Oakbrook Center

Oakbrook Center is a shopping center located near Interstate 88 and Route 83 in Oak Brook, Illinois. It was originally opened in 1962. It is the second largest shopping center in the Chicago metropolitan area by gross leasable area, only surpassed by Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois.[3] Current anchor stores include Macy's, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom.

Oakbrook Center
View of the grassy mall center
LocationOak Brook, Illinois, United States
Coordinates41°51′2″N 87°57′11″W
Address100 Oakbrook Center
Opening date1962 (1962)
DeveloperPhilip M. Klutznick
ManagementBrookfield Properties Retail Group
OwnerBrookfield Properties Retail Group &
CalPERS
ArchitectRichard Marsh Bennett of Loebl, Schlossman and Bennett [1]
No. of stores and services160 [2]
No. of anchor tenants5 (3 open, 2 vacant)
Total retail floor area2,018,000 sq ft (187,500 m2)[2]
No. of floors3[2]
Websiteoakbrookcenter.com
The Louis Vuitton store can be seen on the left.

The upscale stores featured at the mall are a collection slightly beneath the boutique-style, exorbitant stores at malls such as South Coast Plaza in Orange County, California and the traditional mix of mall stores found at other larger malls like Woodfield Mall and the Mall of America.

History

Oakbrook Center, which was originally to be named Oakbrook Terrace (but the name was changed when a town near the mall took that name), opened in 1962 with Sears and Marshall Field's, as well as a Jewel Food Store. Bonwit Teller was later added, as was Lord & Taylor in 1973 on the south side. I. Magnin, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Neiman Marcus joined the center in a 1981–1982 expansion that doubled the physical size of the center with a new southeast court.

On Christmas Day 1964, a single-screen movie theater operated by Balaban & Katz Corporation (later taken over by Plitt Theatres) was opened at the Oakbrook Center near Saks Fifth Avenue. On its thirty-third year of operation in 1987, the single screen theater was split into four screens when Cineplex Odeon Corporation took it over. Cineplex Odeon also added another four screens, topped by additional retail (including a bookstore), near the Saks Fifth Avenue anchor; these screens closed in 2001 and then reopened in 2018. Bonwit Teller closed their location in 1990, while I. Magnin was shuttered in January 1991, with its former site subdivided in 1994 for specialty stores, including Eddie Bauer and Tiffany & Company. In 1991, a new two-story, open-air addition opened northeast of Sears. Built on top of a parking garage, it added 210,000 sq ft (20,000 m2) of mall retail and a 220,000 sq ft (20,000 m2) Nordstrom.[4] Maggiano's Little Italy opened that same year. Corner Bakery Cafe opened to customers on December 3, 1992. In 1998, Urban Outfitters and Wildfire Restaurant opened.

Saks Fifth Avenue closed its store in 2002 and sold the location to Federated Department Stores, which used the site to open a 90,000-square-foot, three-story Bloomingdale's Home store on September 12, 2003. Cheesecake Factory opened in August 2004. Marshall Field's adopted the Macy's name on September 8, 2006 with Macy's buying the parent company. On November 12, 2008, Barnes & Noble opened.[5] A year later, in 2009, American Apparel (which closed in 2017) opened. In 2010, Gibson's Bar and Steakhouse opened across the street from the Mall. Forever 21 opened in the mall in April of that same year. Pandora opened its doors in 2011.

General Growth Properties acquired a half-interest and management of the mall in 2004, when it acquired The Rouse Company (which had itself acquired its stake the mall in 2002). It is currently co-owned by Brookfield Properties Retail Group and CalPERS.

Pinstripes opened as a stand-alone location in the mall parking lot in 2012. In November 2013, Perry's Steakhouse opened in the former basement level of Neiman Marcus.

On January 4, 2012, Bloomingdale's announced that it would close its Oakbrook Home store by March of the year. Two years later in 2014, that building was split and fully leased out to six smaller tenants: The Container Store on the first level; Lululemon Athletica, Tommy Bahama, Hugo Boss, and Aritzia on the second level; and the first PIRCH store outside of California on the third level. PIRCH closed its store on September 30, 2017 as it returned to its original California roots.

In August 2014, Le Méridien opened a 172 guest-room hotel in a former Renaissance Hotel, which was originally a Stouffer Hotel. This is their first in the state of Illinois.[6]

On June 20, 2017, Sears announced that its Oakbrook Center store would be closing temporarily in September 2017. It reopened on October 5, 2018, using only the first level of the building, while the leftover space will be occupied by KidZania on the third level and parts of the second level by 2020. The remaining space on the second floor is occupied by Ballard Designs and L.L. Bean, the latter of which opened on November 9, 2018, and the former of which opened during fall 2018. Additionally, the Sears Auto Center at Oakbrook Center closed permanently in March 2018. The land that the center sat on will be occupied by a fitness center that will open sometime in 2020.[7][8]

On February 26, 2018, it was announced that Lord & Taylor would be closing permanently in January 2019.[9] Also in 2018, AMC Theatres opened a new 12-screen cinema in a remodeled section of the Nordstrom wing; this remodeling also included a new food hall named "The District."

On April 22, 2019, only seven months after reopening, it was announced that Sears would be closing permanently on April 28, 2019.[10]

Bus routes

Pace

  • 301 Roosevelt Road [11]
  • 322 Cermak Road/22nd Street [12]
  • 332 River Road/York Road [13]
  • 877 Harvey/Downers Grove Limited [14]

References
  1. "Richard Marsh Bennett (1907-1996)".
  2. "Oakbrook Center". Brookfield Properties Retail Group.
  3. "Largest Shopping Malls in the United States (2006)". American Studies at Eastern Connecticut State University. Archived from the original on July 16, 2006.
  4. Ziemba, Stanley. "NORDSTROM TO OPEN STORE IN OAK BROOK". chicagotribune.com.
  5. Service, Staff reports GateHouse News. "Barnes & Noble to open in Oakbrook Center". www.mysuburbanlife.com.
  6. "Le Meridien Debuts in Chicago with Opening of Le Meridien Chicago – Oakbrook Center" (Press release). Business Wire. August 4, 2014.
  7. Zumbach, Lauren (20 June 2017). "Sears temporarily closing Oakbrook Center store". Chicago Tribune.
  8. Fieldman, Chuck. "Jaclyn Smith, 300 shoppers come out for Sears reopening at Oakbrook Center". chicagotribune.com.
  9. Zumbach, Lauren (February 26, 2018). "Lord & Taylor closing at Oakbrook Center". Chicago Tribune.
  10. Fieldman, Chuck. "Sears closing Oakbrook Center store Sunday; liquidation under way". chicagotribune.com.
  11. https://www.pacebus.com/route/301
  12. https://www.pacebus.com/route/322
  13. https://www.pacebus.com/route/332
  14. https://www.pacebus.com/route/877
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