Hillside Shopping Center

Hillside Shopping Cente, originally an outdoor mall in Hillside, Illinois, was the first major shopping mall in the suburban Chicago area . Opened in 1956, the shopping center boasted 67 stores with two anchors - Carson Pirie Scott and Goldblatt's Department Store. Other major retailers such as Woolworths, Thom McCanns, Floresheim Shoes, and Lyon and Heally also called Hillside Shopping Center home. The linear designed mall was enclosed in 1967 in order to compete with the newer upscale malls that opened in the surrounding area, A face-lift in 1976, established a much needed food court.
As time went on Hillside Shopping Center faced many challenges that eventually led to its demise. The Eisenhauer Expressway bisected its parking lot effectively reducing parking spaces. While Hillside Shopping Center provided a springboard to a different shopping experience replacing "Main Street" style shopping for the surrounding suburbs, Hillside appealed to a middle class post-war demographic with little to offer a more well-heeled clientele, Oak Brook and Yorktown malls. built in the early to mid 1960s provided better quality merchandise and a wider variety of stores gradually eroding Hilside's competitive edge.
As the years rolled by, Hillside Shopping Center slowly slipped into last place for many suburban shoppers. Eventually Menards replaced Goldblatt's in 1992 Carson Pirie Scott struggled to stay in business through 1997 while the smaller surrounding stores slowly shut their doors.. 
The mall was effectively dead - ghost of its former glory - with faded banners hanging from the ceiling, empty storefronts, and old signs indicating what was once but was no longer. 
When Carson Pirie Scott closed in 1997, the main part of the center was demolished leaving only Menards which occupied the original Goldblatt's site. Eventually CarMax opened in 1999 on the Carson Piere Scott site. In 2012, Menards closed and was demolished shortly thereafter eliminating finally all the original buildings that were once the bright shining suburban market known as the Hillside Shopping Center. 
== Gallery ==
Old Menards.jpg|Old Menards
Category:Malls in Illinois
Category:Defunct malls
Category:Malls in the United States
Category:Shopping Malls