth The Latest Victim in Auto Crisis

When Penske Auto announced earlier this week that they were withdrawing their bid to purchase Saturn from GM, it left long-time Mandan car dealer Bill Barth as the latest victim in the auto crisis. Bill Barth, who originated as a Ford dealer, and also currently handles the Mazda line, built a brand-new Saturn dealership directly across from his Ford/Mazda dealership following the closure of Wilhelm's downtown dealership. This is the second time Bill Barth has lost a GM-backed line, having previously offered the short-lived attempt by Daewoo (50% owned by GM) to enter the U.S. market earlier in the decade.

This is not the first time in recent years that a Bismarck-Mandan dealership has lost a major line due to its discontinuation from one of the "Big 3" companies. The first recent example occurred when the Plymouth brand was discontinued by Chrysler in 2001, just three years after Corwin-Churchill built their brand-new dealership. Jamestown-based Wilhelm's was forced to close its Bismarck dealership in 2007 after it lost the Cadillac and Buick brands, both of which were taken over by Schwan GM Auto Center. Earlier this year Cedric Theel, who also recently built a brand-new dealership, lost its Dodge line during Chrysler's reorganization, of which has yet to be picked up by any other area dealership.

Perhaps the unluckiest of the area's dealership is Schwan GM Auto Center, who not only lost the Oldsmobile line in 2004, but will soon also lose the Pontiac line when GM phases out the brand.

Although disappointed with the events, Bill Barth, Cedric Theel, and Schwan are all optimistic about their businesses' future. All three have been braving the auto crisis strongly, with some of their highest sales on record. Schwan will continue to sell the Buick and GMC line; as Cedric Theel will continue its Toyota and Scion lines; and Bill Barth is already seeking a replacement for its brand-new $1 million facility, in supplement to its current Ford and Mazda lines.

To learn more about Corwin-Churchill, click here: http://www.strekonline.com/bismarck/terms/corwin.htm

To learn more about Wilhelm's, click here: http://www.strekonline.com/bismarck/terms/wilhelm.htm

Read the related Bismarck Tribune article here: http://www.bismarcktribune.com/business/local/article_8ad3c346-aee0-11de-ba49-001cc4c002e0.html

Departing Hansen's Menswear Adds to Growing List of Vacancies For Gateway Mall

Another long-time tenant at Gateway Fashion Mall has announced they are departing. Hansen's Menswear announced they are relocating to 1003 East Interstate Avenue, near Bob's Photo/A&B Pizza. According to the report, Hansen's has been at Gateway for 30 years, which presumably means it was an original tenant since Gateway Mall is celebrating its 30th anniversary this exact month.

According to an article posted by KXMB, Hansen's Menswear is relocating to "cut expenses". It is interesting to note that Cheryl Hansen is the Mall Manager at Gateway, and has been for many years, so the departure of her husband's retail store is definitely a surprising development.

This is the third major retailer to announce their departure in recent months, beginning with the June announcement of Conlin's Furniture and Joy's Hallmark. The recently renovated center has still yet to fill the former CVS/pharmacy spot, left vacant since February of this year.

Gateway Fashion Mall's owner is currently battling a fraud lawsuit for both the Bismarck shopping center and two he owns in California. This, on top of the mounting vacancies certainly puts a dark shadow on the mall's future.

Hansen's Menswear is expected to relocate in October into the Interstate Office Building at 1003 East Interstate Avenue, next to A&B Pizza and Bob's Photo.

Read the KXMB article with the announcement here: http://kxnet.com/getArticle.asp?ArticleId=443076

Related Blog Articles:

Gateway Fashion Mall's Owner Faces More Fraud Allegations Gateway Mall Suffers Another Loss

Why Does Downtown Bismarck Need Another Parking Ramp?

A few weeks ago, the City of Bismarck announced intentions to construct yet another downtown parking garage, next to the City/County Building. The $7 million garage is expected to have a capacity of about 500 cars. My question is simply... why? There are already a total of 6 parking garages located downtown, 3 of which are city-managed. Not to mention, this proposed garage will be located directly across the street from the Parkade.

On the rarity I go inside either of the two "main" garages there are practically no cars parked inside, sitting practically abandoned. I took the picture above in mid-afternoon during the recent Downtowner's Street Fair - an event that draws thousands of people to downtown each year. The access to the Parkade was readily open on 6th Street, unaffected by the fair, and yet I found only a very small handful of cars inside. Instead, people were parking several blocks away, crossing busy streets and causing a hassle for traffic.

Parking and traffic have been concerns in downtown for decades, causing numerous problems for the historic district. The Pakade was constructed in the mid-1960s to alleviate some of the issues, and a set of confusing one-ways were enacted in 1973, but the issues continued to escalate. The newest downtown garage was built in 1993, and yet parking remains a problem. Building another 500-car capacity garage is not going to solve downtown's parking issues; it will sit mostly empty, as the others do, while taking up valuable real estate.

Part of why the garages are rarely used is the cost. Granted, the cost for a monthly parking pass is far below the $100+ you'd find in a city like Minneapolis, but a parking pass at the garages is beyond affordability for most who either live or work in downtown Bismarck. Many of the downtown employees only make $8-$9 an hour. Most of the downtown apartments were built long before the automobile was a common way of life, therefore do not have parking lots, and rents tend to be on the lower end for the majority of these units, typically around $400/month.

Here's my solution: make the parking garages free to park in, even if it's only for a limited amount of time (say 2 hours). Better yet, give free passes to those who live and work downtown, freeing up street parking for their patrons.

Yes, I do know that it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to maintain the parking garages, and this additional cost would be a big burden on the city. But, on the other hand, downtown Bismarck is notorious for business turnover and building vacancy, often because of the parking issues. We are already taking up large chunks of valuable real estate for parking garages people rarely use. Let's find a reason for people to use the garages we already have before building another.

Gateway Fashion Mall's Owner Faces More Fraud Allegations

When Raymond Arjmand purchased the plagued Gateway Mall in 2006, it seemed like the 30 year-old center would finally get the push it needed to survive. Almost immediately after its purchase, Arjmand announced bold new initiatives to reinvent the failing center, including a multi-million dollar renovation project - the first major remodel since the center's opening in 1979.

Last July, the owner of Joy's Hallmark filed a lawsuit against Arjmand stating he charged tenants for common area maintenance and improvements above what was actually completed. Now, two months later, Arjmand is facing similar lawsuits at two other malls he owns in California. According to the allegations made against him, Arjmand and two business partners would inflate estimates for the cost of repair and renovation projects and then pocket the additional money.

Arjmand indeed did complete the promised renovations of the dated Bismarck mall, and in turn renamed the center "Gateway Fashion Mall", believing the new name and look would draw higher profile stores to the center. Major cosmetic upgrades were made inside and out, and Arjmand also announced intentions to expand the mall with another anchor tenant, rumored to be Macy's.

On the surface, it appears Arjmand has had good intentions to revitalize the center, but these common area improvements seem to be at the heart of the lawsuit filed against him. Is it possible he's only making these improvements as a part of these alleged business dealings, profiting off of the improvements?

This is not the first time Arjmand has come under fire in the Bismarck region. In September 2007, it was reported that Arjmand was demanding $20,000 from the CAT busing system and a $2 million insurance policy, or else he wanted the buses to stop using Gateway Mall's parking lot as a stop. This was definitely a clear sign of greed on Arjmand's part, but also a sign of poor business practices as the busing system drew potential shoppers to Gateway Fashion Mall, many of whom cannot drive to the center on their own.

Beyond that, many consider Arjmand plans for the mall to be unrealistic for Bismarck-Mandan. For example, the likelihood that Macys would open a store at Gateway when its parent chose not to convert the Kirkwood Mall Marshall Fields into a Macys, instead closing the store. It also seems unlikely that other higher-end retail stores, like Nordstroms or Bloomingdales, would open in Bismarck when they primarily focus on big metropolitan areas. Even Minneapolis-Saint Paul has only a small handful of these types of stores.

Did Arjmand just purchase Gateway Mall to be another victim in his scheme of corruption? Perhaps. Or, maybe he does have a genuine interest in seeing its success. It'll be interesting to see how this all unfolds.

Read Bismarck Tribune's article on this topic here: http://bismarcktribune.com/business/local/article_daaae9dc-a3c1-11de-9e06-001cc4c002e0.html

Learn more about Gateway Fashion Mall here: http://www.strekonline.com/bismarck/terms/gateway.htm

Read my original blog on Conlin's & Hallmark's departure here: http://randy394.blogspot.com/2009/06/gateway-mall-suffers-another-loss.html

Mayor Warford Changing His Mind On Raising Sales Tax?

Yesterday, Warford proposed delaying the vote to raise the city's sales tax another 1%, barely ten days after he first announced his intentions to raise the tax. It's not that he's changed his mind on raising the tax, but rather postponing it until next year.

Warford stated that timing may be poor because the "recession has come to Bismarck". What happened within a week that convinced him that the recession has finally come to Bismarck? It wasn’t Bobcat’s closure, because that came almost an entire week before. How could he (and other local politicians) not have realized this ten days ago, before proposing a sales tax increase, when I've been predicting Bismarck's economic woes since last year.

This sudden change in opinion is more likely a reaction to the negative feedback generated by the original announcement, than it is a sudden realization that the recession's affecting Bismarck.

Read my original blog about this topic here: http://randy394.blogspot.com/2009/09/sales-tax-increase-civic-center.html

Read my January 2009 blog predicting how the recession would affect Bismarck here: http://randy394.blogspot.com/2009/01/bismarck-is-not-immune-to-economic.html