Golf Mill Shopping Center

Golf Mill Shopping Center is a shopping mall located at 239 Golf Mill Center in Niles, Illinois, United States. The shopping center has a gross leasable area of 1.1 million square feet. It is managed by Sterling Retail Services. It borders the intersections of Golf Road (Illinois Route 58), Milwaukee Avenue (Illinois Route 21) and Greenwood Avenue.
The shopping center has over 100 specialty shops, five department stores which are JCPenney, Sears, Target, Kohl's and Ross Dress for Less. It also has an AMC Theatres, a grocery store (Gordon Food Service), an XSport Fitness, a 9-story office tower and other outparcels.
== History ==
=== Opening and 1960s ===
In 1959, Milwaukee-Golf Development began construction on a project to bring a large-scale shopping center to 88 acres of farmland at the corner of Milwaukee Avenue and Golf Road. Golf Mill opened to the public in October 1960 as an open-air mall and featured an office tower (designed by Chicago architect Edo Belli to look like the top of a golf ball). It featured a "mill" theme, complete with ponds, bridges, and a working waterwheel. A two-level, 213,000 square-foot Sears anchored the open-air shopping center with 400,000 square feet of retail space on both the north and south sides. According to Mall Hall of Fame, some early stores included Hillman’s, Lytton’s, Walgreen Drug, Lamm Shoes, Richman Brothers, Lerner Shops, a Woolworth 5 and 10 and National supermarket.  There was also a single-screen movie theatre and a Sears Auto Center. 
A 1-level (50,000 square foot), Evanston-based Lord's department store opened, at the south end of the complex, on October 18, 1961. With its completion, the shopping hub encompassed approximately 650,000 leasable square feet and housed sixty-eight stores and services. On October 20, 1966, JCPenney opened a two-level, 190,000 square-foot store at the south end of Golf Mill Shopping Center.  More interestingly, at the north end of the mall a live theatre venue called the Mill Run Playhouse and Millionaire’s Lounge opened in 1965. The Millionaire’s Lounge became a notorious gangster hangout throughout the 1960s and 1970s. 
Regional malls in the vicinity of Gold Mill Center included Westfield Old Orchard (1956) {4.3 miles east, in Skokie}, Randhurst Village (1962) {5.2 miles northwest, in Mount Prospect}, Woodfield Mall (1971) {9 miles west, in Schaumburg} and Northbrook Court (1976) {6.6 miles northeast, in Northbrook}.
=== 1980s ===
The open-air Golf Mill enjoyed success during the 1970s and into the 1980s, even as larger enclosed malls such as Woodfield and Randhurst operated nearby; meanwhile, the much larger nearby outdoor venue Old Orchard Center solidified a grasp on tenanting upscale and exclusive retailers for itself, attracting shoppers from across the region. In order to differentiate itself from Old Orchard, and compete with the others, the owners of Golf Mill Center decided to fully enclose the mall in 1985.  During this renovation, the Mill Run Playhouse was demolished after closing in 1983, the north end was demolished and rebuilt as an enclosed portion anchored by MainStreet and enclosing the mall between the Sears and JCPenney. The renovations and new north wing containing a MainStreet also added a food court. In 1989, MainStreet was bought out by Kohl's.
=== 1990s ===
In 1990, Circuit City opened outside the mall. General Growth Properties took over management of Golf Mill Shopping Center in 1994. On October 11, 1998, Target opened near Kohl's. 
=== 2000s ===
A Shop & Save Market opened in 2002. Value City Furniture was added in 2005. In 2007, GGP remodeled the mall, installing new flooring, a new facade, lighting, and entrances, but only in the south wing of the mall. The remodel brought a 12-screen Kerasotes movie theater, which opened on November 17, 2006. Circuit City closed in the mid-2000s and was replaced by Lucky Magee's in 2006. After General Growth Properties filed for bankruptcy in 2009, Milwaukee Golf Management Corporation took over management of Golf Mill Shopping Center.
=== 2010s ===
In 2010, Kerasotes ShowPlace 12 was acquired by AMC. Gordon Food Service opened outside of the mall to customers in July 2011. Ross Dress for Less opened on October 5, 2012, replacing an entrance of the mall that was considered "dead" at the time. On February 8, 2013, Ginza Buffet opened to the public. Sterling Organization purchased Golf Mill Shopping Center in August 2014 via a private equity fund, and its subsidiary, Sterling Retail Services is currently managing the property on behalf of the fund.
In 2017, the mall has added a Panera restaurant across the main entrance. The mall has undergone another renovation that includes demolishing the south portion of the mall's food court and turning it into a 10,000 square foot Ulta Beauty store. Ulta Beauty opened in November of 2017.
On October 4, 2018, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of a plan to close 12 stores nationwide. The store closed in December 2018, causing the North and South Wings to become separate.
=== 2020s ===
In March 2020, Shop & Save Market has closed due to Golf Mill redevelopment plans.
A Chase Bank is being built directly south of Panera. It is likely opening during the fall of 2020. A Chick-Fil-A is also being planned, to be located on the northwest corner of the mall. It is set to open in 2021.
== See also ==
* Oak Mill Plaza
* Golf Glen Mart
== Gallery ==
=== Videos ===
File:Golf Mill Mall in The Middle Documentary & Mall Tour|Mall Tour
File:Golf Mill Renovation from Mill gardens to Golf Mill Shopping Center circa 1985|The 1985 Renovation
File:Vintage 1960 Otis Touch Sensitive Lexan Traction Elevators At Golf Mill Tower In Niles, IL|The Professional Building Elevator
File:STORE TOUR Sears, Golf Mill Mall, Niles, IL (STORE CLOSING)|Sears Closing Tour
File:Final Ride! Westinghouse Traction Elevator - Sears - Golf Mill Mall - Niles, IL|The Sears Elevator
File:Golf Mill Mall JCPenney, Niles IL|JCPenney Tour
File:(ಠ ಠ) Otis Hydraulic Elevator - JCPenney - Golf Mill Mall - Niles, IL|The JCPenney Elevator
File:Vintage Otis Hydraulic Freight Elevator @ JC Penney Golf Mill Mall - Niles, IL.|The JCPenney Freight Elevator
File:AWFUL Montgomery Hydraulic Elevator - Kohl's - Golf Mill Mall - Niles IL|The Kohl's Elevator
=== Photos ===
Target-2.jpg|The Back Of Target
== External Links ==
Golf Mill Shopping Center's Official WebsiteCategory:Malls in the United States
Category:Malls in Illinois
Category:Shopping Malls
Category:Malls that opened in 1960
Category:Malls with Multi-Level Stores
Category:Single-Level Malls
Category:Dead Malls
Category:Target-anchored Malls
Category:Ross Dress for Less-anchored Properties
Category:Gordon Food Service-anchored Properties
Category:Shop 'n Save-anchored Properties
Category:JCPenney-anchored Malls
Category:Former Woolworth's-anchored Properties
Category:Former MainStreet-anchored Malls
Category:XSport Fitness Locations
Category:Ulta Beauty Locations
Category:Value City Furniture-anchored Properties
Category:Former Circuit City-anchored Properties