What’s fascinating is that Woodfield was pretty much built with farms surrounding it, and within a short twenty-thirty years, the area has exponentially grown from agriculture to suburbia. The juxtaposition of Woodfield and a farm is incredible to think of today, but normal to see some thirty years ago.

Anyone have any more pictures of Woodfield’s interior, or even exterior and surrounding neighborhoods from the olden days? I cannot find any promising links from my investigations. I know it’d be interesting to see the farms that have been so replaced so many years ago!

Jonah,

You may have hit the nail on the head, but let me ask you a question. If the mall dies then what? It’s not a simple one to ask, but a nessessary question none the less.

Personally I don’t think the mall is going away, but is transforming into something totally new. The strongest malls will remain like the ones you sited above, but there are just to many weak players right now. over time those undercapitalized mall companies will get forsed out to allow the survivers to return to profitability with better ballencesheets.

Woodfield’s approach does seem a little strange, but for a while now hotels have shuttled people to local malls. Since the malls were tied in with the economy: overspending and borrowing cash fueled malls since the 1970s, and the party is very close to a tumultuous end. So maybe malls were meant to die. But we can’t tell for now.

Personally I don’t think Woodfield is in trouble either, I just posed the question when I saw the article. I also agree with you that if you are visiting Chicago you are not rushing out to Woodfield to shop. However, on the other hand GSP is a 15 minute drive from midtown Manhattan & gets a fair percentage of tourests, so it’s possible that this could work in that mannor. Also remember ORD is only a few miles away.

I don’t really think Woodfield specifically is in trouble. I think what the article is trying to convey is that retail across the board is losing shoppers due to the economy and even centers like Woodfield are being forced to be even more creative with their marketing to make money, doing things they never had to do before like bus people from downtown Chicago.

I don’t really understand, though, why anyone staying in downtown Chicago would want to make a 30 minute bus trip (more in traffic) each way to visit a huge mall in the suburbs. Most, if not nearly all, of the stores in Woodfield have a location downtown somewhere and there are even several traditional malls on Michigan Avenue. The only real benefit I could see is saving a few bucks by not having to pay the city’s tax? I’d really like to see if people are really going to be using this service and if it is worth it in the long run for Woodfield.

Stores try creative ways to drive up holiday sales: Woodfield plans to bus tourists from Chicago to Schaumburg mall

Sandra M. Jones

October 31, 2008

Oct. 31–As the holiday season draws closer, retailers are dreaming up ways to entice reluctant shoppers into stores, including later hours and literally driving consumers to the mall.

Shoppers have stayed home for the past two months, brooding over their pummeled 401(k) plans and other dismal economic news. And now retailers are worried because consumers historically curtail trips to the mall in the weeks leading up to a presidential election, according to Chicago-based ShopperTrak RCT Corp.

So, Woodfield mall, one of the nation’s largest shopping centers, thinks it may have an answer.

It plans to round up tourists staying at downtown Chicago hotels and bus them to the Schaumburg mall. The effort, a first for the giant mall, begins Saturday and runs through the holiday season.

The notion of visitors leaving the Magnificent Mile for the quintessential suburban mall may have seem far-fetched a year ago. But this year, with retailers bracing for a brutal holiday, desperate measures are in order.

Overall retail traffic fell a stunning 9.3 percent in September from the same period a year ago, according to ShopperTrak. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported a 1.2 percent drop in September retail sales, the biggest drop in three years, and on Thursday said gross domestic product shrank at a 0.3 percent annual rate for July through September as consumers cut back on spending by the biggest amount in 28 years.

Dan de Grandpre, founder of DealNews.Com, a Web site that tracks promotions, predicts holiday deals will come fast and furious this year, and consumers will see all types of “crazy promotions” to get them shopping again.

“The retailer can’t succeed unless they get people into the store,” de Grandpre said.

Sears Holdings Corp., which under controlling stakeholder and Chairman Edward Lampert had made a concerted effort in the past to cut back on promotions, is stepping up the deals this year. Its game plan for getting shoppers into its stores revolves around offering extra unadvertised deals, starting Thanksgiving weekend, that can only be found if shoppers come to the store.

Kohl’s Corp., for its part, is taking a more-is-better approach. The discount department store chain increased its marketing budget, invested in new promotions that start on Nov. 7 instead of the typical Thanksgiving weekend and is doubling the amount of e-mail it sends customers throughout the season. The retailer also plans to extend store hours earlier in the season and unveil on its Web site a different feature deal, good only for that day, through November.

smjones@tribune.com

I wonder what is really going on behind the senes when an article like this pops up about one of the nations most influential malls going to such extremes trying to get shoppers in the door. Things must be tougher than we all think.