Stratford Square mall in Bloomingdale and Spring Hill mall in West Dundee close permanently – NBC Chicago
While some shopping centers in Chicago’s suburbs are ramping up efforts to lure customers with new stores, outdoor spaces and restaurants, two once-popular malls in Chicago’s suburbs recently closed their doors for good.
In February, Spring Hill Mall in West Dundee announced it would “permanently close its doors,” with a few exceptions, on March 22.
The closure of the 40-year-old shopping center follows a number of department store closures in recent years.
It started in 2011 with the departure of JCPenney, and continued with the closure of Carson Pirie Scott in 2018. Then Macy’s joined in 2020.
Kohan Retail Investment Group confirmed the news in a statement to NBC Chicago.
“We want to express our gratitude to everyone who has been a part of our journey as we close our doors at Spring Hill Mall,” the statement said. “While this marks the end of our time here, we look forward to seeing what the future holds for the local business landscape and are confident that great opportunities lie ahead.”
West Dundee, where part of the mall is located, was in talks to buy several stores from the owner. However, parts of the mall technically fall within the Carpentersville village limits.
West Dundee was scheduled to close the property nearly two weeks after it closed.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the Kohl’s store in the Carpentersville section and the Cinemark theaters in West Dundee will both remain open despite the closures.
Details on future plans for the space remain unclear.
Less than a month later, on April 21, the Stratford Square shopping center in Bloomingdale closed its doors.
The shopping center announced its closure at the end of March. As of Monday, the shopping center’s website has been taken down.
Opened in 1981, the mall was previously run by Sears, Marshall Fields and Carson Pirie Scott. It has faced many challenges, like other malls across the country, trying to keep up with the changing retail landscape, the rise of online shopping and the economy.
“Stratford Square Mall, a product of the shopping center building craze of the 1980s, has faced challenges as other enclosed malls have adapted to the changing shopping landscape,” said a Facebook message from the village. “Despite efforts by the mayor and village board to work with mall owner Namdar, negotiations failed. Therefore, the Village of Bloomingdale took the initiative to acquire the mall and its anchor stores independently. After consolidating the property earlier this year, the village is now ready to embark on a transformative mixed-use development.
Those who work there say the mall has seen better days.
“If I ever wrote a book about working here, no one would believe me,” said Stephen Miller, the mall’s longtime janitor. “This mall was totally different. We had completely different stores and at Christmas we couldn’t park in the lot because we had too many cars.
Miller has been a janitor at the mall for nearly 40 years and told NBC Chicago he’s seen everything from new stores and movie theater openings to renovations and accidents on the escalator .
“It’s amazing to watch all this unfold,” he said. “Sad, if they really wanted to, they could save this mall.”
NBC Chicago
