Westfield Old Orchard

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 99.100.228.159 (talk) at 18:24, 15 October 2014. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Westfield Old Orchard
File:Oldorchardlogo.jpg
Map
LocationSkokie, Illinois, United States
Coordinates42°3′33″N 87°44′58″W / 42.05917°N 87.74944°W / 42.05917; -87.74944
Address4999 Old Orchard Center, Skokie, IL 60077
Opening dateOctober, 1956
DeveloperPhilip Morris Klutznick
ManagementWestfield Group
OwnerWestfield Group
No. of stores and services140
No. of anchor tenants4
Total retail floor area1,788,919 sq. ft.
No. of floors1 (Anchors have 2 or more floors)
Websitehttp://westfield.com/oldorchard

Westfield Old Orchard, formerly Old Orchard Shopping Center, is a super-regional shopping center in Metro Chicago. It is located in the northern suburb Skokie, Illinois. It is the fourth largest mall in Illinois.

Its anchor stores are Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Lord & Taylor, and Nordstrom.

It recently underwent a $50 million expansion and reconfiguring, with a grand reopening in late 2007.[1]

History

In response to post-World War II suburban expansion, developer Philip Morris Klutznick commissioned Loebl Schlossman and Bennett (now Loebl Schlossman and Hackl) to design Old Orchard Shopping Center at a site with easy access to the new Edens Expressway, which had been constructed to serve suburban dwellers. Old Orchard Shopping Center first opened in 1956, with Marshall Field's and the The Fair Department Store.

The architect's original design treated the center as a community, creating a series of walkways that turned storefronts inward rather than facing them to the parking areas. The irregular mall plan encouraged shoppers to stroll along a path of new discovery with each turn, reflecting the perception of shopping as a social event. Since many prospective merchants wanted to be near Marshall Field's, the anchor was placed in the center of the site. The Fair was bought by Montgomery Ward in 1957. Saks Fifth Avenue opened a store here in 1959. Under Montgomery Ward, The Fair was renamed in 1964. Under this ownership, Montgomery Ward opened a store at the center as an anchor.

Saks Fifth Avenue expanded its store in 1978. Lord & Taylor opened a store at Old Orchard in 1979. The Montgomery Ward closed in 1988. In 1991 Nordstrom announced plans to open its second Chicagoland location at Old Orchard. In addition to the 200,000 square foot Nordstrom, Old Orchard also expanded the mall by 100,000 square feet as part of a $200 million expansion.[2] This allowed for an additional 62 stores to open. Following the Nordstrom announcement Old Orchard also announced plans to bring in a fifth tenant: Bloomingdales. A number of other tenants also underwent renovations, including Crate & Barrel and The Limited.[3] Lord & Taylor relocated and expanded its store in 1993.

The expansion, redevelopment, and remerchandising of Old Orchard Shopping Center, completed September 1, 1995, completely transformed the mall that North Shore residents had known since 1956. A major portion of the remerchandising was the addition of a Nordstrom department store in 1994 and Bloomingdale's in September 1995. A four story parking ramp was opened and so was a movie theatre. The shopping center remained open-air and did not enclose to form a traditional shopping mall as so many others had.[4]

The Westfield Group acquired the shopping center in 2002 following the breakup of previous owner Urban Shopping Centers, and renamed it Westfield Shoppingtown Old Orchard, dropping the Shoppingtown name in June 2005. In July 2005, Saks Fifth Avenue closed its store. After initially proposing a massive expansion and reconfiguration, Westfield instead began a more scaled-down $60 million project in July 2006, demolishing the former Saks store in the process. Marshall Field's was officially renamed Macy's on September 9, 2006. The addition opened late in 2007.

Old Orchard Center made news when on the evening of March 1, 2008, Skokie police shut down and evacuated the Macy's and Nordstrom anchors after a man with a backpack was spotted walking around suspiciously, then leaving without the backpack. Cook County bomb squad was called in to search the mall, but nothing was found and the wings were reopened without incident.[5]

In 2009 the Chicago Transit Authority publicly announced the possibility of extending the Yellow Line (CTA) to include a stop at Old Orchard. A public comment period concluded on October 27, 2009.[6] An Environmental Impact Statement was to be prepared. As of January, 2014 no announcements have been made stating whether the proposed Old Orchard station plans will move forward.[7]

Today, Old Orchard is home to more than 140 stores and restaurants.

List of anchors

Shops and restaurants

Westfield Old Orchard features a variety of mall mainstays, Chicago based retailers, higher end boutiques, and sit down casual restaurants.

Tenants include junior anchors Barnes & Noble, Forever XXI, LL Bean, and Crate & Barrel.

Others include Sephora, Zara, Henri Bendel, Hugo Boss, Rolex, Tesla Motors, Apple, Tiffany & Co., Brooks Brothers, Coach, L'Occitane en Provence, Swarovski, Akira, Tumi, Janie & Jack, See's Candies, North Face, Abercrombie & Fitch, Lucy Activewear, Teavana, Armani Exchange, Vera Bradley, Papyrus, Talbots, Pottery Barn, American Eagle Outfitters, Williams-Sonoma, Vans, Lacoste, The Art of Shaving, Brookstone, Banana Republic, Madewell, J. Crew, lululemon athletica, Foot Locker, Lucky Brand Jeans, Bath & Body Works, Splendid, Michael Kors, Anthropologie, C.D. Peacock Jewelers, Victoria's Secret, Yankee Candle Company, and Lush, amongst many others.[8]

Food options can be found throughout the shopping center. Options include Noodles and Company, Godiva, Subway, Cinnabon, Starbucks Coffee, Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza Kitchen, McCormick & Schmick's, Roka Akor, and Corner Bakery Cafe.

In addition to its shops and restaurants Old Orchard also brings in visitors due to it having community attractions like Corepower Yoga, an Aveda salon, and a Regal Entertainment Group movie theatre which has screens in two locations. During the winter months it also installs an ice rink.

List of expansions

  • 1959 Saks Fifth Avenue opens
  • 1978 Saks Fifth Avenue expands to larger store
  • 1979 Lord & Taylor opens
  • 1993 Lord & Taylor expands to larger store
  • 1994 Nordstrom opens
    • 242,000 square feet (22,500 m2) of new specialty retail (including the Cineplex Odeon Theaters)
    • Parking deck—five levels, 1,150 vehicle capacity
  • 1995 Bloomingdale's opens
    • 154,000 square feet (14,300 m2) of new specialty retail
    • 600 seat-food court
    • Parking deck—six levels, 2,200 vehicle capacity

Bus connections

CTA

  • #54A North Cicero/Skokie Blvd.
  • #97 Skokie
  • #201 Central/Ridge
  • #205 Chicago/Golf

Pace

  • #208 Golf Road
  • #215 Crawford-Howard
  • #422 Linden CTA/Glenview/Northbrook Court

In Popular Culture

Old Orchard is referenced by name in Mean Girls, which takes place in the North Shore neighborhoods of Chicago. However, in the film the mall is shown as being an enclosed center. This is because the scenes were actually filmed at Sherway Gardens in Toronto.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ [1] Chicagobusiness.com
  2. ^ http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-08-14/business/9103280512_1_nordstrom-vice-president-jmb-woodfield-mall
  3. ^ http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-10-07/business/9410070328_1_woodfield-mall-new-specialty-stores-john-nordstrom
  4. ^ http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-12-20/business/9104240162_1_wards-store-oakbrook-center-jmb-realty-corp
  5. ^ Bradley, Ben (March 1, 2008). "security scare at skokie illinois shopping mall". ABC7Chicago. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  6. ^ http://www.transitchicago.com/yelloweis/default.aspx
  7. ^ http://www.transitchicago.com/yelloweis/abouttheproject.aspx
  8. ^ http://www.westfield.com/oldorchard/map
  9. ^ http://torontoist.com/2008/09/reel_toronto_mean_girls/

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Westfield_Old_Orchard&oldid=629744629"