Markland Mall is an enclosed

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

in Kokomo, Indiana. Opened in 1968, the mall's anchor stores are

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...

Dunham's Sports Dunham's Sports is an American sporting goods retail chain owned by Dunham's Athleisure Corporation, with stores located in the Midwestern to Southeastern United States. The chain specializes in athletic equipment, clothing, firearms, and other ...

, Books-A-Million, Carter's,

PetSmart PetSmart is a privately held American chain of pet superstores, which sell pet products, services, and small pets. It is the leading North American pet company, and its direct competitor is Petco. Its indirect competitors are Amazon, Walmart, ...

Party City Party City Holdco Inc. is an American publicly traded retail chain of party stores founded in 1986 by Steve Mandell in East Hanover, New Jersey. Party City’s parent organization is Party City Holdings Inc. Based in Woodcliff Lake, NJ, the comp ...

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 sto ...

ALDI Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when ...

, and Gravity Trampoline Park. In 2020 Dunham’s Sports took over the space that was occupied by

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 ...

. It is managed by

Washington Prime Group Washington Prime Group Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers. The company is organized in Indiana with its headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. From January 2015 to September 2016, the company had the name WP ...

History

Melvin Simon & Associates announced the development of Markland Mall in 1967. Original tenants included

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 ...

Danners 5 & 10 Danners, Inc was a company based in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, that operated retail and restaurant outlets. Its largest, and oldest, division was the Danners 5 & 10 chain of five and dime stores, which it closed in 1985. Danners also operated tw ...

, a

Kroger The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States. Founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cinci ...

supermarket, SupeRx drugstore, and an Ayr-Way discount store. The Danners store became William H. Block Co. in 1974. Ayr-Way was converted to

along with the rest of the Ayr-Way chain in 1981. In 1985, the William H. Block store was expanded, taking over a mall hallway and space vacated by

Robert Hall Village Robert Hall Clothes, Inc., popularly known as Robert Hall, was an American retailer that flourished circa 1938–1977. Based in Connecticut, its warehouse-like stores were mostly concentrated in the New York, Chicago and Los Angeles metropolitan ...

. This was part of a mall expansion that included the installation of new floor tiles and skylights, as well as the extension of certain storefronts to give the hallways a "staggered" appearance. Block later became Lazarus in 1987, and then

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

before closing. In 2001,

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 ...

was added to the mall, replacing space once occupied by a Goodyear service center. Lazarus became

before closing in 2005. The movie theater, also an original tenant, closed in 2006. In 2011, the former Lazarus space became

, resulting in the closure of an

Elder-Beerman The Elder-Beerman Stores Corp., commonly known as Elder-Beerman, was an American chain of department stores founded in 1883 and whose last stores closed in 2018. The chain, based primarily in the Midwestern United States, was composed of 31 stor ...

at the nearby Kokomo Mall (now

Kokomo Town Center Kokomo Town Center, formerly Kokomo Mall, is an outdoor shopping mall in Kokomo, Indiana. Opened in 1963, the property was converted from an enclosed mall to an outdoor plaza in 2014. The plaza’s stores are Gabe's, AMC Theatres, Robert Miller & S ...

). Old Navy closed in 2016, with Sears and

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 b ...

both closing in 2017. Later in 2017, it was confirmed that the Sears store would be torn down for

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when ...

, and

. Gravity Trampoline Park replaced the MC Sports store the same year.

closed in Summer 2018 along with the rest of the chain. In 2020, Dunham’s Sports took over the space that was occupied by

References

External links

Markland Mall
{{Shopping Malls in Indiana Buildings and structures in Howard County, Indiana Kokomo, Indiana Shopping malls established in 1968 Washington Prime Group Shopping malls in Indiana Tourist attractions in Howard County, Indiana 1968 establishments in Indiana