Comments on: Lincoln Mall; Freeport, Illinois

By: Gary

Gary — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:49:30 +0000

It’s good to know that the mall’s coming back. Sometimes you just have to give it a chance and with the economy slowly getting back on track, I think this mall is going to be alright.

By: Jimmy Anderson

Jimmy Anderson — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 06:14:07 +0000

Better eat your words and change your whole story and revisit the Lincoln Mall in Freeport. It is beggining to thrive again. Center mall has a deli and other stores now.Where Penny’s originally was along with their auto store Now(garrity health care) is a New big hardware store laid out much better than Menards(they do not carry l;umber. Easier to get to no big hangups in traffic. There used to be a hair salon,Radio Shack(I think that may have been the shingles on it) Ben Franklin store, Garrity drug store.I beleive there was also a shoe store.
I am not sure but I am thinking there was also a Jewelry store as you went in the main Entrance.
Stores are repainted , refurbished and look great.
So, you may wish to redo your article. The Owners did this on their own…….

By: Zombie13

Zombie13 — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:20:47 +0000

Jim- your enthusiasm should be commended. But I am not sure you can polish a turd. I hope the mall does well, that side of town looks awful with the lack or commerce.

By: pam

pam — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:28:34 +0000

@Brandon,
Actually, in the 70s that mall was really booming. Where the Menards was located was a Sears. The opposite end had JC Penney. The was a large Ben Franklin, Garrity Drug, a travel agency, shoe store, Hallmark, Radio Shack, and very nice women’s clothing store. Was about the time that Cherry Vale Mall was opened that Lincoln Mall started losing out. Penneys was the first to leave quickly followed by Sears. Once the anchors were gone didn’t take long for the mall to start dying.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 03:40:43 +0000

The Freeport Lincoln Mall is doing well now. There was an article in the Journal Standard about the mall. There are 7 businesses in there now with 2 more on the way.
http://www.journalstandard.com/homepage/x1793468690/2009-IN-REVIEW-Lincoln-Mall-returns-to-prominence

Sears (east end of the mall) and JC Penney’s (west end of the mall) were the 2 anchors. Inside there were many great stores that sold clothing, jewelry, records, a couple of hair salons, drug store and a gift store.

After Penney’s and Sears moved out, Menards moved in where Sears once was and Heilig Myers Furniture was in where Penny’s was. Heilig Myers moved out and that’s when Big Lots came in for several years.

Slowly, but surely it is coming back to prominence. We can’t let the corporate giants take over.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:30:48 +0000

Bill is correct RE Penney’s at Northland Mall/Sterling. It opened November 1972, a few months ahead of the rest of the mall. It had checkouts along the front, like a discount store — it looked much more like a discount store than a traditional department store. There was a similar-format store in Carbondale, IL — those were the only two I’ve ever seen.

When the rest of the mall opened in spring 1973, the other anchors were Weise’s (now Bergner’s), Woolworth (with a restaurant) and Walgreen’s (also with a restaurant).

By: Jerry B

Jerry B — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:34:20 +0000

@Jeff C,

I grew up across the street from the mall and like you worked at the Eagle store and the Sugar and Spice. Was Owned by Dale Otto. I remember as a child going across the street during construction and selling Kool Aid to the workers.

I think the musty smell comes from the basement of the building because I use to play in the basement during the construction and it had a moisture problem.
There is a natural springs running under that area because as a kid we use to drink from them.

So many memories and it was a good neighborhood to grow up in. Thanks Jeff for bringing back the memories.

Did we know each other?

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:21:59 +0000

I was manager of the downtown Woolworths in Freeport back in the late ’80s when the downtown was a walking plaza.The downtown was quite viable then with a Jupiters variety store,Walgreens,Spurgeons,and many other stores in a very full downtown.Lincoln Mall seemed small back then but was full.Freeport definitely grew away from the mall and the downtown is a shadow of its former self.I live in Sterling where I grew up.Penneys was the original tenant in Northland Mall when it opened in 1972 but it was a new concept back then thus its unusual look,it now looks pretty much like any other JCP.Northland Mall also had a large Woolworth in its center.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 07:26:20 +0000

If we all supported the mom and pops, this wouldn’t have happened. Now, many people live a lower standard of living because of shopping at multi-national corporate entities that owe no allegiance to any community much less country. It wouldn’t take that many of us to buy U.S. and support U.S. businesses to make a change where Main St. rules instead of Wall St. Sorry to say, but shopping at Walmart is only going to keep the status quo, sending jobs and money out of our country. Vote with your dollars folks. They may not seem like much on their own, but added up, it can make a huge difference. We can have community again like we used to and decent pay along with it.

By: Jason

Jason — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:00:34 +0000

Where is this at in freeport? Is it still open?