Louis Joliet Mall

Louis Joliet Mall, formerly known as Westfield Louis Joliet Mall, and before that, known as Louis Joliet Mall is a shopping mall in Joliet, Illinois. It is located at 1118 Mall Loop Drive, Joliet.
Located far in the northwest suburb of Joliet, 45 minutes from downtown Chicago, Louis Joliet Mall has over 150,000 people as well as the populations of adjoining suburbs of New Lenox, Lockport, and Plainfield. Louis Joliet Mall is accessed from Interstate 55 N/S and Lincoln Hwy (RT-30).
Louis Joliet Mall's current anchor stores are JCPenney, Macy's (formerly Marshall Field's), and a 14-screen Cinemark movie theater along with two vacant anchors last occupied by Carson's and Sears. It also has 3 restaurants, TGI Fridays, Panera Bread, and Cajun Boil & Bar.
Louis Joliet is a one-level mall with over 99 stores, along with Macy's, JCPenney and Cinemark at one end and the former Carson's and Sears at other end. There is a food court off the main corridor in the center of the mall.
The mall itself (not including anchor stores) is one floor and contains a variety of shops, stands, and food shops. The mall also features a small play-area for children with seating for parents.
The Center Court is more alive than ever with 80+ LED fixtures bathing the mall's new gathering placer with light. Soothing, park-light sounds and new seating areas give shoppers a tech-friendly place to visit with family and friends.
Louis Joliet Mall displays the country's first, digital ficus tree. It is a living 25-foot iconic ficus tree suspended in two spiral helixes in the court, the Louis Joliet Tree technology includes 28 high-brightness, 40-inch LCD displays, 40 LED panels and 45 LED colorful tube pendants. People can spend time with friends at seating areas in and around the tree, discovering things from mall stores, or simply relaxing while listening to soothing park-like sounds.
== History ==
=== 1970s and opening ===
Louis Joliet Mall mall opened on August 2, 1978 with two anchor stores, Sears and Marshall Field & Company.
Bergner-Weise opened in September 1979 as the third anchor, and JCPenney would move from downtown to the mall, opening one month later in October 1979, as the fourth anchor. 
=== 1980s ===
The former Carson's in the mall was originally a Bergner-Weise when it opened. It was converted after the merger of P.A. Bergner with Carson Pirie Scott in 1987. The store has been renamed Carson's in the early to mid 2010's 
In the beginning, Louis Joliet Mall had stiff competition from the slightly older mall a few miles away on Jefferson Street, Jefferson Square Mall. Many shops had a location in both malls (Stuart's, Musicland, Printer's Ink, etc.). After the Wieboldt's at Jefferson Square closed in 1987, many of these stores either went to Louis Joliet Mall or simply closed their Jefferson Square location.
=== 1990s ===
In 1990, the mall barely escaped destruction when the Plainfield Tornado passed within a few hundred yards of the southwest entrance. Some shoppers report seeing nothing but a huge, black wall when they looked to the southwest area.  
In 1991, Circuit City Opened outside of the Mall. Circuit City closed in 2009. It was replaced by hhgregg in 2011. Six years later in 2017, hhgregg filed for bankruptcy as well. It was replaced by Binny's Beverage Depot in The Fall Of 2018. 
In September 1992, Best Buy, located outside the mall opened for the first time. It is connected to a Value City Furniture. The building previously held The Home Depot, which is now across US 30 from the mall complex.
In 1995, some renovations were done in the mall. 
In 1994, A Super 8 Motel was built northeast of JCPenney. Three years later in 1997, Hampton Inn opened northwest of Super 8. 
Linen's N Things opened outside of the Mall in 1999 and closed in 2009 when the chain went bankrupt. It was replaced by Ashley Furniture in 2010.
=== 2000s ===
In 2002, a flagship Turk Furniture opened on the West Side.
Jefferson Square ultimately closed around 2002 and demolished in 2004 for a Menards and Walmart in 2007.
The Marshall Field's store was officially renamed Macy's on September 9, 2006.
General Cinema Theaters opened in 1984 with three screens. It became Silver Cinemas in 1990 and featured more screens. It closed in July 2008. Cinemark opened in its place on May 8, 2009. Two days before it opened, Movies 8, which opened on June 22, 1990 closed its doors.
The Westfield Group acquired the center in 2003, and renamed it "Westfield Shoppingtown Louis Joliet", dropping the "Shoppingtown" name in June 2005.
=== 2010s ===
In April 2012, the mall was sold to Starwood Capital Group, with CBL & Associates Properties responsible for management. The mall's name was once again changed, back to its original "Louis Joliet Mall".
In January 2012, Tilted Kilt opened in the JCPenney Wing. It closed in Early 2017 and was later replaced by Cajun Boil & Bar. In March 2012, Rue21 opened to customers.
One of the last Suncoast Motion Pictures Music stores in the country closed in April 2014. Pink by Victoria's Secret opened in the Summer of 2014. H&M and Pandora opened in December of the same year.
On February 16, 2017, MC Sports announced that all 66 Stores would be closing. That same year in 2017, A Home2 Suites By Hilton Hotel was built outside of The Mall. A few months later, Shoe Dept. Encore opened in the former MC Sports.
On April 18, 2018, it was announced that Carson's will close as the parent, Bon-Ton Stores, was going out of business. The store closed on August 29, 2018.
In Late June 2018, Toys "R" Us, which was located southeast of Sears closed its doors along with the other locations. On October 15, 2018, it was announced that Sears would also be closing as part of a plan to close 142 stores nationwide which left JCPenney, Macy's and Cinemark as the only anchors left. The store closed in January 2019.
In October 2020, the mall was transferred under the control of CMBS after Starwood was unable to make payments.
== Anchors ==
* Cinemark (opened 2009)
* JCPenney (opened 1979)
* Macy's (opened 1978 as Marshall Field's, converted to Macy's in 2006)
== Former Anchors ==
* Bergner-Weise (opened 1979, converted to Carson's in 1987)
* Carson's (converted from Bergner-Weise in 1987, closed August 2018, now vacant, might become Senior Services of Will County)
* Marshall Field's (opened 1978, converted to Macy's in 2006)
* Sears (opened 1978, closed 2019)
* Silver Cinemas (opened in 1984 as General Cinema Theaters with three screens, converted into Silver Cinemas in 1990, closed July 2008)
== Other notable stores ==
* Shoe Dept. Encore
* H&M
* Pandora
* GameStop
== Bus route ==
Pace
* 507 Plainfield
== See also ==
* Louis Joliet Pointe
* Joliet Commons
* Jefferson Square Mall
* North Ridge Plaza
* Larkin Center
== Gallery ==
=== Videos ===
File:Louis Joliet Mall. Joliet IL|Mall Tour
File:Sears. Joliet, IL|Sears Tour
File:The Collapse of Carson’s STORE TOUR at Louis Joliet Mall in Joliet, Illinois|Carson's Closing Tour
File:Macy's. Joliet IL|Macy's Tour
File:JCPenney. Joliet IL|JCPenney Tour
=== Photos ===
TGI Fridays At Louis Joliet Mall.jpg|TGI Fridays
GameStop.jpg|GameStop
Charming Charlie.jpg|Charming Charlie
Rue21.jpg|Rue21
== External Links ==
Louis Joliet Mall's Official Website
Category:Malls in the United States
Category:Malls in Illinois
Category:Shopping Malls
Category:Starwood Capital Group Malls
Category:Malls that opened in 1978
Category:Malls with Multi-Level Stores
Category:Single-Level Malls
Category:Former Westfield Malls
Category:Cinemark-anchored Malls
Category:JCPenney-anchored Malls
Category:Macy's-anchored Malls
Category:Former Carson's-anchored Malls
Category:Former Marshall Field's-anchored Malls
Category:Former Sears-anchored Malls
Category:Former General Cinemas-anchored Properties
Category:Former Circuit City-anchored Properties
Category:Former Hhgregg-anchored Properties
Category:Binny's Beverage Depot-anchored Properties
Category:Value City Furniture-anchored Properties
Category:Former Toys "R" Us-anchored Properties
Category:Best Buy-anchored Properties
Category:KFC Locations
Category:TGI Fridays Locations
Category:Seritage Locations
Category:North America