A lot of things are going to change for the Whitefish Mountain Mall with the arrival of the Shopko Hometown department store.

Last week Shopko and the Carrington Co., which owns the mall, signed a lease for an approximately 37,000-square-foot space in the center of the mall, which means the 28-year-old mall will get an exterior facelift and eight of the 21 businesses in the mall will have to find a new home.

The mall renovation to accommodate Shopko is estimated at $3.7 million. Shopko will employ 25 to 30 people.

“We’re very excited. This is a big deal for the mall. Shopko is a big business and will be a third anchor for the mall,” said Tom Kraus, the property manager and lease director of the mall. “It will fill a need for Whitefish and we think it will be a very good thing,”

Kraus said Shopko Hometown will make Mountain Mall more of a designation for shoppers and the small businesses in the mall will benefit from the increased traffic. He confirmed the new department store will displace eight businesses in the mall, but said they have other locations in the mall for most of the businesses. He declined to comment on which businesses will be impacted.

“We’re in the process of finding out who wants to relocate and where they want to go. Until we get the answers from them I don’t think it would be fair to them to comment,” Kraus said.

Two of the impacted businesses have already or are in the process of moving from the mall.

Whitefish Dance Studio relocated to Windmill Business Park at 5375 U.S. 2 W.

The Flying Fish Kids’ Gym moved its equipment to the Flathead Gymnastic Academy and Nature Baby Outfitter will relocate to 533 E. Second St. in Whitefish.

“I didn’t think Shopko moving in was going to be an asset to my business,” said Jade Carpenter, the owner of Nature Baby Outfitter and the Flying Fish Kids’ Gym. “I liked the whole community feel of the mall and how they had family events. I don’t see how that’s going to happen with Shopko running down the middle of it,”

Carpenter said the reasons why she decided to move her businesses were that with Shopko moving in she no longer felt the mall was a good fit for her business, and that the new space the mall was offering was more expensive than her original lease.

Sarah Wellemeyer, an owner of Taco Del Sol, thinks that Shopko coming to Whitefish will be good for the city and the mall. Taco Del Sol is currently in negotiations to relocate to another space within the mall.

Stu Saye, owner of Montana Olive Oil Inc. and Sensayetional Golf also plans to keep his two businesses at the mall.

Dan Torrence, the owner of Creative Signs and Designs, is unsure of his business’ future and will have negotiations with the mall later this week.

Club Bed Tanning, Bonsai Brewing Project and Ben Franklin will also be impacted.

Shopko’s lease agreement was contingent on remodeling the exterior of the mall that was built in the mid 1980s. In June the Whitefish City Council voted 3-2 to provide $200,000 in tax-increment revenue funds for the remodel. Carrington Co. agreed to pay back the balance if revenue from the mall does not equal $200,000 by 2020.

The remodel will include replacing the original block facade from the mall with natural stone and stucco. Kraus said the new look will complement the recently remodeled Sportsman & Ski Haus. The exterior remodel is estimated to cost $650,000.

Shopko was founded in 1962 by pharmacist James Ruben in Green Bay, Wis., and by 1971 Shopko became one of the first mass retailers to feature a pharmacy in its stores. In 1991 Shopko Stores Inc. became a publicly held, independent company with stock traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Four years ago Shopko introduced a new retail concept for a smaller store footprint — Shopko Hometown — to augment its larger store format. Following its merger with Pamida in 2012, Shopko acquired and converted more than 170 stores and pharmacies to the Shopko brand.

Reporter Aaric Bryan may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at abryan@dailyinterlake.com.