Westfield Old Orchard, formerly Old Orchard Shopping Center, is a shopping center in the Chicago metropolitan area. It is located in Skokie, Illinois. The shopping center features the traditional retailers Macy's and Nordstrom, in addition to a CMX luxury cinema. The mall features prominent specialty retailers such as Vineyard Vines, Madewell, Anthropologie, Fabletics, Kendra Scott, Tory Burch, and Warby Parker.[1][2]

Westfield Old Orchard
Westfield Old Orchard logo
Westfield Old Orchard in June 2019
Map
LocationSkokie, Illinois, United States
Coordinates42°3′33″N 87°44′58″W / 42.05917°N 87.74944°W / 42.05917; -87.74944
Address4905 Old Orchard Center, Skokie, IL 60077
Opening date1956; 68 years ago (1956)
Previous namesOld Orchard Shopping Center (1956–2002)
Westfield Shoppingtown Old Orchard (2002–2005)
DeveloperPhilip Morris Klutznick
ManagementUnibail-Rodamco-Westfield
OwnerUnibail-Rodamco-Westfield
No. of stores and services156
No. of anchor tenants2
Total retail floor area1,582,295 sq ft (147,000.0 m2)
No. of floors1 (2 in Nordstrom, ZARA, Toms Price Furniture, Barnes and Noble, Maggiano's Little Italy, Pottery Barn, L.L.Bean, Crate & Barrel, Red Parking Garage, Management Office, Cheesecake Factory, Regal Cinemas, and Green Parking Garage, 4 in Macy's, 5 in Purple Parking Garage, 6 in Orange Parking Garage, 7 in Professional Building)
Public transit accessBus interchangeChicago Transit Authority
Bus interchangePace
Websitewww.westfield.com/united-states/oldorchard

History

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The huge Marshall Field & Company anchor store was the first portion of the mall to open, on October 22, 1956. The Old Orchard Shopping Center itself opened on October 25, 1956, while a second anchor department store, The Fair, opened on November 1, 1956.[3] A third anchor store, Saks Fifth Avenue, opened on November 6, 1958. The Fair was renamed Montgomery Ward in 1964. Two parking structures, the North and West Garages, were built in 1978. Saks Fifth Avenue moved to a larger location in 1978, selling their previous store to Lord & Taylor.[4]

Since many prospective tenants wanted to be near Marshall Field's, the anchor was placed in the center of the site.

Montgomery Ward closed in 1988. In 1991, Nordstrom announced plans to open its second Chicago area location at Old Orchard. In addition to a 200,000-square-foot (19,000 m2) Nordstrom, Old Orchard also expanded the mall by 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) as part of a $200 million expansion.[5] This allowed for an additional 62 stores to open. Following the Nordstrom announcement Old Orchard also announced plans to bring in a fifth tenant: Bloomingdale's. A number of other tenants also underwent renovations, including Crate & Barrel and The Limited.[6] In 1993, Lord & Taylor relocated and expanded its store.[7] Maggiano's Little Italy opened to customers on October 28, 1994.[8] A Barnes & Noble Booksellers also opened that year.[9]

The shopping center was completely redesigned in the 1990s, with the opening of the Nordstrom department store on October 7, 1994[10] and Bloomingdale's, Abercrombie & Fitch, Ann Taylor, Cache, FAO Schwarz, The Limited, Record Town, Talbots and Victoria's Secret in September 1995. Three months later, Pottery Barn opened to the public.[11] That same year, a five-story parking garage and a movie theater were added.

 
View from the parking lot.

In 2002, Westfield Group purchased the mall, and it was renamed Westfield Shoppingtown Old Orchard. The name was shortened to Westfield Old Orchard in June 2005.[12]

In 2004, Toms Price Furniture opened. In 2005, Foot Locker renovated its store, and Cold Stone Creamery opened. In June 2005, Saks Fifth Avenue closed. It was demolished in 2006, in an effort to scale the mall down. More renovations began during this time.[13] Marshall Field's became Macy's on September 9, 2006.

Old Orchard underwent a $50 million expansion and renovation, and reopened in late 2007.[14] On October 4, 2008, ZARA opened its doors for the first time.[15]

Old Orchard is referenced by name in Mean Girls, which takes place in the North Shore neighborhoods north of the city 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, Ontario, Canada.[16]

In 2014, Uncle Julio's opened to the public.[17] Buffalo Wild Wings opened in 2015.[18] That same year on September 9, Shake Shack would open.[19]

In December 2017, Lord & Taylor announced that they would close their store.[20] The previous Lord & Taylor store is planned for reconstruction as part of a future enhanced development including additional retail, an outdoor plaza, and residences.[21]

In November 2021, Barnes & Noble announced that it would be permanently closing their store in this location after Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield did not renew the store's lease.[22] A year later, Barnes & Noble opened a new store in a new location, formerly occupied by Toms Price Furniture.[23]

In August 2022, it was announced that Bloomingdale's would transition to a new store format called Bloomie's in the location of the former Barnes & Noble.[24] The previous Bloomingdale’s outpost will be replaced with about 350 apartments and a town square for events.[25]

By 2023, Westfield Old Orchard announced several new additions, including Psycho Bunny, Tory Burch, Rodd & Gunn, Louis Vuitton, Fabletics, as well as new medical office space.[2] It also announced that the former Lord & Taylor space would be replaced by Arhaus, Puttshack, and a relocation of the existing ZARA store.[26]

Arhaus, Puttshack, and ZARA are expected to open sometime in 2024. Development of new residences, restaurants, office buildings, medical spaces, wellness facilities, and outdoor facilities started in 2024 and is expected to be complete and opened in 2026.[27]

Anchors

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Current

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Former

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  • Marshall Field's — Opened in 1956, converted to Macy's in 2006
  • The Fair — Opened in 1956, converted to Montgomery Ward in 1964
  • Saks Fifth Avenue — Opened in 1958, closed in 2005, building was demolished for a new mall wing
  • Montgomery Ward — Opened in 1964, closed in 1988, building was demolished for mall expansion.
  • Lord & Taylor — Opened in 1978, closed in 2018 - replaced by Arhaus, Puttshack and a relocated Zara
  • Bloomingdale's — Opened in 1994, closed in 2022, will be replaced by apartments and a town square.

Bus routes

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CTA

  • 54A North Cicero/Skokie Blvd[28]
  • 97 Skokie[29]
  • 201 Central/Ridge[30]

Pace

  • 208 Golf Road[31]
  • 215 Crawford/Howard[32]
  • 422 Linden CTA/Glenview/Northbrook Court[33]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Stores Shopping Center |Westfield Old Orchard".
  2. ^ a b Dorfman, Daniel (April 24, 2023). "Skokie's Westfield Old Orchard plans to boost medical office space; stores and restaurants opening". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  3. ^ "Vintage: Old Orchard Shopping Center". Chicago Tribune. November 26, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  4. ^ "Lord & Taylor selects 3 new suburb sites". Chicago Tribune. January 24, 1978. pp. Section 4, page 8. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  5. ^ "Nordstrom To Open Store In Old Orchard".
  6. ^ "Old Orchard Headed Back To The Future".
  7. ^ "A LARGER LORD & TAYLOR OPENS AT OLD ORCHARD". Chicago Tribune. November 10, 1993.
  8. ^ "Look for three more from Gordon Sinclair; Maggiano's eyes Skokie". Chicago Tribune.
  9. ^ "46,469 authors invite you to Skokie's glorious new bookstore!". Chicago Tribune.
  10. ^ "Major Expansion For Old Orchard".
  11. ^ Sherrod, Text by Pamela (January 21, 1996). "WHAT'S IN STORE". chicagotribune.com.
  12. ^ "Westfield Seeks to Inject New Life Into Mall". Skokie, IL Patch. September 1, 2011. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  13. ^ "Saks closing stores at Old Orchard mall".
  14. ^ Jones, Sandra (June 6, 2005). "Giant expansion for Old Orchard". Crain's Chicago Business. Archived from the original on April 2, 2009.
  15. ^ "In brief: Bucktown toy store | Zara at Old Orchard | First Industrial". Crain's Chicago Business. September 22, 2008.
  16. ^ Torontoist (September 9, 2008). "Reel Toronto: Mean Girls".
  17. ^ "Coolio Julio: Uncle Julio's comes to Old Orchard Mall".
  18. ^ "Buffalo Wild Wings coming to Skokie's Westfield Old Orchard". Chicago Tribune. February 2, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
  19. ^ "Shake Shack to open at Old Orchard mall". September 5, 2015.
  20. ^ "Old Orchard's Lord & Taylor To Close". Archived from the original on December 10, 2017.
  21. ^ "Expansive Redevelopment Plan at Westfield Old Orchard Mall Unveiled". NBC Chicago. December 6, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
  22. ^ "Old Orchard Barnes & Noble Store To Close As Westfield Ends Lease". Skokie, IL Patch. November 4, 2021. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
  23. ^ "Barnes & Noble is reopening in Skokie's Old Orchard Mall". Chicago Tribune. November 22, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
  24. ^ Swidler, Francie (August 26, 2022). "Bloomingdale's at Old Orchard Mall in Skokie to Close". NBC Chicago. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  25. ^ Hourie, Ilya (March 13, 2023). "URW Including Healthcare Space at Westfield Old Orchard Mall". The Real Deal. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  26. ^ Swidler • •, Francie (October 10, 2023). "These 3 stores will move into massive, former Lord & Taylor space at Old Orchard Mall". NBC Chicago. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
  27. ^ "Westfield Transformation | Westfield Old Orchard". www.westfield.com. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  28. ^ "54A North Cicero/Skokie Blvd. (Bus Route Info)". CTA.
  29. ^ "97 Skokie (Bus Route Info)". CTA.
  30. ^ "201 Central/Ridge (Bus Route Info)". CTA.
  31. ^ "208 - Golf Road | Pace Suburban Bus". www.pacebus.com.
  32. ^ "215 - Crawford – Howard | Pace Suburban Bus". www.pacebus.com.
  33. ^ "422 - Linden CTA – Glenview – Northbrook Court | Pace Suburban Bus". www.pacebus.com. March 28, 2024.
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