Ask a longtime resident about White Mountain Mall and you will likely hear some version of the same thing: it used to be busier, half the storefronts sit empty, there is no food court anymore, and it is not really worth the trip unless you need something specific. Even Chad Banks, who manages the Rock Springs Main Street/Urban Renewal Agency, has said it out loud. Like a lot of enclosed malls built in the 1970s, White Mountain Mall has struggled.
So it is worth noticing what has been happening there over the past year, because it does not match the story locals have been telling themselves.
What's Already Open
Natural Grocers held its grand opening on April 29, 2026, just off Dewar Drive and Foothill Boulevard inside White Mountain Mall. It is the company's third Wyoming location, joining stores in Cheyenne and Casper, and the mall's own manager described the buildout in plain terms: the space used to be eight separate storefronts, and the company combined them into one. That is not a small tenant filling a gap. That is a national retailer taking out a chunk of a mall that reviewers have called drab and half-empty and betting it can work.
Before Natural Grocers, Ulta had already moved in, along with another smaller local shop. Then in August 2025, Rustic Sage Co. opened its doors, a women's clothing and gift boutique from owners Mistie and Scott Ecklund. The couple had already built stores in Cody, Powell, and Evanston before deciding Rock Springs was next, and their reason for choosing this particular mall was not about Rock Springs alone.
"We had so many customers from Green River, Rock Springs, and the Valley who told us they loved our store and wanted one closer to home," Mistie Ecklund said. "It made perfect sense to open here, and the community's response has been amazing so far."
That detail matters more than it looks like it does at first read, and it comes back later.
What's Being Built Right Now
The bigger change is still under construction. Star Stadium Theater, the movie complex anchoring the west end of the mall, announced in February 2026 that it is converting part of its footprint into something called The VOID, a combined arcade, bowling, and food-and-bar space built directly into the theater.
Co-owner and general manager Jonathon Crawford framed it as a response to two years of paying attention to what people were actually asking for. "After listening to our guests and watching how people use our space, it became clear that the community was asking for more to do," he said. "This expansion is our way of serving the needs of the people who have supported us so well, for so long."
For Crawford, the project is personal. He has talked about growing up playing at Aladdin's Castle and bowling in leagues at Pla-Mor, and about wanting to build something similar for his own kids growing up in Rock Springs now.
Here is what The VOID is actually adding, based on the theater's own construction updates:
- Two existing auditoriums are being converted into an arcade with roughly 40 machines, ranging from Skee-Ball to motion racing games, plus a prize redemption room
- Surplus mall space is being repurposed into a bowling area running the Brunswick SPARK system, which layers interactive graphics and video-game elements onto the lanes, rented by the hour and built to hold up to six players per lane
- Additional mall square footage is being converted into a new food prep area to support a fast-casual menu and alcoholic beverages, shifting the theater into what the industry calls a family entertainment center
The design work came from Iron Spur Architecture, and construction is being handled by A Pleasant Construction, a Green River-based contractor that has deliberately coordinated bids with local subcontractors to keep the money in the county. The theater's own progress updates name the crews doing the work: JC Jacobs Carpet One on tile, Pablo and Picasso on paint, Wyoming Building Supply on cabinets, All Area Acoustics on ceilings, Wyolectric on the electrical, and Double C Plumbing & Excavation on plumbing. As of the February announcement, the target opening window was early summer 2026. If that timeline held, the arcade and lanes should already be running by the time you read this, but the theater's own social channels (they have been posting build progress on TikTok and Instagram under the WyomoviesRS accounts) are the most reliable place to check before you make the drive.
Why This Is Happening Now
None of this makes sense if you only think about Rock Springs' own population, which sits around 23,000 to 25,000 depending on the count. That is not the kind of number that usually pulls a national organic grocery chain away from cities with more people and higher household incomes. Natural Grocers passed on Laramie and Gillette, both of which have more than 30,000 residents and higher average wages, and picked Rock Springs instead.
Katie Macarelli, the company's Director of Public Relations, explained the logic this way: "While population size is certainly a factor when scouting for new locations, it's not always the most significant driver. We also look at how well we can serve a community's needs, which sometimes leads us to cities with smaller populations and fewer grocery options."
Banks put a finer point on it from the local side. "We're really sort of a regional shopping center in southwest Wyoming," he said. "So, while our population is 25,000 or so, give or take, Green River is 10 minutes away, and that's another 13,000, 14,000."
Add those numbers together and Rock Springs is not really competing as a city of 25,000. It is functioning as the retail center for closer to 38,000 to 40,000 people across Sweetwater County, and that is before counting the smaller towns further out that already drive in for groceries, movies, and shopping because there is nowhere closer. Mistie Ecklund's comment about customers coming from "Green River, Rock Springs, and the Valley" is the same math from a different business. Nobody at Rustic Sage Co. was thinking about Rock Springs in isolation either.
That is the piece of this story that has not been obvious from inside town. The mall's problem was never really about foot traffic from Rock Springs alone drying up. It was about whether anyone would bother treating this as a regional hub instead of a small standalone market. For the past year, several businesses independently decided the answer is yes, and Banks summed up the mood simply: "It's nice to see refreshed new interest in the mall as well."
What It Actually Changes for Your Week
For anyone who has made the drive to Rock Springs or Evanston just to get an evening out, or who has watched the mall empty out year after year and figured that was the permanent direction, this is a real shift in what a Tuesday night or Saturday afternoon here can look like. A grocery run, a stop at a local boutique, a movie, and a game of bowling can all happen in the same building for the first time in years, and none of it required the town to grow. It required a few businesses to look at the map differently.
If you've been putting off a trip to White Mountain Mall because the last time you went it felt like there was nothing there, it might be worth a second look this fall.
Abby Atwood pays attention to the small changes that shape daily life in Sweetwater County, because they usually say more about a place than a listing sheet does. If you're curious about what else is shifting around Rock Springs, Green River, or Farson, or you just want to talk shop about the town, Forever West Land & Home is always happy to connect.
