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Tucked away at the east end of Anchorage's Sixth Avenue as it turns into the Glenn Highway sits one of the city's oldest shopping malls - the Northway Mall, which first opened its doors in 1980. Since that time, many malls have been built across town and many have "morphed" into things they weren't initially built to be. The University Center, once a premier mall, is now home to parts of the University of Alaska Anchorage, where UAA offices mix with an organic grocery and a furniture store. REI helped save the Northern Lights Mall when it was in decline, and the Anchorage School District populates the Boniface Mall.
NEIGHBORHOOD CUSTOMERS
Through the years, Northway Mall stores have ebbed and flowed, come and gone. Competition has been heavy, particularly with two new malls opening relatively nearby - Glenn Square Mall and Tikahtnu Commons. Through it all, however, the mall has persevered and is, once again, looking forward to a resurgence in popularity. Mall owners are targeting the neighborhoods from which it draws the mall's primary customers, and have recently brought an Anchorage icon on board to manage the mall. Mao Tosi, former pro football player and founder of Alaska Pride youth programs, has brought his enthusiasm for his hometown and his neighborhood to his new job.
"The mall has not had many changes for a while," Tosi said, "but that's changing. When Security National Properties hired me, they said: 'Mao, this is your home, build it."
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