Von Maur to close at one Des Moines mall and move to another

The Iowa-based department store chain Von Maur has decided to close its store at Valley West Mall in Des Moines next fall and open a new store in the metro’s other mall, Jordan Creek Town Center.

"Jordan Creek was always planned for fall 2022 — that has not changed and we are very much looking forward to it," Von Maur ad director Jessica Stoltz told the Des Moines Register.

Valley West lost another anchor, Bon Ton, in 2018, but its J.C. Penney store remains open. Earlier this year, the mall’s owner and the city of Des Moines unveiled a plan for $278 million redevelopment of the property, but it fails to win Iowa Economic Development Authority approval to receive a share of $100 million in tax funding.

Von Maur had announced in 2018 that it would take over the former Younkers space at Jordan Creek—just five miles from Valley West—but had not revealed its intentions for the Valley West store until this week.

With department store chains the likes of Macy’s and Sears closing locations at a steady pace, Von Maur has been expanding beyond its Midwestern base over the past decade. The chain has 33 locations across 15 states: Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.