November 06, 2009 | Posted by Caldor | Posted in New Jersey

I keep an eye on the comments, and I know there’s been a few stats junkies who’ve been paying attention to the ratio of malls-to-population that we’ve posted. I know there’s also been some (undeniably true) grousing that we haven’t posted anything about New Jersey in ages. Well here you go! The catch is, you get something boring. Sorry.

The Brunswick Square Mall is a really dull one, but I’m tired and I had a bloody mary a little bit ago, so this is what the vodka will let me bang out at this hour. The photoset here is also a bit old–taken November 2006–when I did a swing through New Jersey that got photos for a few other malls on the site, including Monmouth Mall and the Shore Mall.

The Brunswick Square Mall is a Simon-managed, 769,000 square foot enclosed mall located along New Jersey route 18, a little southeast of New Brunswick. The mall is more or less a modified old dumbell, with JCPenney and Macy’s as the primary anchor stores and Barnes & Noble and Old Navy as junior anchor tenants.

Brunswick Square was originally developed by DeBartolo in 1970 with JCPenney and Bamberger’s as anchor stores. There were plans in the late 1980s to turn the relatively undersized mall into a larger destination with a second level, but plans were ultimately scaled back significantly due to concerns over traffic and a poor economy. Instead, there was a much smaller expansion at the end of the 90s that brought Barnes & Noble into the center.

Brunswick Square is one of the smaller and less interesting malls in the glob of Jersey suburbia, but given the traffic-clogged nature of the region’s roads and the high population surrounding the mall, it seems to do okay (more major malls like Freehold Raceway Mall, the Quakerbridge Mall, or the malls in Menlo Park/Woodbridge kind of flank it on all sides but none are especially close). This particular area of Jersey’s suburbia is dense, busy, and overall pretty mid-market, having been developed primarily in the explosion of post-war suburbia around New York. But like most of New Jersey, there are isolated pockets of affluence scattered about, even if Brunswick Square is a defiantly plain-jane, middle of the road kinda place. I saw an old dude sleeping on one of the massage chairs here once, and that pretty much sums the place up. I doubt anyone goes out of their way to swing by this palace of excitement, but it’s close to home for an awful lot of people.

Hey, I said it was boring. But as They Might be Giants once sang:

New York has tall buildings, New Jersey has its malls
Pisa has a leaning tower will it ever fall
The ocean has the fishes
London has a tower
In Holland they have windmills , lots of banks and pretty flowers

But where…?
Where do they make balloons?

And you guys sure DO love them Jersey malls. Fill us in.

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November 06, 2009 | Posted by Caldor | Posted in Retail News, Retail Stores

This isn’t a shocker, but according to an article in the Wall Street Journal (which has been reprinted all over the place, including the San Francisco Chronicle), Borders plans to close another 200 of its Waldenbooks stores, leaving a paltry 130 remaining in the chain. Despite what the article says, it’s unlikely even those are long for this world.

In an era where the long tail of content is well-served online, Borders and Barnes & Noble have survived by positioning themselves as cultural and social gathering spaces. Plus, the stores are big, so they can carry a lot of titles. Waldenbooks and B. Dalton–who B&N is closing up at the same time–have no such luck. These tiny stores were always meant to bring a representative selection of literature to shopping malls and small towns, and like record stores before them, there’s just no need anymore.

It’s still a little sad, since I have plenty of fond memories of shopping at the Waldenbooks in my local mall when I was young.

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October 31, 2009 | Posted by Prange Way | Posted in Dead Malls, Illinois

Recently I’ve been following coverage of some pretty extensive renovations taking place at Lincoln Mall, a long-beleagured super-regional mall in south suburban Chicagoland.  Initially I was excited at the prospect of even a modicum of success here, especially considering I’ve never seen the mall even close to its potential.  I first visited Lincoln Mall about a decade ago, after it fell in the toilet but before it drowned.  I recently re-visited for the first time after some of the renovations have materialized, and was extremely dismayed – both by the progress of the renovations and also by a personal, not-so-fun experience I had there.

Matteson, Illinois (pronounced matt-uh-son) is a diverse suburb of Chicago, located about 30 miles south of downtown.  With a population of about 17,000, Matteson is economically middle class, squeezed in between poverty-stricken Chicago Heights to the east, and wealthy Frankfort to its west.

Within Chicagoland, Matteson is part of – and centrally located within – a larger economic region known as “Chicago’s Southland” – a regional economic development and tourism consortium comprised of nearly all of the suburbs south and southwest of Chicago.  Made up of 86 communities with a population of nearly 2.5 million people, the region is simultaneously diverse yet allied by common goals.  Much of the region, specifically the suburbs directly south of the City of Chicago and east of I-57, has been negatively impacted by the loss of heavy industry during the latter part of the 20th century.  In an attempt to promote the region’s shift from a manufacturing to a service based economy, the consortium advertises the region’s proximity to Chicago, the transportation network – numerous rail lines as well as 5 interstates converge here – and the region’s affordability in comparison to the western and northern suburbs.

Suburban blight, crime, and poverty have become significant problems in the Southland region, with some good examples in postwar suburbs Harvey and Chicago Heights.  In fact, one of the most famous dead malls in the country is located in Harvey, and – as of late 2009 – is still standing after being abandoned for almost 25 years. However, this traditionally blue collar region is by no means lacking in riches; some of the Chicago area’s wealthiest zip codes are in Frankfort, Orland Park, Palos Heights, Olympia Fields and other areas within the region.

Matteson is home to a concentration of numerous strip malls and big box stores, mostly located along Route 30 and Cicero Avenue (Route 50).  It’s one of several areas in the south suburbs of Chicago with a high concentration of retail strip, and also home to one of the south/southwest suburbs’ first super-regional malls, Lincoln Mall.

Lincoln Mall opened in 1973 on the southeast corner of the intersection between Route 30 (Lincoln Highway) and Route 50 (Cicero Avenue), just east of I-57.  When it opened, the mall contained nearly 1 million square-feet of retail space shared between 4 anchors – Carson Pirie Scott, Wieboldt’s, JCPenney, and Montgomery Ward – and two levels of mall space connecting the anchors.  The original design of the mall was very similar to Yorktown Mall in Chicago’s western suburbs, which is still open and successful, and the former Lakehurst Mall in north-suburban Waukegan, which closed in 2001.

Lincoln Mall was an instant success, predating Orland Square by three years and the enclosure of River Oaks Mall by two decades.  In fact, it wasn’t really until the late 1990s when things began to dramatically go south, despite the closure and 8 year vacancy of the Wieboldt’s store when that chain folded in 1987.  In fact, the mall was refurbished with a major remodel and update in 1993, and Sears moved into Wieboldt’s old location from nearby Park Forest Plaza – an outdoor center that predated Lincoln Mall and died due to its competition – in 1995.

The 1990s saw the beginning of the end for Lincoln Mall.  In 1993-94, nearby River Oaks Center was enclosed and up-sized.  In response, Lincoln Mall remodeled and filled in the dead Wieboldt’s anchor with Sears, but in the end it wasn’t enough.   The unsurpassed growth of the 90s moved the almighty dollars westward, and cities in the Orland Park and Frankfort corridor saw the most growth and the best incomes in the Southland.  Thus, the retail strip surrounding and including Orland Square, along 159th Street and Route 45 got the best stores.  This is still true today.  Lincoln Mall’s retail portfolio began to slowly disintegrate, as middle tier and popular national chains began to leave and were replaced by local stores and vacancies.  The core demographic of the mall’s clientele changed too, slowly yet surely, from racially diverse to predominantly African-American by 2000 or so, and the stores began to reflect this.

In 1999, Montgomery Ward closed up shop at Lincoln Mall, about two years before their nationwide shuttering, and in 2000 JCPenney left during a round of closings in a lousy period for that chain.  These two blows left only Sears and Carson’s at the helm of a sinking ship.  During the early 2000s stores began to leave in droves, and the mall was put on life support.

In 2005, a commercial realty partnership from Texas, Realty America Group, was contacted by the mall’s owner to sell the mall.  The owner apparently wanted to cut their losses and get out, but Realty America said “Wait just a dog gone minute!” – I’m paraphrasing now – and decided that Lincoln Mall was more of an asset of opportunity than a dead mall that should be left for – well, dead.

So, after completing due diligence, Realty America went to the Village of Matteson and apparently made a stellar presentation for redevelopment, because they were awarded $45 million for the project in April 2005.  Groundbreaking took place in August of that year, with the construction of a new four-lane road behind the mall connecting Route 30 and Cicero.  The theory behind this was that prospective new tenants wouldn’t want to be at the “back” of the mall with restrictive visibility and access.  The new road essentially eliminates the idea of the “back” of the mall altogether, providing – in theory – the same level of access on all four sides of the mall.

Renovation proceeded with some pretty grandiose plans, including the demolition of both dead anchors, complete renovation of the interior space, structural updates, outside facade updates including a new entrance, and a cherry on top.  A cornerstone of the entire renovation project is the Promenade at Lincoln Mall, a non-enclosed district comprised of retail boxes, other shops, restaurants, and entertainment taking the space of the anchors that were demolished as well as along the new four-lane road.  The new open-air space would comprise between 400,000 and 500,000 of new retail space, restaurants, and a planned movie theatre, bringing the total square-footage back to the original size of the enclosed mall – about 1 million square feet.  The end idea, according to Lincoln Mall’s general manager, was to create a “best of both worlds” scenario, complete with an enclosed mall for people who want a climate controlled environment in the harsh climate of the upper midwest, along with an outdoor area for big box stores and other tenants who don’t want to be in the enclosed part of the concept,  as well as to indulge the somewhat-nonsensical fad of outdoor shopping for outdoor shopping’s sake.  Sounds great, doesn’t it?

In Summer 2007, the new road behind the mall was complete, just in time for Target to open their new 126,000 square foot store on a parcel south of the mall, south of the new road.  Then, in Fall 2007, JCPenney opened a 106,000 square foot store southeast of the mall, also south of the new road.  Then the project kind of stopped.  Whoops.

In October 2008, the village of Matteson threw another $10 million at the project, to get the next phase running  – the filling in of the demolished anchor pads, the exterior/interior renovations of the remaining enclosed mall, addition of other tenants, etc.  About the same time, in September 2008, the Texas partnership of Realty America, who owns the mall, apparently stopped making mortgage payments on it, according to their lender, Texans Commercial.  Not so, said the manager of the partnership, Rives Castleman (what a name); instead, he claims that the lender is forcing them into default by playing dirty tricks and instead owes them $20 million; they have filed counter suit.  This is all from court documents, as both Castleman and his lawyer, Eugene Geekie (another name!) have refused to comment to reporters. Texans had agreed, in 2004 – when this entire project began – to finance the initial stages of the redevelopment, in addition to the $45 million received from the village at the get go.  The loan had an outstanding balance of over $37 million at the time of the foreclosure.

The court case began in January 2009, and has apparently screeched the renovations to a halt.  As of October 2009, the enclosed mall looks like a weird retail Frankenmonster (hey, it’s Halloween) – there are gross, visible concrete seams and an unappealing mess where the dead anchors were torn off and demolished, and a temporary fence sits along the half of the mall where the demolition took place.  They, at least, cleaned up (most of) the rubble, and the JCPenney and Target are operating in separate buildings south of the new road they constructed.  It honestly looks like a terrible mess, and if I were a resident of Matteson I’d be really embarrassed of this eyesore.

Here’s an obvious question – why didn’t they just put Target and JCPenney in the mall?  They had two vacant anchors, and one of them even WAS JCPenney, and they had 2 anchors to put into place.  Seems like simple math to me.  The mall would have definitely been reinvigorated by having two brand new anchors, including the ever-popular Target, so how is putting them outside and essentially across the street going to ever help the interior part of the mall that they wanted to keep?  We’re really scratching our heads here.  Unless it really comes together into something cohesive and pedestrian-oriented, linking Target and JCPenney and funneling people into the mall, the Promenade at Lincoln Mall is nothing innovative nor remotely beneficial to the mall structure.  It’s been done before – ever see businesses on a mall’s ring road?

The interior portion of the mall today is kind of sad.  There are some popular national retailers, like Old Navy, Bath and Body works and Express, but there are seemingly more vacancies and local stores.  You know your mall is unwell when Dollar Plus is listed under the food ‘catagory’ (sp) on the directory map.  Also, they converted an old Sbarro into a place that advertises a combination of Mexican and Italian food.  Furthermore, the center court area has been sectioned off with cages where you can pet live tigers, and a temporary stage is set up near one of the demolished anchors where magic shows are held nightly, performed by a mullet-clad man named Joe Exotic.  The show itself costs no money to the mall, and Joe even suggests on his website that his shows are great for dead or dying malls. This is a unique and possibly innovative idea, but obviously temporary and not a real solution.

We visited the mall in October 2009, on a weekday night, and walked around and took pictures of the mall as usual, when we noticed we were being mysteriously followed by someone who appeared to be an employee of the mall – a janitor?  He had a walkie talkie or a cell phone, but we weren’t sure; the mall wasn’t that crowded, and this person was definitely following us.  It appeared to be time to leave, due to this turn of events, but as we were leaving a security guard by the name of C. Mack popped out from somewhere on the 2nd floor of the mall and approached us with fervor.

Uh oh.  Here it comes, the “we caught you photographing in the mall” spiel.  We’ve heard it before, and it’s never pleasant, but what actually transpired here was unexpected and sort of shocking, but ultimately kind of hilarious.  He got out a little notebook – the kind real police officers use to take statements – and got out a writing utensil and kept up with our pace (we didn’t stop to indulge him), all pretty intently.

“I have reports that you were soliciting.”

“[WTF??]”

“There have been reports based on your description that you were soliciting in the mall.”

“Well, I haven’t opened my mouth or talked to a single person since I entered the mall, so no.”

“Well, the description I was given was definitely you.”

“Again, no.”

At this point, I was admittedly a little freaked out, and a few thoughts whizzed around in my head.  Why was I being accused of soliciting when I honestly hadn’t spoken to anyone, at all, since I entered the mall?  I had only been there maybe 10 minutes at this point.  I was taking pictures, the ones featured with this post, but that’s not soliciting.  Did someone not know what soliciting means?

At any rate, after I denied soliciting a few times he immediately backed off and started walking the other way.  I wasn’t kicked out of the mall, and nothing else happened.  I did leave immediately, as planned, and maybe this was their intent, but it’s still kind of puzzling.

I have a few questions to pose to y’all:  Is this mall a case of biting off more than one can chew, resultant of the current state of the economy combine with the greed and mismanagement of non-local entities looking to make a few bucks?  Or is it just a case of bad luck and some honest tries?  Maybe it’s a combination of all of these factors.  Or maybe we’re completely off the mark here.  Leave comments and let us know!

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September 27, 2009 | Posted by Caldor | Posted in Texas

Here’s something kind of authentically Texan: a shopping mall that’s home to “the world’s largest pair of cowboy boots,” a 40′ sculpture outside of Saks Fifth Avenue. Pretty wild!

San Antonio, Texas is a large and sprawling metropolitan area of just over two million people in south-central Texas, and is home to many of Texas’ oldest landmarks (including, most notably, the Alamo). In recent decades, development sprawled almost un-checked in every direction radiating from downtown to such a great degree that the city had to build beltways around beltways.

Most of the city’s major shopping malls were built around what is now the “inner” of these two beltways–I-410–and most of *those* malls are clustered along the city’s northern half. Of these, North Star Mall is the largest and most successful of the fully enclosed malls near San Antonio (there is one newer outdoor mall that arguably has since rivaled it).

The North Star Mall is a 200 store, 1.2 million square foot enclosed mall anchored by Dillard’s, JC Penney, Macy’s, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Originally developed in 1960 by Community Research & Development Corporation (which would later become The Rouse Company), the mall was initially a far smaller center anchored by Wolff and Marx, H-E-B, and Walgreens, along with about 50 in-line merchants. Shortly thereafter, the mall was expanded slightly to include a movie theatre and a new anchor in Frost Bros. By the end of the decade, the mall underwent another expansion, with Wolff and Marx moving to a new five level store and renaming themselves Joske’s.

Also, in 1968, North Star got a buddy–the adjacent Central Park Mall, just across San Pedro Avenue. The 650,000 square foot mall was anchored by Sears and Dillard’s and was, for some time, something of a twin for North Star. You can see a 1982 aerial photo of the mall here. But the continued expansions at North Star would ultimately bring its demise.

The landmark cowboy boots showed up in 1980. Named “The Giant Justins,” and built by artist Bob “Daddy-O” Wade (What a Texan name!), the boots were originally constructed a year earlier for the Washington Project for the Arts.

The arrival of the giant kicks kicked off a 1982 revival at the North Star Mall, wherein the center began a major renovation to add a food court and a sub-terranean “music court” as well as add a Foley’s on the original H-E-B site. Three years later, Saks Fifth Avenue was added as yet another anchor. Only a year after the arrival of Sak’s, a new two-level wing was added to the mall, including Marshall Field’s and a new food court. In 1987, Joske’s was acquired by Dillard’s, while Frost Bros. went out of business in 1989 and was replaced three years later by Mervyn’s. Marshall Field’s exited the Texas market in 1997 and their store was converted to Macy’s.

In 2001, the now-dwarfed Central Park Mall packed it in. It was mostly demolished in 2003 although Sears still remains.

In 2004, the ever-evolving North Star Mall began yet *another* renovation, this time by new owner General Growth Properties (who had just acquired The Rouse Company). Renovations aside, the mall continued to see significant churn in its anchor tenants. Due to the Federated/May Merger of 2006, the Macy’s store was shut and the Foley’s store was rebranded with the Macy’s name. This created a space for JC Penney to enter the center, and they opened in the space in 2007. In 2008, beleaguered Mervyn’s exited the Texas market entirely, closing their store at North Star. (More on the North Star Mall timeline)

That’s the straight history, but what makes North Star Mall so interesting is its layout and architecture. Take a look at the directory and try and follow along:

The original section of the mall is the upper “T,” closest to Dillard’s and Saks. This was originally a one-level mall that received a second level and then was soon thereafter twinned (with the lower “T”) in the mid-80s. Strangely, the second level on either side of the mall is discontiguous, meaning that the only way to walk through the entire center is by going downstairs to the main, first level. The passageway between the two “T” areas is somewhat narrow and winding.

The floorplan at the North Star Mall alone kept me pretty entertained, but even aside from the weird layout the place just felt immense. With all of the various additions over the years, the mall doesn’t have much stylistic consistency, creating all sorts of nooks and crannies and twists and turns that look different from each other. All in all, it was a pretty exciting place.

And, as I mentioned earlier, although North Star Mall is San Antonio’s largest and most successful enclosed mall, it’s facing some tough competition. The very large Shops at La Cantera, a massive outdoor mall/lifestyle center, opened far northwest of the city in phases beginning in 2005. In sheer size, this place seems even bigger than North Star and appears to have an even more upscale roster of tenants, without any of the vacancies that plague North Star (which still hasn’t filled the Mervyn’s space that was vacated a year and a half ago.  Actually, whoops: Forever 21 plans to open a store to fill the vacant Mervyn’s).

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September 22, 2009 | Posted by Prange Way | Posted in Illinois

We thought we’d switch it up a bit with the mall postings and fire off a whole bunch of them at once, in an urban setting: downtown Chicago.

The following six malls are the largest and most cohesive retail centers in downtown Chicago, which we’re defining as extending beyond the Loop and including the neighborhoods of River North and Streeterville because, well, they’re downtown for all practical purposes.

There are other enclosed retail sMalls – clusters of enclosed shops - in downtown Chicago, and they’re too numerous to note, such as the shops inside and along the Chicago Pedway, an underground system of walkways connecting many downtown buildings, and sMalls also exist in the atriums of downtown office buildings.   We typically set a threshhold of at least 100,000 square-feet for these to “count” – occasionally something pops out that is smaller than this – and it’s not a set-in-stone rule (I know at least somebody is going to comment or e-mail me and say something like, “You didn’t include Xxxx, it’s a mall!).  So, with that in mind we’ll proceed into the depths of the urban jungle.

Atrium Mall – This is the smallest mall we’re choosing to include, and the only one technically in the Loop - at least for now.  The Atrium Mall consists of the first three levels of the James R. Thompson Center, a government building housing the offices of the State of Illinois.  It was built in 1985, and the 17-story building looks more like a Postmodernist museum rather than an office building housing government facilities.  The building was named for former governor Jim Thompson in 1993, after being called State of Illinois Center until then.  No clue why that creative name would ever get scrapped.

The enclosed space inside the James Thompson Center is really an impressive sight to behold.  An atrium exposes all 17 stories up to the top of the all-glass center, and it is said to be one of the largest enclosed spaces in the world.  The building takes up an entire city block, at 100 W. Randolph, and the basement connects to the lesser-known Chicago Pedway, an underground system of walkways connecting many downtown buildings, and the CTA Subway/El system.

The Atrium Mall consists of 40 stores, restaurants, and services, catering mostly to the downtown working crowd, with about 140,000 square-feet of leasable space.  There are no retail anchors to speak of, and the entire thing is closed after 6 on weekdays and all weekend, too, so the connection to the office crowd is the only reason this thing exists.  The food choices are the largest component, and feature nothing too exciting, unless you consider the fact that there are two Dunkin Donuts exciting.  And we admit, we kind of do.

We also find it amusing that the tiny Atrium Mall has its own Myspace page – erm, excuse me, her own Myspace page.  She notes on it that she doesn’t watch too much TV, and doesn’t care for politics, but she does read one of our favorite authors - Paco Underhill.  And why should she not?  She’s a mall, after all…

Shops at the Mart – The Merchandise Mart, constructed by Marshall Field and Company in 1930, occupies two entire city blocks in the River North neighborhood of downtown Chicago, bounded by Wells Street on the east, Kinzie on the north, Orleans and Franklin on the west, and the Chicago River on the south.  With 4.2 million square feet of retail space on 25 stories, the Merchandise Mart is one of the largest commercial buildings in the world, and one of the most fascinating buildings in Chicago’s impressive store of architecture.

Oh, and the first two levels are a mall.

The Merchandise Mart building itself is an homage to trading partners of Chicago’s past, present, and the site’s history as a Native American trading post -  56 terra cotta Indian chiefs circled the tower’s crown; however, they were barely visible from street level and intended to be viewed from nearby skyscrapers in River North, most of which were never constructed.  Thus, the Indian chiefs were removed in 1961 as part of a larger renovation project at the Mart.  Other architectural features included department store windows sans department store - the Mart was, after all, a vision of department store magnate Marshall Field – and an elaborate interior featuring eight marble piers, storefronts embossed in bronze trim, and green and orange terazzo floors.

As if all this wasn’t enough, the artwork inside the Mart essentially serves as a museum of retail.  Famed Chicago artist Jules Guerin’s frieze of murals are the focal feature of the Mart’s lobby, and depict commerce throughout the world, focusing on the countries of origin for items sold in the building.  In addition, along the Chicago River facing the Mart are eight bronze busts of retail magnates such as John Wanamaker, Marshall Field, Edward Filene, and Aaron Montgomery Ward.

But what businesses actually operate at the Mart?

Over the past 80 years the Mart has been home to radio stations, television station WMAQ, corporate offices, an el platform, and even a post office.  Most of the space at the Mart, however, has been historically devoted to wholesale showrooms – mainly for interior design.  Today, entire usable rooms are set up as showrooms, mostly for wholesalers and not open to the general public.    In addition, the Mart is home to the world’s largest design expo and trade show, and also hosts Art Chicago’s international art fair.  Also, the corporate offices of the Chicago Sun-Times relocated here in 2004when their old building was torn down for Trump Tower, and the corporate offices of Potbelly Sandwich Works - a fast-casual national chain – are located here as well.

In addition to the above tenants, the Mart became home to a two-level shopping mall in 1991.  Called Shops at the Mart, the shopping mall gave the Mart a wider visibility to the public, featuring a variety of shops and services.  It was to be anchored by Chicago-based department store Carson Pirie Scott (did this ever open?  If so, how long was it open?), and had a lot of apparel shops and traditional mall stores when it first debuted.  The Limited opened a 23,000 square-foot space and divided it among its subsidiaries.  Over the years, however, most of the traditional chain fodder found in suburban malls found its way out, and the mall began to focus on the downtown office crowd.  The eclectic mix of stores today also suggests this. Most of the apparel stores, including The Limited, no longer operate at The Mart.

The mall exists on the first two levels of the behemoth 25-story Mart, and although the mall doesn’t feature anything you’d go out of your way for as a visitor, the various food stalls, the food court, and the services here serve the downtown office crowd well.

The Shops at North Bridge – Opened in 2000, this is not only the newest mall in downtown Chicago, but also the newest enclosed mall in the entire Chicagoland area.  Located in the 500 block of North Michigan Avenue, The Shops at North Bridge is anchored by the midwest Nordstrom flagship – which is actually a block west, past Rush Street - and features a five-level enclosed concourse of upscale shops, connecting Nordstrom to Michigan Avenue at street level.

The site where North Bridge currently stands was, for over 70 years, the McGraw Hill Building - an art deco style construction, which opened in 1928.  In 1997, the City of Chicago got wind of the impending redevelopment of this historic, iconic building, and quicky declared it a designated historical landmark so they couldn’t totally decimate it.  So, when redevelopment time came, the developers had no choice but to incorporate large portions of the building into their new design.  After the McGraw Hill Building’s insides were torn down, its front facade facing Michigan Avenue was saved and grafted onto the new retail mall.

The design and layout here are interesting, mostly out of the necessity of space restrictions in an urban downtown, but also due to Chicago’s history.  Because of the great Chicago fire of 1871, much of downtown Chicago – including the “street level” of Michigan Avenue outside of the mall – was rebuilt one or more levels above the actual ground.  However, some of the side streets to the west of the mall are actually located at actual ground level, a level beneath Michigan Avenue.  These include Grand Avenue, which becomes an underpass under Michigan Avenue, and Rush Street where Nordstrom sits.

The mall itself is a four-level structure which curves between the Michigan Avenue entrance, which is actually on a bridge over Grand Avenue, and the entrance to Nordstrom, which is actually located on a bridge over Rush Street.  The entrance on Michigan Avenue is, like Water Tower Place, an elaborate lobby.  Guests must go up at least one level on an escalator to reach “Level 1″ of the mall, and they may ascend via escalator to the other levels from there as well.  The lobby also contains huge artistic sculptures, and windows on all sides featuring breathtaking urban views.  Confused yet?  Just visualize a mall, on a bridge, because that’s pretty much what it is.

The Shops at North Bridge’s tenants are mostly mid-range to upscale, including Kenneth Cole, Armani Exchange, and Louis Vuitton, and there’s a food court on the 4th level featuring nonstandard food court fare.  Don’t expect McDonald’s and Sbarro here; instead, the offerings are mostly local and cater to upscale fast-casual dining.

The mall is also part of the larger North Bridge complex, which spans several blocks, from Michigan all the way over to State Street, and from Ohio down to Illinois.  Other businesses in the complex have street frontage and aren’t connected to the mall structure, and include restaurants like Weber Grill, PF Chang, and California Pizza Kitchen, as well as furniture store Room and Board, who presumably moved here from the failed Chicago Place mall up the street (see below).  There are also a few hotels in the complex:  Conrad Hilton, Homewood Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, and the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile.  Say that one without running out of breath.

North Bridge has changed ownership a couple times since opening in 2000.  In 2003, Westfield America gained an interest from original developer John Buck, and rebranded the mall Westfield Shoppingtown North Bridge, dropping the “Shoppingtown” moniker in 2005.  Then, in 2008, Macerich acquired the mall from Westfield, and Macerich put back the original name to The Shops at North Bridge.  North Bridge is Macerich’s first property in the Chicago area.

North Bridge has been successful because of its sheer, stunning beauty, design, and the popularity of anchor Nordstrom.  Putting Nordstrom at the back, a block away, and funneling shoppers from Michigan Avenue to it has proved to be a good idea.

Chicago Place – A few blocks north of The Shops at North Bridge along Michigan Avenue brings us to the next stop on our downtown Chicago mall tour, Chicago Place.  In contrast with the nuanced success of North Bridge, Chicago Place is a mostly-failed dead mall, sitting right in the middle of downtown Chicago on its most famous shopping street.  What gives?

Most of the center is currently closed, save for the food court and one store (as of 2009), and plans are underway to transform most of the mall into office space – save for the Mag Mile frontage along Michigan Avenue, which will remain retail.

Chicago Place opened in 1990 as a 600-foot, 49-story behemoth, located at 700 N. Michigan Avenue, between Huron and Superior Streets.  The bottom 8 floors of the tower consisted, until 2009, of a vertical mall, anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue, which also opened as part of this development (it moved from across the street).  The rest of the floors are condos.

Shortly after debuting in 1990, Chicago Place – while experiencing a modicum of success and lease rates around  70 percent during the 1990s – fell dramatically short of expectations.  After all, it was on Michigan Avenue – one of the toniest shopping streets in the entire country.  Some stores, mainly on upper floors, never filled or had trouble filling, and the whole center certainly never felt as cohesive as Water Tower Place, just a few blocks north.

Despite being located on one of the nation’s premier shopping avenues, Chicago Place met its end through competition and poor design.  The awkwardly small, jagged floors of the vertical mall allowed for awkward placement of the handful of stores on each level, and the escalators, hemmed into the tightest space imaginable, gave people vertigo.  Also, the zig zag design had the unanticipated – and certainly unwanted – effect of alienating shoppers from the storefronts, pushing them away and past them.  In addition, anchor Saks is hemmed in at the back corner of the center, and casts a cold, unwelcoming pall upon it; it’s not an obvious focal point of the mall, drawing shoppers through the mall and into it like the 900 North Michigan or North Bridge malls do.

An express elevator near the rear of the mall, next to the Rush Street entrance, whisks people to and from the food court – the only truly inviting space in the mall – allowing them to pass the 7 stories between it and the ground level.  Ostensibly, this was done to allow the food court to thrive on lunch patrons who didn’t have time to ascend each level or use the slower elevators in the middle of the mall’s atrium.  It was a good idea, because the food court did indeed thrive, and is, rather oddly - as of late Summer 2009 – the only part of the mall still open for business.  The food court is also, unlike the rest of the mall, a nice, refreshing open space full of huge windows with sweeping views of Michigan Avenue, downtown, and the lakefront to the north.

By the 2000s, Chicago Place’s days became clearly numbered.  In 2004, a group of New York investors bought the mall for the price of $39 million – a steal.  Or so they thought.  Longtime tenants Ann Taylor and Room and Board had recently closed, as well as the tenants who brought life to the ground levels - Bockwinkel’s, an upscale grocer, a gourmet coffee place, and a flower shop.

It became painfully clear toward the middle of the 2000s that Chicago Place could simply not keep up.  It had neither the cachet of tourist-popular Water Tower Place, the upscale luxury of 900 N. Michigan Shops, nor the nuanced open floorplan of North Bridge.  In January of 2009, the Talbots store finally closed, leaving only a Tall Girl shop on the third floor, and the food court as the only remaining tenants.  According to Tall Girl’s website, the store is still open as of September 19, 2009 – is this true?  Probably not for long.

Long term plans are for the upper floors of Chicago Place to be gutted, but we’re not sure if this includes the food court or not.  The food court, while still technically open, is now having vacancy issues of its own – McDonald’s couldn’t even survive here – and the hike up to he 8th floor is probably a bit of a time-waster for people in a lunch crunch.  The street-level facade will be converted into a Zara store, and Saks will remain as well.  A Best Buy was to come in as well, but that apparently fell through as Best Buy recently opened up in the John Hancock Center four blocks north.

So long, Chicago Place.  You were a neat idea, if poorly executed.

Water Tower Place – Three blocks north of Chicago Place, and across the street, lies Water Tower Place – a Chicago shopping institution since 1975.  The 8-level, 750,000 square-foot mall lies at the base of an 859-foot, 74-story skyscraper housing a Ritz Carlton Hotel, condominiums, and one of Chicago’s most famous residents – Oprah Winfrey; however, rumors are constantly afoot that she may be leaving – or maybe not.  Keep us on our toes, O.

Brushes with fame aside, Water Tower Place single-handedly changed retail patterns in Chicago after it opened in the 1970s, bringing accessibility as well as shifting Chicago’s retail center of gravity.  Water Tower’s 100 stores weren’t – and still aren’t today – the exclusive, upscale boutiques seen on Michigan Avenue and nearby Oak Street. Instead, the stores at Water Tower Place are those found in successful, A-Tier suburban malls, such as Hollister, American Eagle, Chico’s, and Ann Taylor.

The major anchor at Water Tower is Macy’s, which was, until 2006, a Marshall Field’s (wistful shout out to MF) – and a Lord and Taylor anchored the other side of the mall until it closed in 2007.  The L&T space is currently a huuuuge American Girl Place, in part, and the rest of it is being redeveloped for other retail uses.  Also, in addition to stores, there’s a Drury Lane Theater for live performances, and although there is no traditional food court, there are fast food and sit down dining establishments scattered throughout the levels, including California Pizza Kitchen, Wow Bao, and Foodlife – a food court-esque area on the mezzanine (first level above the lobby).

The design specs and layout of Water Tower Place also make it a unique place, unlike the awkwardly positioned space at failed Chicago Place, another vertical mall a few blocks south.  From the Michigan Avenue main entrance lobby, guests are presented with escalators ascending  upward featuring multiple tiers and a waterfall running beside them.  The lobby itself only features entrances to American Girl, Macy’s, and Wow Bao – a counter service pa-Asian restaurant.  Upon reaching the mezzanine level, guests are greeted with the Foodlife food court area, featuring multiple genres of cuisine in counter-service format, and a small market featuring fresh produce and other items.  From the mezzanine level, the 8-level mall begins, and one can choose to ascend floor-by-floor using the escalators along one side of the atrium, or the elevators in the middle.  The entire place is decked out in marble and shiny metal, and combined with the small space on each level, gives shoppers a frenetic urban vibe – that’s why they came to shop in downtown Chicago, I guess.

This accessible mix of stores brought other popular chains to Michigan Avenue, and helped Michigan Avenue replace State Street as Chicago’s all-purpose one-stop retail destination.  The upscale shops and boutiques still exist, and even have their own niche over on Oak Street and in the 900 N. Michigan mall, but they have become the exception rather than the rule, and Water Tower Place was the impetus for this change.

By the way, the name Water Tower Place comes from the famous water tower located across the street, one of the only structures in Chicago to survive the great fire of 1871.

900 North Michigan Shops – In 1988, Urban Retail Properties, a Chicago-based developer, saw Water Tower Place’s immense success transforming the retail geography of Chicago and wanted a piece of the pie.  They apparently recogized they couldn’t compete head-to-head with Water Tower, but they realized that Water Tower squeezed out the previous monopoly upscale retailers had prior to its existence, so they developed a plan.  After signing Bloomingdale’s and junior anchor Henri Bendel (now clothing-box Mark Shale), they embarked on a massive, mixed-use development  plan, featuring 7 levels of upscale retail in a vertical mall – much like Water Tower Place – along with condos and a Four Seasons Hotel.

Much like neighboring vertical malls Chicago Place and Water Tower Place, the building the mall is in is also a megatall skyscraper.  At 871 feet tall, 900 North Michigan has 66 stories and is – as of September 11, 2001 - the tallest building in the U.S. housing a shopping mall.

The design and layout of 900 North Michigan Shops is similar to that of its sister, Water Tower Place.   The 450,000 square-foot vertical mall is about half the size of Water Tower Place, and is accented with a mostly white facade on the inside.  The angles aren’t intrusive either, unlike Chicago Place, with its failed zig zag design.  900 North Michigan encourages shoppers to actually shop in the stores.  Anchor Bloomingdales is at the back (Rush Street side) of the center, and the anchor is a visible focal point upon entering from the Michigan Avenue main entrance.  In addition, the arrangement of the escalators in a parallel pattern funnels shoppers past the shops, and not into a confusing spiral of vertigo.

As noted above, the clientele 900 Norh Michigan wants is more indicative of Michigan Avenue’s historical place in Chicago’s retail history as an upscale shopping destination, rather than the current mish-mash of all different types of retailers represented in Water Tower Place and the environs.  Also, 900 North Michigan is also closer to the upscale boutique district along Oak and Walton Streets.  By capturing an upmarket niche and through an inviting design, they have been successful where Chicago Place failed.  Only about half of the mall’s roster of stores are national, recognizable chains, like Gucci; the other half are smaller-scale exclusive upmarket boutiques.

We walked around downtown Chicago and visited all of these landmarks during  an afternoon in Fall 2007.  As usual, feel free to leave comments.

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