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The Orchards Mall

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Coordinates: 42°05′07″N 86°25′26″W / 42.0853°N 86.424°W / 42.0853; -86.424
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The Orchards Mall
Map
LocationBenton Township, Michigan
Coordinates42°05′07″N 86°25′26″W / 42.0853°N 86.424°W / 42.0853; -86.424
Address1800 Pipestone Road
Opening dateOctober 24, 1979; 44 years ago (October 24, 1979)
DeveloperWestcor
ManagementVacant
OwnerDurga LLC and Bedi & Associates LLC[1]
No. of stores and services11 (as of November 2020)[2]
No. of anchor tenants3 (all vacant)
Total retail floor area624,972 square feet[3]
No. of floors1

The Orchards Mall is an enclosed shopping mall near Benton Harbor, Michigan. Opened in 1979, the mall has 3 vacant anchor stores that were once Carson's, Sears, and JCPenney. The mall also has Slackers Family Fun Center, Doctor ZZZZ'Z Mattress Center and Jo-Ann Fabrics as junior anchors.

History

Meyer C. Weiner Company first proposed a mall called Pipestone Mall in Benton Harbor in 1974. By March 1976, Hudson's had been rumored as a potential anchor store.[4] Westcor acquired the land in August of the same year.[5] The mall was part of a development along Pipestone Road near Interstate 94 which also comprised a strip mall anchored by a Kmart. By 1977, Sears and JCPenney had been confirmed as anchors, with negotiations underway for Carson Pirie Scott as the third anchor.[6]

Orchards Mall was built in 1979 by Westcor. Opening for business in 1979, it featured J. C. Penney and Sears. Major tenants included Walgreens and York Steak House.[7] Elder-Beerman was added in 1992 as the mall's third anchor store.[8] Walgreens moved out of the mall in the mid 1990s, and remained vacant until Jo-Ann Fabrics replaced it in the late 2000s.[9][10]

General Growth Properties became the mall's management in 1999. A year later, several new stores were added including Bath & Body Works, while the Casual Corner and Finish Line, Inc. stores were remodeled, and Benton Township approved a $111,000 tax cut to help attract more new businesses.[11] General Growth sold the mall to Sequoia Investments in 2002, at which point four more businesses opened, including a Subway and a Chinese eatery in the food court.[12] KB Toys, an original tenant, closed in 2004.[13] Ponderosa, which closed in 1997, became an Italian eatery in 2007.[14] The same year, the Subway became a local restaurant.[15]

Sears closed its store at the mall in 2009.[16] Overflow Church purchased the building in 2012 and intended to move into it.[17] Elder-Beerman was converted to Carson's in 2011.[18] Sears returned to the mall in 2012 with its Sears Hometown format, a smaller-scale Sears store which sells major appliances and household hardware, in a spot vacated by an FYE music store. At the same time, the former Sears Auto Center on a mall outparcel was reopened as a local auto repair shop.[19]

In 2014 the mall was put up for sale;[20] Kohan Retail Investment Group purchased it on December 9.[21]

Sears Hometown closed in July 2017. On January 31, 2018, The Bon-Ton announced that Carson's would be part of a plan to close 42 stores nationwide. The store was closed in April 2018.[22] The mall was sold to Durga LLC, on November 30, 2018 and management was taken over by Bedi & Associates LLC in June of 2020.[1][23] On March 4, 2019, it was announced that JCPenney would also be closing as part of a plan to close 27 stores nationwide. The store closed on July 7, 2019.[24] Bath & Body Works has moved out of the mall.[25]

References

  1. ^ a b Wittkowski, Tony (December 5, 2018). "New owner of Orchards Mall is revealed". The Herald-Palladium. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  2. ^ "Breathing New Life into the Orchards Mall". Moody on the Market. Mid-West Family Broadcasting. June 28, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  3. ^ "Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets Michigan City, IN: Other Retail" (PDF). Simon.com. May 2012. p. 3. Archived from the original on December 13, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ Wyndarden, Mike (March 17, 1976). "Hudson store reported for Pipestone Mall". The Herald-Palladium.
  5. ^ "Pipestone Mall start scheduled. Opening of big shopping center planned in '79". The Herald-Palladium. August 31, 1976.
  6. ^ "Pipestone development termed 'new city': Shopping mall just part of commercial-residential project". The Herald-Palladium. July 2, 1977.
  7. ^ "Kickoff Wednesday for Orchards Mall". Herald Palladium. October 23, 1979. p. A1. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  8. ^ Leuty, Ron (October 11, 1992). "elder+beerman" "Pinning hope on Elder-Beerman". Herald Palladium. p. 1E. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  9. ^ "Orchards Mall; Benton Charter Township, Michigan - Labelscar". Labelscar: The Retail History Blog. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  10. ^ "New in business". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  11. ^ "Exceeding expectations: Orchards Mall stages comeback". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  12. ^ "Retail building boom stalls, but property owners count on a turnaround soon". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  13. ^ "KB Toys at Orchards Mall one of 377 going under". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  14. ^ "BENTON TOWNSHIP Ñ By Christmas,…". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  15. ^ "New in business". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  16. ^ "Sears store to close in Benton Harbor; some workers may land jobs at Portage store". MLive.com. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  17. ^ "Michigan Church selling former Sears building to Orchards Mall". Wndu.com. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  18. ^ "Elder-Beerman changing names". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  19. ^ "Sears returning to Orchards Mall". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  20. ^ Dalgleish, Jim (June 21, 2014). "Orchards Mall up for sale". The Herald-Palladium. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  21. ^ Matuszak, John (December 12, 2014). "Orchards Mall's new owner: rescuer or bad apple?". The Herald-Palladium. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  22. ^ Writer, TONY WITTKOWSKI-HP Staff. "Carson's shutting down at Orchards Mall". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved Jun 5, 2020.
  23. ^ Wittkowski, Tony (December 1, 2018). "Orchards Mall gets new owner". The Herald-Palladium. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  24. ^ Associated Press (Jul 7, 2019). "Michigan J.C. Penney store closes after more than 90 years in business". WDIV. Retrieved Jun 5, 2020.
  25. ^ Wittkowski, Tony. "Bath & Body Works moving to Fairplain Plaza". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
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