River Oaks Center

River Oaks Center (also known as River Oaks Mall) is located at the southeast corner of River Oaks Drive and Torrence Avenue in Calumet City, Illinois, USA. It opened in 1966 and was a development of KLC Ventures, a firm that included the pioneering developer Philip M. Klutznick and his son Tom. The elder Klutznick had developed Park Forest, Illinois, after World War II, as well as Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook in 1962 and Old Orchard Shopping Center in Skokie in 1956.
River Oaks Center is the largest enclosed shopping mall in the south suburbs of Chicago, and the seventh largest in the metropolitan area totaling 1,379,824 square feet (128,190 m2). Today, there are over 140 stores and two anchors including JCPenney and Macy's with two vacant anchors last occupied by Carson Pirie Scott and Sears. Namdar Realty Group and Mason Asset Management manages and owns River Oaks Center.
== History ==
River Oaks originally opened as an outdoor mall with one minor and two major department stores. The original anchors were Marshall Field's, which built a 275,000-square-foot (25,500 m2) store, Sears, and a branch of Edward C. Minas Company, which was based in nearby Hammond, Indiana. Other major stores included a Jewel supermarket and Osco Drug at the south end, and an S. S. Kresge dime store next to Sears. Kresge closed in 1987 and became a movie theater, while the closure of Jewel made way for a McDonald's restaurant and a second theater complex. Many of the stores in the mall in its first 20 years were outposts of Chicago retailers, including Chas A. Stevens, Kroch's and Brentano's and C.D. Peacock. Carson Pirie Scott took over the Edward C. Minas store in 1982.
In 1985, the mall was expanded when JCPenney moved its store from downtown Hammond, Indiana, to the northwest portion of the mall's parking lot. A new wing was also built to connect JCPenney to the mall and a food court was added on the enclosed lower level.
== Expansion ==
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the then owner, JMB Corp. of Chicago, had several plans to expand and enclose the outdoor mall. These plans included adding a second level and possibly a fifth department store at the end of the southeastern wing of the mall. These plans coincided with Chicago's Lake Calumet Airport which would have been just a few miles north of the mall and would have transformed the area around the mall into an office and business hub. However, these plans never materialized and finally, in 1993, JMB began a smaller version of the redevelopment which included additional retail space and enclosing the common area's mall.
In 1994, the redevelopment was completed. The mall was enclosed and 80,000 square feet (7,000 m2) of gross leasable area was added. New retailers opened at the mall and the tenant mix became more upscale bringing in some retailers who had not yet located in the Southern Suburbs. The mall's size was brought up to 1,380,000 square feet (128,000 m2) making it the largest mall in the South Suburbs.
In 2004, a strip plaza with Starbucks, GameStop, Verizon Wireless and The Vitamin Shoppe opened in the mall's northwest outlot.
Carson Pirie Scott closed in January 2013. Sears closed on June 9, 2013. JCPenney will close as well as part of to close 242 stores nationwide, leaving Macy's as the only anchor left. 
== See also ==
* Oakview Shopping Center
== Gallery ==
=== Videos ===
File:River Oaks Mall, Calumet City, IL|Mall Tour
File:Graeginator Rides 4 Elevators at River Oaks Mall in Calumet City, IL|Elevator Tour
File:River Oaks Mall JCPenney. Calumet City IL|JCPenney Tour
File:River Oaks Mall Macy's. Calumet City, IL|Macy's Tour
Category:Malls in the United States
Category:Malls in Illinois
Category:Shopping Malls
Category:Shopping Centers
Category:Malls that opened in 1966
Category:Single-Level Malls
Category:Malls with Multi-Level Stores
Category:Former Sears-anchored Malls
Category:JCPenney-anchored Malls
Category:Macy's-anchored Malls
Category:Former Cineplex Odeon-anchored Properties
Category:Former Carson's-anchored Malls
Category:Former Marshall Field's-anchored Malls