The Orchards Mall

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.

The Orchards Mall
LocationBenton Township, Michigan
Coordinates42.0853°N 86.424°W / 42.0853; -86.424
Address1800 Pipestone Road
Opening dateOctober 24, 1979 (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

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. 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.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.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.