WOODFIELD MALL
East Golf and North Meacham Roads
Village of Schaumburg, Illinois
Ground was broken for Chicagoland's nineteenth shopping mall on October 8, 1969. Designed by Charles Luckman Associates of New York City and Los Angeles, WOODFIELD MALL was developed by Woodfield Associates. This was a joint venture of Michigan's Taubman Company, Illinois' Homart Development and Marshall Field & Company.
The shopping facility was built on a 191-acre plot, located 24 miles northwest of The Loop, in suburban Schaumburg. The site was adjacent to the Interstate 90 / Northwest Tollway and a newly-opened section of Interstate 290.
Anchoring the original WOODFIELD MALL were a 2-level (304,500 square foot) Sears, with (32,700 square foot) Auto Center. Marshall Field's 3-level (316,000 square foot) unit began business on September 8, 1971, as that chain's third-largest suburban store. The third anchor, a 2-level (299,800 square foot) J.C. Penney, opened October 6, 1971. At this time, it was Penney's largest location.
The official grand opening of twenty-eight inline stores was held September 9, 1971. Vincent Price was the Master of Ceremonies. Singer-actress Carole Lawrence, Robert O. Atcher (Mayor of Schaumburg) and A. Alfred Taubman were also in attendance. Music was provided by the Conant High School Marching Band.
By the end of September, there were fifty-nine stores in operation, including Lerner Shops, Casual Corner, The Limited, Stride-Rite Shoes, Gingiss Formalwear and Waldenbooks. At year's end, WOODFIELD MALL covered approximately 1,640,000 leasable square feet and housed 160 stores and services.
Retail rivalry was aplenty in overmalled Chicagoland. However, as WOODFIELD became established as the region's preeminent shopping center, it easily staved off any competition.
RANDHURST CENTER (1962) {5.4 miles northeast, in Mount Prospect} ended up being bested by WOODFIELD. OLD ORCHARD CENTER (1956) {14.4 miles northeast, in Skokie} held its own, as did OAKBROOK CENTER (1962) {13.8 miles southeast, in Oak Brook} and YORKTOWN CENTER (1968) {14 miles south, in Lombard}.
Ground was broken for the first WOODFIELD MALL expansion in October 1972. This project would add a 2-level (118,200 square foot) Lord & Taylor, twenty-five inline stores and (25,000 square foot) Woodfield Ice Arena. When dedicated on October 2, 1973, the addition had increased the gross leasable area of the mall to approximately 1,940,000 square feet. It now contained 189 tenant spaces.
Three separate cinema complexes would operate in -or around- the shopping hub. First was the ABC Great States Woodfield 1 & 2 Theatres, which opened, as a southeastern outparcel, on July 30, 1971. Next came the ABC Great States Woodfield 3 & 4 Theatres, another freestanding venue. It showed first features on May 25, 1979. The Ice Arena was rebuilt as the Plitt Theatres Woodfield Mall Theatres. This 5-plex opened for business on June 21, 1985.
A second WOODFIELD MALL expansion was announced in March 1993, with construction getting underway late in the year. Twenty inline stores opened on March 3, 1995, accompanied by a 3-level (215,000 square foot) Nordstrom and 2-level (124,000 square foot) Lord & Taylor (which replaced the circa-1973 store).
The original Lord & Taylor was gutted and reconfigured as inline store spaces. These opened in late 1995. With its latest remodeling, WOODFIELD MALL encompassed approximately 2,224,000 leasable square feet and contained 288 stores and services. Marshall Field's received a Macy's nameplate on September 9, 2006.
Over the years, ownership of the mall has followed a long and complicated series of transactions and acquisitions. By 1993, Taubman Centers had entered into a joint venture with the Sacramento-based California Public Employees Retirement System (or CalPERS). By the early 2000s, Detroit's GM (General Motors) Pension Fund also had a piece of the proverbial WOODFIELD MALL pie.
In November 2012, the CalPERS entity purchased a 50-percent share owned by the GM Pension Fund. After only one month, they sold a 50 percent share to Indianapolis' Simon Property Group. Taubman Centers, who had been managing the mall, was superseded by Simon on January 1, 2013.
In January 2015, Simon embarked on a 14 million dollar renovation. New flooring, elevators, escalators and signage were installed. The Grand Court was refurbished and mall entrances also rebuilt. The project was completed in late 2015.
Meanwhile, Sears had downsized into a 264,300 square foot operation. A 2-level (40,200 square foot) section was leased as Level 257, a Pac-Man-themed restaurant and entertainment center. In addition to sit-down dining, Level 257 included bowling lanes, arcade games, foosball and ping-pong tables. A soft opening was held on March 2, 2015. The facility was renamed Pac-Man Entertainment. It was rechristened again in May 2021, when it became Enterrium.
Meanwhile, work started on a new Dining Pavilion in June 2017. It replaced two Upper Level stores; FYE (For Your Entertainment) and A'Gaci ladies' wear. The 12-bay food facility opened for business in mid-2018. Lord & Taylor closed for good on December 29, 2020. The chain had anchored the mall -in two locations- for over 47 years.
Sears, the chain's final Illinois store, pulled up stakes on November 14, 2021, after anchoring WOODFIELD for over 50 years. In April 2022, it was announced that Dublin, Ireland's Primark chain was establishing a store in a section of Sears' Upper Level. This (44,300 square foot) unit welcomed first shoppers on October 12, 2023. Zellano Home established a store in Sears' Lower Level. Reputedly the largest furniture store in the United States, the (182,900 square foot) unit opened for business in January 2024.
Sources:
The Chicago Tribune
The Daily Herald (Chicago, Illinois)
http://www.shopwoodfield.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://www.taubman.com
Personal impressions of the author
http://www.cinematreasures.org
http://movie-theatre.org / Mike Rivest
https://www.simon.com / Simon Property Group
"Woodfield Mall" and "Interstate 290" articles on Wikipedia
"Largest Malls In the USA" list on Wikipedia
