Randhurst Village

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Coordinates: 42°05′03.54″N 87°55′59.87″W / 42.0843167°N 87.9332972°W / 42.0843167; -87.9332972
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Randhurst Village
Total retail floor area
966,633 sq ft (89,803.1 m2)
No. of floors1 (open-air) (3 in former Carson's and Parking Garage, 4 in Hampton by Hilton)
2 (original enclosed mall)
Public transit accessPace
Websiterandhurstvillage.com

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

The original owner of the shopping center was the Randhurst Corporation (a

Carson Pirie Scott, Wieboldt's, and Montgomery Ward). At the time of its 1962 opening, it was the first enclosed regional mall in the Chicago metropolitan area and the largest enclosed air-conditioned space in the United States
. Most of the original mall building closed in 2008 and was demolished in 2009. The land was redeveloped as Randhurst Village, an open-air mixed-use shopping center.

Currently owned by DLC Management, Randhurst is the location of national and regional retailers, several restaurants, second-floor offices, a 140-room hotel and a 12-screen cinema. It is now anchored by

Costco Wholesale and Hampton by Hilton. Other stores include Home Depot, Jewel-Osco, PetSmart, and TJ Maxx
among others.

History

Origins

Randhurst was born out of a desire by Carson Pirie Scott to expand its business into the

The Fair Department Store
(a.k.a. "the Fair"), on its anchor store.

Randhurst was designed by

stained glass windows in various oval and round shapes, oriented in such a way as to cast beams of colored light into the mall itself. As the mall was built at the height of the Cold War, it included a fallout shelter
big enough to hold every citizen of Mount Prospect.

The Carson Pirie Scott anchor.

Thus, at the time of its 1962 opening, the 1,000,000 sq ft (93,000 m2) Randhurst had three major

Woolworth's. In 1963, the Randhurst Fair store would be the first Fair store to be renamed as a Montgomery Ward
store; Montgomery Ward also built an auto service center at the perimeter of the mall. Randhurst would retain this configuration well into the 1980s.

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

Circuit City and Old Navy took over the space in 1995;[1] 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

The Home Depot in 1995 and Jewel-Osco in 1996 at the perimeter of the mall respectively; 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, a Borders
book store was added to the mall’s perimeter. It closed in April 2011.

2000s

The problems for Randhurst continued as one of Chicago's first lifestyle centers,

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)

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 mid-2000s renovation project largely failed to stop Randhurst’s decline. The mall’s historic Gruen design had been partially destroyed, and the renovation only temporarily helped stem the tenant outflow.

Redevelopment

In April 2007, the village of Mount Prospect approved a plan that included the demolition of the core of Randhurst. Designs by Larry Beame of Beame Architectural Partnership enabled the existing anchors to remain standing and be integrated into the redeveloped lifestyle center. Beame said the goal was to create "a traditional Main Street shopping experience" that features a primary retail street with diagonal parking and public spaces for socializing.[2] The redevelopment was set to begin within two years.[3]

Randhurst's final shopping day was Tuesday, September 30, 2008. By then, only two stores remained open inside the mall: Fashion Plus and Your Choice Gifts. Both stores were ordered by management to be vacated by 9:00pm CST.[4]

Demolition began in late 2008. The first building to be demolished were the mall offices near Carson Pirie Scott so a new loading ramp could be constructed for the department store. The mall was then gutted as it still contained hazardous asbestos insulation. By the summer of 2009, visible demolition work had begun on the mall’s core. Less than eleven months after Randhurst closed, the mall's signature dome was pulled down on August 28, 2009, ending the existence of Cook County's first enclosed mall.

Center Court, Randhurst

2010s

Construction of Randhurst Village began in the fall of 2009.

The Sports Authority replaced Steve & Barry's.[6]

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 was converted into underground parking for hotel guests.

It was also announced that Experience, Parmida Homes and

Panera.[6]

In early 2013, Chef Rodelio Aglibot and his partners opened E+O (Earth and Ocean) Food and Drink in Randhurst Village. The restaurant closed in 2019.[7]

After owning Randhurst for 22 years, JPMorgan Chase announced plans to sell the 1 million-square-foot lifestyle center in 2014.[8] 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.[9]

Sports Authority closed due to Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in 2016.

Michael's took its place on second half of store in 2017.[10]
Designer Shoes Warehouse (DSW) also took its place on first half of store in 2019.[11]

On April 18, 2018, the

Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. company (owner of Carson's) announced that all of its stores would go into liquidation due to financial reasons. The Carson's store at Randhurst had a little over 56 years of service to the Mount Prospect shopping community; 10 years after the indoor mall's closure, this store closed for good on August 29, 2018. Plans for entertainment or residential venues are likely options for filling in this vacant facility.[12]

2020s

In January 2020, it was announced that the Bed Bath & Beyond store at Randhurst would close along with 40 other stores in the United States and Canada due to financial issues.[13][14]

In March 2022, HomeGoods opened on first floor inside the former Carson’s store.

In 2009 during the center's demolition, the demolition crew were trying to locate a time capsule that was planted somewhere in the center in 1962.[15] In 2011, the Village of Mount Prospect planted a new time capsule at the center after its reconstruction as Randhurst Village.[15]

Anchors

Current

Former

Bus routes

Pace

  • 234 Wheeling/Des Plaines

[16]

References

  1. ^ Mikus, Kim (June 6, 1995). "Old Navy clothing chain opens store at Randhurst Northwest Business". Daily Herald.
  2. ^ Sharoff, Robert (8 June 2011). "Historic Illinois Mall Seeks New Life as Main St". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  3. ^ "Re-development". Daily Herald.
  4. ^ "Randhurst Shopping Center reaches the end -- Daily Herald". Dailyherald.com. October 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  5. ^ Herald, Daily (3 November 2010). "Carson's return marks second major opening at Randhurst Village". Daily Herald. Jean Murphy. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  6. ^ a b Mayer, Richard. "Randhurst Sets Sights On Filling". Journal Online. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  7. ^ Zalusky, Steve (16 January 2013). "Earth and Ocean restaurant, acclaimed chef coming to Randhurst". Daily Herald. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  8. ^ Mayer, Richard. "JPMorgan To Sell Mt. Prospect's Randhurst Village". Journal Online. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  9. ^ Sachdev, Ameet (19 June 2015). "Randhurst Village sold to New York real estate company". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  10. ^ "Michael's Mt. Prospect Grand Opening".
  11. ^ "Designer Shoe Warehouse Opens in Mount Prospect, Ill" (Press release).
  12. ^ Topics, Journals (19 April 2018). "Mount Prospect's 'Biggest Retailer', Carson Pirie Scott, Closing". Journal & Topics. Richard Mayer. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  13. ^ "Bed Bath & Beyond is closing 41 stores – here's the full list". Business Insider.
  14. ^ "Is your Bed Bath & Beyond store closing? See the full list of the 40 stores shuttering in 2020". USA Today.
  15. ^ a b "Time Capsule At Randhurst, Take 2 - Journal & Topics Media Group". Journal & Topics Media Group. 2011-11-13. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  16. ^ "Pace Bus - Route 234".
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