Woodfield Mall

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Woodfield Mall
Mall facts and statistics
Location Schaumburg, Illinois, USA
Opening date September 9, 1971
Management Taubman
No. of stores and services 300
No. of anchor tenants 5
Total retail floor area 2.7 million square feet (GLA)

Woodfield Mall is a shopping mall located in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg, Illinois at the intersection of Golf Road and Illinois Route 53. Woodfield opened on September 9, 1971 with 59 stores, growing to 189 stores with 1.9 million retail square feet by 1973, the largest mall in the United States at that time. It is currently the largest mall in Chicagoland. [1]

Contents

The exterior of Woodfield Mall.
The exterior of Woodfield Mall.


Woodfield Shopping Center opened with just 28 specialty shops and three department stores. Now, it houses nearly 300 stores and restaurants and five anchors and is the core of the entire northwest suburbs of Chicago.

Woodfield is named for former Sears board chairman General Robert E. Wood and Marshall Field and Company founder Marshall Field. It debuted on September 9, 1971, on 191 acres of prairie land, previously occupied by farms, cows, and a village tavern. Singer Carol Lawrence, actor Vincent Price, and two marching bands entertained at the debut.

By the end of September 1971, another 28 stores and restaurants had opened and that first business year finished with 138 specialty retailers. Many of those retailers -- Casual Corner, Johnston & Murphy, Lane Bryant, The Limited, Stride Rite, Gingiss, Fredericks, Lerner, and Waldenbooks -- are still at Woodfield today (although Waldenbooks is closing as the parent company, Borders, operates a store nearby at Woodfield Village Green).

Originally 1.9-million square feet of retail space, Woodfield today is 2.7 million feet of retail space. In 1973, Lord & Taylor opened and brought along 50 additional new retailers and a whole new wing. In celebration of its 20th anniversary in 1991, Woodfield added 23 more stores and then in 1996, Woodfield grew again with a $110 million wing. This new wing included a three-level Nordstrom, a larger replacement Lord & Taylor, and 50 new specialty stores. Of these new stores, nearly 40 debuted flagship concepts and designs, with about 27 of them the largest in their chains.

While all of this expansion continued at Woodfield, the surrounding village of Schaumburg grew as well. In 1970, the population was 19,000; in 1980, it mushroomed to 55,000; and, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Schaumburg had over 75,000 people in 2000. Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson observed that, "Woodfield established a focal point for development throughout all of the northwest suburbs. Without Woodfield, we wouldn't have office towers in Itasca or corporate development in Hoffman Estates."

The GLA of the mall today is 2.7 million square feet, making it the fifth largest shopping mall in the U.S. and third largest in terms of shopping area. (King of Prussia Mall in the Philadelphia suburbs and South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, California are larger) . The mall is not only the most visited tourist destination in Chicagoland, it's the most popular tourist destination in Illinois with 27 million annual visitors. The center features nearly 300 stores and is anchored by J.C. Penney, Lord & Taylor, Macy's (formerly Marshall Field's), Nordstrom and the country's largest Sears store at 416,000 square feet. Woodfield is often used as a test market for retailers; a recent example was the 2004 opening (and nationwide debut) of RUEHL 925 by youth clothier Abercrombie & Fitch. In 2006, the Marshall Field's store was rebranded Macy's.

'Streets of Woodfield' is a recent extension to the Woodfield Area. It was formerly a smaller competing mall called One Schaumburg Place. It hosts:

'Woodfield Village Green' is a large regional strip center in the Woodfield area. Its major stores include:

The Woodfield area, often coined "Greater Woodfield", forms the nucleus of the Golden Corridor, one of the largest commercial centers in the Midwest.

Along Golf Road can be found many stores and restaurants, including:

Stores:

Restaurants:

Numerous automobile dealerships are located in Greater Woodfield, particularly along Golf and Higgins Roads. Franchises for almost all makes sold in the United States are represented.

Additionally, Greater Woodfield boasts one of the largest concentrations of hotels in Chicagoland. Among them are the Renaissance Hotel, Hyatt Regency Woodfield, Wyndham Garden, Marriott, Courtyard by Marriott, Springhill Suites , Radisson, Country Inn & Suites, Wingate Inn, Extended Stay America, Embassy Suites, Hilton, Hampton Inn, Renaissance, Drury Inn, AmeriSuites, Staybridge, Residence Inn, and Candlewood Suites.

The Golden Corridor comprises Chicagoland's largest suburban office submarket, with over 27 million square feet of total inventory in 2005.[2]

The Illinois Secretary of State has a driver's license testing facility near Woodfield.

Woodfield is adjacent to Ilinois Route 53 and I-290. The Northwest Tollway (Interstate 90) also runs north of Woodfield, intersecting Route 53 northeast of the mall.

Pace Bus, the Suburban Bus service, has a complete bus center, which the ending of several routes. It is also the hub for the "Cubs Roundtripper" to Wrigley Field, "Bears Shuttle" to Soldier Field, "Six Flags Shuttle" to Six Flags Great America, and "The Flower and Garden Show" Shuttle.

Metra has plans to build an inter-suburban rail service tentatively referred to as the STAR line, with a stop at Ikea.

Schaumburg also has a municipal Heliport (ICAO: 4H1) available for public use. It has the main helicopter pad, 1 helicopter parking space, and grassy area for extra parking.

Other Major Highways that go through the Woodfield area include:

The mall is located about 15 miles NW of O'Hare Airport and about 28 miles from Downtown Chicago.

Skyline view and edge of Woodfield Mall
Skyline view and edge of Woodfield Mall

The Schaumburg Convention Center was completed in 2006. It is located across I-90 from Woodfield, next to Motorola's corporate campus. The 150,000 sq. ft. Convention Center has an adjoining 500 room Renaissance Hotel with 48,000 sq. ft. meeting center and a 28,000 sq. ft. ballroom.

The Woodfield Trolley (owned and operated by Pace) has begun service to the convention center from Woodfield, with trolleys running every 30 minutes.

  1. ^ Largest Shopping Malls in the United States (2004). American Studies at Eastern Connecticut State University.
  2. ^ Colliers Bennett & Kahnweiler, 2005 Suburban Market Report (Chicago, Illinois)

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