Randhurst Village

Randhurst Village, previously known as Randhurst Mall and Randhurst Center or simply Randhurst, is a shopping mall located at the corner of Rand Road (U.S. Route 12) and Elmhurst Road (Illinois Route 83) in Mount Prospect, Illinois. The mall took its name from combining the names of these two roads.

Currently owned by DLC Management, this open-air mixed-use center features national and regional retailers, several restaurants, second-floor offices, a 140-room hotel and a 12-screen cinema. It is now anchored by AMC Theatres, Costco Wholesale, Home Goods and Hampton by Hilton. Other stores include, Home Depot, Jewel-Osco, PetSmart, and T.J. Maxx among others.

History[]

Origins[]

Randhurst Mall was located at the intersection of Rand Road (U.S. Rt. 12) and Elmhurst Road (IL Rt. 83) in Mount Prospect, Illinois. Randhurst Mall opened on August 16, 1962. It was designed by Victor Gruen, who shaped it like an equilateral triangle with a dome in the middle. At the points of the triangle, there were three anchor department stores, which, at the time of its opening, were Wieboldt's, Carson Pirie Scott, and The Fair (a chain owned and operated by Montgomery Ward). Randhurst Mall was Chicagoland's first enclosed mall and the largest enclosed, air-conditioned space in the United States at the time it was built. It had two main floors and two subfloors. Since it was built at the height of the Cold War, it had a fallout shelter big enough to hold every resident in Mount Prospect.

1980s[]

In 1981, The Rouse Company acquired Randhurst from the Randhurst Corporation. In 1985, Rouse converted the upper sub-level of offices into a food court–one of the first in the Chicago area–and more retail space; a complete conventional second floor of retail space would be constructed by 1990. The "subfloor" of stores was also made larger and easier to access. In 1987, the entire Wieboldt's chain went bankrupt and closed its stores; Peoria, Illinois-based Bergner's acquired the empty Randhurst location. Shortly thereafter, Elgin-based specialty department store Joseph Spiess Company built a minor anchor, 61,000 sq ft (5,700 m²), next to the Wieboldt's/Bergner's anchor, and MainStreet added another minor anchor near the Montgomery Ward anchor (just before the chain was acquired by Kohl's). Spiess expanded too rapidly and too late for the market; as a consequence of this, the chain went bankrupt, and the store at Randhurst closed on January 31, 1992.

1990s[]

In 1990, Bergner's–which had acquired Carson Pirie Scott in 1989–closed its Randhurst store, allowing the Carson Pirie Scott anchor to move into the grander ex-Wieboldt's building while JCPenney took over the former Carson Pirie Scott anchor. Wickes Furniture briefly occupied the Spiess anchor, until Circuit City and Old Navy took over the space in 1995; meanwhile, a new Filene's Basement minor anchor occupied the majority of the "bazaar" level. This brought Randhurst to its greatest level of occupancy ever–three major anchors and four minor anchors–and an all-time peak of 1,400,000 sq ft (130,000 m²) of retail space.

The next ten years, however, would be much more difficult for Randhurst. The construction and expansion of multiple shopping malls in the area, especially the improvements to Woodfield Mall in nearby Schaumburg, devastated Randhurst's shopping base, as did the local population's general change in shopping tastes. In 1996, the mall's management tried to compensate by updating the mall's decor and adding new Jewel-Osco and Home Depot stores at the perimeter of the mall (the Home Depot replacing the closed Child World building, formerly the Randhurst Ice Arena, and Wards Auto Center); despite this, foot traffic fell, and stores began disappearing from the mall at a rapid rate. This included the Filene's Basement minor anchor, which closed in 1999 (along with three other Chicago-area Filene's Basement stores). In June 1999, Borders was added and closed in April 2011.

2000s[]

The problems for Randhurst continued as one of Chicago's first lifestyle centers, Deer Park Town Center, opened in north suburban Deer Park in 1997 and 2000. This open-air shopping center became increasingly popular and may have attracted patrons who would have otherwise traveled to Randhurst or nearby Woodfield. Meanwhile, Randhurst suffered the loss of its JCPenney and Montgomery Ward anchors within months of each other in 2001. JCPenney had labeled the Randhurst store as an "underperformer," and therefore closed the location as they did many other "underperforming" locations. The Montgomery Ward anchor was remodeled and rebranded as Wards in 2000 as part of a chain-wide "last-ditch" effort to revive the brand; when this failed, Wards closed its entire chain of stores and went out of business. In 2003, Kohl's moved its store to a space formerly occupied by Venture/Big Kmart near the corner of Elmhurst Road and Dempster Street on the south end of Mount Prospect. Following the sudden departure of these three anchor tenants, many stores inside the mall closed as well. The devastating loss of numerous tenants and anchors led many to believe that Randhurst was about to become a dead mall.

In 2004, some revitalization did occur for the mall, as a grand remodeling and repositioning scheme for the mall was put in motion. The former JCPenney and Kohl's anchors were demolished to build a new 160,000 sq ft (15,000 m²) Costco anchor with no entry to the mall proper. Similarly, the former Montgomery Ward anchor was mostly torn down to create a grand new "promenade" entrance for the mall. Unfortunately, no upscale stores ever moved into the new addition, however Applebee's did move from another section of the mall. Unlike its previous home, which had both exterior and interior entrances, the new location was serviced by an outdoor entrance exclusively. A Buffalo Wild Wings was built on an outlot close to Carson's and Jewel-Osco. Circuit City closed in early 2005, and Old Navy moved to nearby Arlington Heights, all in the midst of the new construction. Bed Bath & Beyond and Steve & Barry's quickly took their places–Bed Bath & Beyond moved into the former Circuit City retail space, while Steve & Barry's opened in the former Applebee's restaurant and Old Navy spaces in 2004 and 2005. The Gruen design had been partially destroyed, and the renovation only helped temporarily stem the tenant outflow.

Redevelopment[]

Over the following decades, Randhurst Mall was renovated, but the expansion of other malls in the area and the changing shopping tastes of the locals started to seal the demise for Randhurst. Randhurst's final shopping day was September 30, 2008. On August 28, 2009, Randhurst's signature dome was demolished, bringing down the last of the parts to be demolished. The three anchor stores, which currently are Carson Pirie Scott, Costco, and Bed Bath & Beyond, are still standing. They are now be part of the new lifestyle center put in the mall's place. Other buildings on the perimeters of the Randhurst Mall land stayed in place. They include a Jewel-Osco grocery store, Buffalo Wild Wings, Steak 'n Shake, an AMC movie theatre, Chase Bank, The Home Depot, and Borders Books as well as a new, small strip mall that holds a couple small restaurants and stores. In 2011, Randhurst Village was opened.

2010[]

Construction of Randhurst Village began in the fall of 2009. Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. announced a remodeling of the former mall's Carson Pirie Scott anchor in May 2009, which was completed in November 2010. A new AMC movie theater, with 12 screens, replaced the Randhurst 16 (it was General Cinema until 2002) outparcel theater (originally the General Cinema Fourplex) in April 2011. T.J. Maxx and Old Navy also opened in Randhurst during 2011 while The Sports Authority replaced Steve & Barry's.

Several signification changes occurred in 2012. A 120-room Hampton Inn & Suites opened alongside several of new retailers and restaurants that included PetSmart, Five Guys and Chipotle. The mall’s existing bomb shelter had been converted into underground parking for hotel guests.

It was also announced that Experience, Parmida Homes and Torrid would be moving into the lifestyle center by the end of the year. Construction began on new buildings for BlackFinn Ameripub, The Children’s Place and Panera.

During this time, there were roughly 320,000 people in the area and very little restaurant competition for the lunchtime crowds. In early 2013, Chef Rodelio Aglibot and his partners opened E+O (Earth and Ocean) Food and Drink in Randhurst Village. This spacious restaurant featured an upscale menu and oversized patio to satisfy the demand from nearby business employees.

After owning Randhurst Village for 22 years, JPMorgan Chase announced plans to sell the 1 million-square-foot lifestyle center in 2014. Several development companies expressed interest in purchasing the property over the next year until it was finally sold to New York-based DLC Management. At the time, it was the largest asset in DLC’s portfolio.

Sports Authority closed due to Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in 2016. Michael's took this place in 2017.

On April 18, 2018, the Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. company (owner of Carson's) announced that all of its stores will be going into liquidation and wrap up corporations on August 29, 2018 due to financial reasons. The Carson's store at Randhurst has had a little over 56 years of service in the Mount Prospect shopping community, and after 10 years of the indoor mall's closure, this store closed for good. Plans for entertainment or residential venues are likely options for filling in this vacant facility.

Gallery[]

Videos[]

Randhurst Mall Closing Day -- 9 30 2008