Some Miller Hill Mall businesses, including Younkers, Barnes and Noble Bookstore, reopened around 4 p.m. after a water line break forced the mall to close just 11 shopping days before Christmas.
By 1:30 p.m., crews had repaired a radial crack in the water line to the mall and the city had turned the water back on to the mall. Five Guys Burgers and Fries soon reopened. It was unclear, however, which other stores and restaurants would reopen.
A water line break on Decker Road forced the mall to close, according to Cindy Rodenhizer, the director of marketing at the mall.
Signs on the mall entrances indicated that the stores would be closed for the day -- although JCPenney stayed open with an abbreviated staff, and employees were given extended break time to go off site to use restrooms, according to store manager Ted Cuva.
"We're just open for those customers that have made a really long trip in," Cuva said. He said they planned to stay open all day. Aside from the salon, which was closed, Cuva said the rest of the department store does not require water to operate.
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"The mall has the restaurants to think about," he said. "Ours is just inconvenient for our customers and associates."
Jamin Siljendahl, a manager at Barnes & Noble, said customers were out of the store by 11 a.m., but some employees lingered to finish up work with deliveries that had come earlier in the day.
Siljendahl said they were expecting it to be a huge shopping day, less than two weeks before Christmas.
"This is going to be bad for the whole entire mall," he said.
Joanne Hamilton, manager of Christopher & Banks, a women's clothing store at the mall, said this closure will definitely affect business.
"We were only open for two hours. We had a fantastic weekend, and we were looking forward to going into a good week before Christmas."
Even though the closure came on a Monday, which is typically a slow day, it will hurt the mall overall because people come down from the Iron Range and Canada to shop, she says.
