Perhaps a bit of background might enlighten some of you young whippersnappers.
Golf Mill was opened in 1960 as a middle class, middle-of-the-road OUTDOOR shopping center. It was originally anchored by Sears and an Evanston-based store called Lords (which was replaced by JC Penney). It never had the upscale pretentiousness of Old Orchard, which was designed to appeal to the more affluent North Shore shopper.
Golf Mill catered to the demographics of the growing, blue collar suburb of Niles; and to a lesser degree, Morton Grove, Chicago's northwest side, and some of the new developments that were being built south and west of Glenview. It did not try to market to the carriage trade. It catered to the working class "white ethnic" people in Niles.
Although it was not as elaborately landscaped as Old Orchard, it featured a nice rotating wooden "Mill" wheel, reflecting pond with goldfish, and shelter area for shoppers to use as a rest and meeting area.
For the first 15 or so years, Golf Mill was a very successful center. It was near new residential housing developments, and was a natural mecca for local shoppers. It was said that the Sears store there was the busiest Sears store in the US, and it was a bustling center that brought serious tax revenues to Niles. Occupancy was at or near 100%.
During that period, they added a movie theater and a theater in the round on opposite sides of the shopping center.
Concurrently, the Golf and Milwaukee area experienced a huge retail boon in which a lot of additional strip malls and stand-alone stores opened on all of the arterial streets, resulting in a grossly over-retailed situation - and Golf Mill's fortunes started to turn.
In 1978, management decided to convert the shopping center into an indoor mall, a tricky proposition because the sores were not really arranged to accommodate an indoor format. It was decided to have separate North and South wings, connected only by expecting shoppers to walk through the Sears store in the middle of the mall to get to each wing.
The expansion was completed, but the storefronts were never even vaguely near capacity. Management added a Kohl's (originally a "MainStreet" store) and a Target store on the north end. People did shop at the two stores, but they didn't walk to the south end to visit Sears and Penny's.
The theater in the round was closed to accommodate the expansion of the mall. And the original movie theater was converted into a fitness center, and a new multiplex cinema was successfully opened at the west end of Golf Mill.
Demographic change occurred in Niles. Many (not all) of the old Polish and eastern European immigrants died and were replaced by a mix of Asians, Muslims, Hispanics, and some African Americans who did not have the same shopping habits as the original residents.
The North Mall became relatively empty, and the South Mall also lost quite a few stores. The management has allowed some marginal retailers, martial arts facilities, and general office-type businesses (like an insurance agency) to open in the mall. Half of the food court stores are empty. But the mall is only about 65-70% occupied, even if you include these marginal businesses. And the place looks tired and out-of-date.
Successful shopping centers usually have a lot of teenagers roaming the stores on weekend. It is not happening at Golf Mill.
So, we presently have a successful Kohls, Target, and movie theater. Sears and Penney's are not faring well [although that may be caused by stupid corporate management decisions at both]. Everything else looks sad.
It was recently announced that the owners of the mall have put it up for sale.
I do not know what the future will bring, but something is needed before Golf Mill enters a mall death spiral. read more