Westfield Old Orchard Explained

Westfield Old Orchard
Previous Names:Old Orchard Shopping Center (1956–2002)
Westfield Shoppingtown Old Orchard (2002–2005)
Location:Skokie, Illinois, United States
Address:4905 Old Orchard Center, Skokie, IL 60077
Coordinates:42.0592°N -87.7494°W
Developer:Philip Morris Klutznick
Manager:Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
Owner:Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
Number Of Stores:156
Number Of Anchors:2
Floor Area:1582295square feet
Floors:1 (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)
Publictransit:Chicago Transit Authority
Pace

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]

History

Westfield Old Orchard opened in October 1956 with Marshall Field and Company, Saks Fifth Avenue, and The Fair Department Store. Fair was renamed to 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.[3]

The Montgomery Ward closed in 1988. In 1991, Nordstrom announced plans to open its second Chicago area location at Old Orchard. In addition to a 200000square feet Nordstrom, Old Orchard also expanded the mall by as part of a $200 million expansion.[4] 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.[5] In 1993, Lord & Taylor relocated and expanded its store.[6] Maggiano's Little Italy opened to customers on October 28, 1994.[7] A Barnes & Noble Booksellers also opened that year.[8]

The shopping center was completely redesigned in the 1990s, with the opening of the Nordstrom department store on October 7, 1994[9] 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.[10] That same year, a five-story parking garage and a movie theater were added.In 2004, Toms Price Furniture opened to guests. In 2005, Foot Locker renovated its store, and Cold Stone Creamery opened for the first time. In June of that same year, Saks Fifth Avenue shuttered, and during the following year it was razed, in an effort to scale the mall down. More renovations began during this time.[11] Marshall Field's became Macy's on September 9, 2006.

Old Orchard underwent a $50 million expansion and renovation, and reopened in late 2007.[12] On October 4, 2008, ZARA opened its doors for the first time.[13]

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.[14]

In 2014, Uncle Julio's opened to the public.[15] Buffalo Wild Wings opened in 2015.[16] That same year on September 9, Shake Shack would open.[17]

In December 2017, Lord & Taylor announced that they would close their store in this location.[18] The previous Lord & Taylor store is planned for reconstruction as part of a future enhanced development including additional retail, an outdoor plaza, and residences.[19]

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.[20] A year later, Barnes & Noble opened a new store in a new location, formerly occupied by Toms Price Furniture.[21]

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.[22] The previous Bloomingdale’s outpost will be replaced with about 350 apartments and a town square for events.[23]

By 2023, Westfield Old Orchard announced several newest additions, including Psycho Bunny, Tory Burch, Rodd & Gunn, Louis Vuitton, Fabletics, as well as new medical office space. It also announced that the former Lord & Taylor space would be replaced by Arhaus, Puttshack, and a relocation of the existing ZARA store.[24]

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.[25]

Anchors

Current

Former

Bus routes

CTA

Pace

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Stores Shopping Center |Westfield Old Orchard .
  2. News: Dorfman . Daniel . Skokie's Westfield Old Orchard plans to boost medical office space; stores and restaurants opening . 23 August 2023 . Chicago Tribune . April 24, 2023.
  3. News: Lord & Taylor selects 3 new suburb sites . Chicago Tribune . January 24, 1978 . December 6, 2021 . Section 4, page 8.
  4. Web site: Nordstrom To Open Store In Old Orchard.
  5. Web site: Old Orchard Headed Back To The Future.
  6. Web site: A LARGER LORD & TAYLOR OPENS AT OLD ORCHARD. . November 10, 1993 .
  7. News: Look for three more from Gordon Sinclair; Maggiano's eyes Skokie. Chicago Tribune.
  8. News: 46,469 authors invite you to Skokie's glorious new bookstore!. Chicago Tribune.
  9. Web site: Major Expansion For Old Orchard.
  10. Web site: Sherrod. Text by Pamela. WHAT'S IN STORE. chicagotribune.com. January 21, 1996 . en-US.
  11. Web site: Saks closing stores at Old Orchard mall.
  12. News: Giant expansion for Old Orchard. Crain's Chicago Business. June 6, 2005. Jones, Sandra. https://archive.today/20090402012610/http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=16702&rel=1. 2 April 2009.
  13. Web site: 2008-09-22. In brief: Bucktown toy store Zara at Old Orchard First Industrial. Crain's Chicago Business. en.
  14. Web site: Reel Toronto: Mean Girls. Torontoist. 9 September 2008.
  15. Web site: Coolio Julio: Uncle Julio's comes to Old Orchard Mall.
  16. Web site: 2015-02-02 . Buffalo Wild Wings coming to Skokie's Westfield Old Orchard . 2023-11-04 . Chicago Tribune.
  17. Web site: Shake Shack to open at Old Orchard mall. September 5, 2015 .
  18. Web site: Old Orchard's Lord & Taylor To Close. https://web.archive.org/web/20171210044639/https://jwcdaily.com/2017/12/07/old-orchards-lord-taylor-to-close/. December 10, 2017.
  19. Web site: 2022-12-06 . Expansive Redevelopment Plan at Westfield Old Orchard Mall Unveiled . 2023-11-04 . NBC Chicago . en-US.
  20. Web site: 2021-11-04 . Old Orchard Barnes & Noble Store To Close As Westfield Ends Lease . 2023-11-04 . Skokie, IL Patch . en.
  21. Web site: 2022-11-22 . Barnes & Noble is reopening in Skokie's Old Orchard Mall. . 2023-11-04 . Chicago Tribune.
  22. Web site: Swidler . Francie . Bloomingdale's at Old Orchard Mall in Skokie to Close . 2022-08-31 . NBC Chicago . August 26, 2022 . en-US.
  23. Web site: Hourie . Ilya . 2023-03-13 . URW Including Healthcare Space at Westfield Old Orchard Mall . 2023-03-14 . The Real Deal . en.
  24. Web site: Swidler • • . Francie . 2023-10-10 . These 3 stores will move into massive, former Lord & Taylor space at Old Orchard Mall . 2023-11-04 . NBC Chicago . en-US.
  25. Web site: Westfield Transformation Westfield Old Orchard . 2024-02-22 . www.westfield.com . en.
  26. Web site: 54A North Cicero/Skokie Blvd. (Bus Route Info). CTA. en.
  27. Web site: 97 Skokie (Bus Route Info). CTA. en.
  28. Web site: 201 Central/Ridge (Bus Route Info). CTA. en.
  29. Web site: 208 - Golf Road Pace Suburban Bus. www.pacebus.com.
  30. Web site: 215 - Crawford – Howard Pace Suburban Bus. www.pacebus.com.
  31. Web site: 422 - Linden CTA – Glenview – Northbrook Court Pace Suburban Bus. www.pacebus.com. March 28, 2024 .