shopping centers in the Twin Cities, along with a Ridgedale Dayton's store, were announced in January 1972, amid concern over what was described as "an ecologically destructive project." After pressure by environmental groups, Dayton's moved ahead with construction, but shelved plans to further develop a new road by the property, and agreed to a moratorium on further development in the area until at least 1980. The shopping center, along with the new Dayton's store, opened in July 1974, and became the final "Dale" location. Dayton's moved its Rochester store from downtown to Rochester's new Apache Mall in 1972. The mall had been open for a short time when Dayton's decided to leave the downtown area and construct a new 150,000 sq. ft. store at the mall. At that time, Apache Mall was the third-largest shopping center in Minnesota and the largest outside of the Twin Cities area. Dayton's move was considered a tipping point in the movement of retail commerce away from downtown Rochester. Previously announced in 1971, the first Dayton's store outside of Minnesota opened in August 1973 in Fargo, North Dakota. The $5 million store was one of the anchors of the newly constructed West Acres Shopping Center, contained about 100,000 sq ft of retail space, and employed close to 200 people. Crossroads Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota, opened in 1966 with Sears and J.C. Penney as anchors. The shopping center underwent an expansion in 1976, adding an additional 200,000 sq ft of retail space, resulting in the inclusion of a new Dayton's store, marking its entrance in the St. Cloud market. The St. Cloud Dayton's store opened in July 1976. Dayton's agreed in 1973 to join the planned Homart Development Company's Burnsville Center shopping center project to be built in Burnsville, Minnesota. This was an unusual plan of action for Dayton's, as this would be its first location in a Twin Cities area shopping center not developed, owned, or managed by Dayton Hudson Corporation. The 180,000 sq ft Burnsville store became Dayton's 10th location when it opened in July 1977. In September 1976, Dayton-Hudson Corporation announced the development of a new shopping center and Dayton's store to be built in Grand Forks, North Dakota. This was the company's first shopping center to be developed and constructed in North Dakota. The Columbia Mall (Grand Forks) opened in 1978, and while Dayton-Hudson remained at the mall, the company did