Mall expands with new stores, theaters

North Grand Mall is expanding this summer with four new stores and a new theater with five new screens and full digital sound.

Shelley Goecke, spokesperson for North Grand Mall, said this means the mall will have 100 percent of its retail space filled, a long-time goal of the mall.

The new theater will open at the mall at 6 p.m. tomorrow, showing a variety of summer blockbusters including: The Cable Guy, The Rock, The Arrival, Dead Man Walking, and Thin Line Between Love and Hate. The Mall 2 Theaters will remain open, showing Spy Hard and Twister.

The new theaters, which are located by Sears department store, hope to attract moviegoers by offering more advanced sound systems and brand new facilities. Two benefits of the new theater will be a bigger snack bar and two digital sound houses.

The digital sound houses are said to improve sound quality greatly. “It’s like having a CD version of the record,” said Greg Teubert, city manager of the Ames Theatres.

Another plus for those concerned with ticket costs is that the price of admission to the theaters will remain the same.

The mall will completely fill its retail space upon the opening of a Victoria’s Secret store on July 13.

“We’ve been working on this for about five years now,” Goecke said. “It will put us in a very good position to serve the Ames consumers.”

Other new stores that have recently opened at the mall are Bath and Body Works and the Limited Express. Goecke said both these stores and Victoria’s Secret are owned by the Limited Co.

Vista Optical also opened in late April. It carries a wide selection of prescription glasses, sun-glasses and contact lenses. Goecke said Vista has an independent doctor of optometry in its store to give complete eye exams.