Woodfield Mall - History

History

Woodfield opened on September 9, 1971 with 59 stores, growing to 189 stores with 1.9 million retail square feet by 1973, the largest mall in the United States at that time. It's the 10th largest mall in America to this date. It is currently the largest mall in the Chicago area, with over 285 stores and restaurants. Woodfield is part of a group of three malls located in Schaumburg, IL, along with Woodfield Village Green, and the Streets of Woodfield. Woodfield is a major tourist destination in the state of Illinois In the year 2000, Chicago's visitors voted Woodfield Mall as their favorite suburban attraction.

Woodfield is named for former Sears board chairman General Robert E. Wood and Marshall Field and Company founder Marshall Field. It debuted on September 9, 1971, on 191 acres (0.77 km2) of prairie land, previously occupied by farms, cows, and a village tavern. Singer Carol Lawrence, actor Vincent Price, and two marching bands entertained at the debut. At the time of its opening, it claimed to be the world's largest shopping center. By the end of September 1971, another 28 stores and restaurants had opened and that first business year finished with 138 specialty retailers. Many of those retailers—Johnston & Murphy, The Limited, Stride Rite, Fredericks of Hollywood, and Lerner New York (now known as New York & Company or NY&C) are still at Woodfield today. Waldenbooks, another store that opened alongside the mall itself, closed in 2007 as the parent company, Borders Group, operates a Borders Books & Music store nearby at Woodfield Village Green.

Originally 1,900,000 square feet (180,000 m2) of retail space, Woodfield today is 2.7 million feet of retail space. In 1973, Lord & Taylor opened and brought along 50 additional new retailers and a whole new wing. In celebration of its 20th anniversary in 1991, Woodfield added 23 more stores and then in 1996, Woodfield grew again with a $110 million wing. This new wing included a three-level Nordstrom, a larger replacement Lord & Taylor, and 50 new specialty stores. Of these new stores, nearly 40 debuted flagship concepts and designs, with about 27 of them the largest in their chains.

While all of this expansion continued at Woodfield, the surrounding village of Schaumburg grew as well. In 1970, the population was 19,000; in 1980, it mushroomed to 55,000; and, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Schaumburg had over 75,000 people in 2000. Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson observed that, "Woodfield established a focal point for development throughout all of the northwest suburbs. Without Woodfield, we wouldn't have office towers in Itasca or corporate development in Hoffman Estates."

The GLA of the mall today is 2,700,000 square feet (250,000 m2), making it the fifth largest shopping mall in the U.S. and ninth largest in terms of shopping area. The mall is a highly visited tourist destination in the Chicago metropolitan area, with about 27 million annual visitors. The center features nearly 300 stores and is anchored by J.C. Penney, Lord & Taylor, Macy's (formerly Marshall Field's), Nordstrom and the country's largest Sears store at 416,000 square feet (38,600 m2). Woodfield is often used as a test market for retailers; a recent example was the 2004 opening (and nationwide debut) of RUEHL 925 by clothier Abercrombie & Fitch. In 2006, the Marshall Field's store was rebranded Macy's.

The Schaumburg Convention Center was completed in 2006. It is located across I-90 from Woodfield, next to Motorola's corporate campus. The 100,000 sq ft (10,000 m2). Convention Center has an adjoining 500 room Renaissance Hotel with 48,000 sq ft (4,500 m2) meeting center including a 28,000 sq ft (2,600 m2) ballroom.

Metra has plans to build an inter-suburban rail service tentatively referred to as the STAR line, with a stop at IKEA.