Hickory Point Mall is an enclosed mall in

Forsyth, Illinois Forsyth is a village in Macon County, Illinois, United States. Its population was 3,734 at the 2020 census, up from 3,490 in 2010. It is included in the Decatur, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The settlement of Forsyth dates to ...

, United States. The mall opened in 1978. The anchor stores are

Kohl's Kohl's (stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain, operated by Kohl's Corporation. it is the largest department store chain in the United States, with 1,165 locations, operating stores in every U.S. state except Hawai ...

, Von Maur,

TJ Maxx TJ Maxx (stylized as T•J•maxx) is an American department store chain, selling at prices generally lower than other major similar stores. It has more than 1,000 stores in the United States, making it one of the largest clothing retailers in ...

Hobby Lobby Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., formerly Hobby Lobby Creative Centers, is an American retail company. It owns a chain of arts and crafts stores with a volume of over $5 billion in 2018. The chain has 969 stores in 47 US states. Hobby Lobby is owned by ...

Ulta Beauty Ulta Beauty, Inc., formerly known as Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. and before 2000 as Ulta3, is an American chain of beauty stores headquartered in Bolingbrook, Illinois. Ulta Beauty carries both high-end and low-end cosmetics, fragran ...

Ross Dress for Less Ross Stores, Inc., operating under the brand name Ross Dress for Less, is an American chain of discount department stores headquartered in Dublin, California. It is the largest off-price retailer in the U.S.; as of 2018, Ross operates 1,483 stor ...

, and Shoe Dept. Encore. The mall is managed by

Namdar Realty Group Namdar Realty Group is an American shopping mall investment company based in Great Neck, New York. They primarily purchase shopping malls with partner Mason Asset Management. Namdar and Mason are both family owned, and as of 2021, own over 400 pr ...

. There are 3 vacant anchor stores that were once

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

, and

Bergner's P.A. Bergner & Co. (also known as Bergner's) was an upscale Midwestern department store established in 1889. The chain is now an online retailer operated by BrandX.com, Inc. The flagship store was located in Peoria, Illinois at The Shoppes at Gr ...

History

In the early 1970s, developers Copaken, White & Blitt proposed building a mall in

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Ce ...

. The city spent a year negotiating with the developers, but downtown merchants heavily lobbied against it, and in a July 1974 vote, the Decatur City Council rejected the mall by one vote. The developers instead built the mall in Forsyth, a village just north of Decatur, and it opened in October 1978. The mall's original anchors included

, and

Carson Pirie Scott Carson Pirie Scott & Co. (also known as Carson's) is an American department store that was founded in 1854, which grew to over 50 locations, primarily in the Midwestern United States. Sold to the holding company of Bon-Ton in 2006, but still ope ...

(later rebranded as

Carson's Carson Pirie Scott & Co. (also known as Carson's) is an American department store that was founded in 1854, which grew to over 50 locations, primarily in the Midwestern United States. Sold to the holding company of Bon-Ton in 2006, but still ope ...

), all of which relocated from downtown Decatur.

was added in 1983 as a fourth anchor, and expanded in 2003. Carson Pirie Scott sold its store and another at College Hills Mall (now

The Shoppes at College Hills The Shoppes at College Hills is a lifestyle center retail complex located in the city of Normal, Illinois, USA. It is one of two major shopping centers in the Bloomington-Normal area (the other being Eastland Mall). The complex was built in 1980 ...

) in

Normal Normal(s) or The Normal(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''Normal'' (2003 film), starring Jessica Lange and Tom Wilkinson * ''Normal'' (2007 film), starring Carrie-Anne Moss, Kevin Zegers, Callum Keith Rennie, and Andrew Airlie * ''Norma ...

to Von Maur in 1989.

MC Sports MC Sports was an American retail sporting goods chain. Founded in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1946, the chain operated 75 stores in the Midwestern United States before permanently closing in 2017 after filing for bankruptcy. History MC Sports beg ...

and

were added in 1998, with the latter relocating from a store in downtown Decatur. A year later,

Gap Inc. The Gap, Inc., commonly known as Gap Inc. or Gap (stylized as GAP), is an American worldwide clothing and accessories retailer. Gap was founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris F. Fisher and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The c ...

announced plans to open Gap, GapKids, and

Old Navy Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of the Old Navy stores are its ...

stores. In 2000, Copaken, White & Blitt renovated the interior.

CBL & Associates Properties CBL Properties (previously CBL & Associates, Inc., then CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.) is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers, primarily in the Southeastern and Midwestern United States. The company is or ...

bought the mall in 2005.

Steve & Barry's Steve & Barry's was an American retail clothing chain, featuring casual clothing, footwear and accessories. By mid-2008, the chain operated 276 stores in 39 states. The company was headquartered in Port Washington, New York. The company liquidate ...

opened in late 2007, and closed less than a year later. MC Sports moved its store across the hallway in late 2008. Old Navy closed in 2010 and was re-tenanted by Cohn Furntiure later that same year.

Shoe Show Shoe Show, Inc. is an American footwear retailer based in Concord, North Carolina Concord is the county seat and largest city in Cabarrus County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 105, ...

opened a Shoe Dept. Encore in the space vacated by Steve & Barry's. Some scenes from the 2009 film ''

The Informant! ''The Informant!'' is a 2009 American biographical-crime comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh. Written by Scott Z. Burns, the film stars Matt Damon as the titular informant named Mark Whitacre, as well as Scott Bakula, Joel McHale and Mela ...

'' were filmed at the mall. In January 2014, it was announced that JCPenney would be closing its store by May 2014, followed by Sears in November. In September 2014 the mall opened Ross Dress for Less and

. In October 2014, CBL Properties announced that Hobby Lobby had executed a lease for 60,000 square feet in the space formerly occupied by JCPenney and that it would relocate into the mall from its former location on Pershing Street. The mall announced on October 21, 2016, that

T.J. Maxx TJ Maxx (stylized as T•J•maxx) is an American department store chain, selling at prices generally lower than other major similar stores. It has more than 1,000 stores in the United States, making it one of the largest clothing retailers in ...

would be relocating to this mall. Hibbett Sports opened a store in the fall of 2017. Knockerball MAX, an affiliate of Knockerball USA, opened in October 2017. Knockerball MAX offers open play and private parties for

Bubbleball in the United States Bubble football, or bubble soccer, is the recreation/sport of playing football while half-encased inside an inflated torus bubble, similar to a zorb, which covers the player's upper body and head. This game is typically played in teams in large ...

, which is a recent growing trend nationwide. Taking over the spot previously held by the former Kirlin's Hallmark, Knockerball MAX boasts the largest arena of its kind in America. Wisconsin-based Book World closed its doors in 2017 after filing for bankruptcy and liquidating all stock. Its previous tenant was Waldenbooks. The company had 20 stores in Wisconsin and also had stores in Minnesota, Michigan, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa and North Dakota. On August 29, 2018, anchor tenant Bergner's permanently closed its doors after 40 years of business at Hickory Point, following the bankruptcy and liquidation of parent company

Bon-Ton Stores Bon-Ton Holdings Inc. is an American online retailer and former department store chain founded in 1898. After rapid expansion in the 1990s and early 2000s, the original company had financial troubles, ultimately filing for bankruptcy in 2018 ...

. In August 2020, CBL & Associates sold the mall to

References

External links

Official website
{{Shopping malls in Illinois Shopping malls in Illinois Shopping malls established in 1978 Buildings and structures in Macon County, Illinois Namdar Realty Group