Mayfair Mall is a

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 ...

located on Mayfair Road (

Highway 100 Several highways are numbered 100: Australia * Great Ocean Road, Victoria * Surf Coast Highway, Victoria * Flinders Highway, South Australia * Lincoln Highway, South Australia Canada * Alberta Highway 100 (Sherwood Park Freeway) (unsigned) * ...

) between North Avenue and Center Street in

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin Wauwatosa (; known informally as Tosa; originally Wau-wau-too-sa or Hart's Mill) is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 48,387 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Wauwatos ...

, United States. It serves the

Greater Milwaukee The Milwaukee metropolitan area (also known as Metro Milwaukee or Greater Milwaukee) is a major metropolitan area located in Southeastern Wisconsin, consisting of the city of Milwaukee and the surrounding area. There are several definitions of the ...

area, also Wisconsin's premier shopping Center and Largest Mall in Wisconsin with 175 stores. Mayfair Shopping Center was constructed from 1956 and completed in 1959 by the Hunzinger Construction Company. It has been expanded several times since it was first built. The mall contains 164 stores and the anchor stores are

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 ...

Crate & Barrel Euromarket Designs Inc., doing business as Crate & Barrel (stylized as Crate&Barrel), is an international furniture and home décor retail store headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois. They employ 8200 employees across over 100 stores in the Uni ...

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 U. ...

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and ...

and

AMC Theatres AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (d/b/a AMC Theatres, originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema; often referred to simply as AMC and known in some countries as AMC Cinemas or AMC Multi-Cinemas) is an American movie theater chain fou ...

. There is one vacant anchor store that was once Boston Store.

History

Mayfair Mall opened in October 1958, featuring more than 70 stores. The mall's original design was a open-air concourse, with

Marshall Field's Marshall Field & Company (commonly known as Marshall Field's) was an upscale department store in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in the 19th century, it grew to become a large chain before Macy's, Inc acquired it in 2005. Its eponymous founder, Mar ...

as the northern anchor and

Gimbels Gimbel Brothers (known simply as Gimbels) was an American department store corporation that operated for over a century, from 1842 until 1987. Gimbel patriarch Adam Gimbel opened his first store in Vincennes, Indiana, in 1842. In 1887, the compa ...

as the southern anchor. Chicago-based

opened at Mayfair in 1959 to complement

, which opened just prior to Mayfair being dedicated. Three east–west corridors (North Mall, Central Park, and South Mall) ran the width of the mall, with each corridor decorated in a different color. The mall's central court also featured a park, which included trees, flowers, benches and picnic tables. In 1973, the new Mayfair Mall was advertised. The mall was fully enclosed. An arcade called The Bazaar replaced the Central Park area of Mayfair. An office tower was built on the southwest side of the mall in 1975, and construction began on a second in November 1977. In 1986, Mayfair was rededicated following a $15 million remodeling effort. The Bazaar and a short-lived ice rink were both removed. A two-level atrium was built, featuring a new food court. The upper level was also expanded, adding of retail space. Following this expansion, the mall included 109 stores including

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

based Boston Store which replaced Gimbels. In 1998, the shopping center was purchased by General Growth Properties. A subsequent renovation project added a movie theater and a

bookstore in 1999, and more than of retail space to the upper level in 2000. The second floor of the atrium was expanded across the entire mall adding new restaurants and shops. A cinema was also added, acting as a third anchor at Mayfair. Mayfair dealt with increased competition from other Milwaukee area shopping centers, including Bayshore Town Center, which underwent remodeling and nearby Brookfield Square. A teen curfew was instituted in the 2010s due to several incidents within the mall and after films at the multiplex let out on weekends. In 2005, a

opened in front of the main mall entrance. The

General Cinema General Cinema Corporation, also known as General Cinema, GCC, or General Cinema Theatres, was a chain of movie theaters in the United States. At its peak, the company operated about 1,500 screens, some of which were among the first cinemas certi ...

multiplex was acquired by

after GCC's purchase by AMC. Marshall Field's converted to

in 2006 as part of the broad rebranding of the Federated Department Stores to the Macy's label.

opened in the mall in 2015. It was the first full-line Nordstrom store to open in the state of Wisconsin. Nordstrom wanted to meet such high demand, and Milwaukee was the largest metropolitan area without a Nordstrom. Boston Store closed in 2018 due to

Bon-Ton 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 ...

filing for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

and closing all stores.

2020 shootings

On February 2, 2020, Alvin Cole, a 17-year-old, was killed in an incident with police. Cole fired a bullet from a gun before being shot five times by an officer. The officer was suspended and eventually resigned after an independent investigation led by former U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic called for his dismissal due to him being involved in two other fatal shootings, among other issues. The investigation revealed that Cole never shot an officer; the only bullet Cole fired hitting himself in the arm while running away and dropping to the ground. On November 20, 2020, a

mass shooting There is a lack of consensus on how to define a mass shooting. Most terms define a minimum of three or four victims of gun violence (not including the shooter or in an inner city) in a short period of time, although an Australian study from 200 ...

occurred at the mall. Eight non-life-threatening injuries were reported, drawing a massive emergency response, including the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

. The shooter fled the scene afterwards. A 15-year-old was arrested in connection with the shooting.

The Mayfair Collection

In fall 2015, a new shopping center opened just northwest of Mayfair Mall known as The Mayfair Collection. It has stores like

Nordstrom Rack Nordstrom Rack is an American off-price department store chain founded in 1973. It is a sister brand to the luxury department store chain Nordstrom. As of 2021, Nordstrom Rack operates 352 stores in 41 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces ...

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 ...

Dick's Sporting Goods Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized as "DICK'S Sporting Goods") is an American sporting goods retail company, based in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. The company was established by Richard "Dick" Stack in 1948, and has approximately 854 stores an ...

Whole Foods Market Whole Foods Market IP, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon, is an upscale American multinational supermarket chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from hydrogenated fats and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. A US ...

, and Versona Accessories. It also has a

Homewood Suites by Hilton Homewood Suites by Hilton is an American chain of all-suite residential-style hotels managed by the Hilton Worldwide. As of December 31, 2019, the chain consists of 505 hotels in 4 countries and territories with 57,545 rooms. 490 Homewood Su ...

hotel. as well as a planned apartment complex known as Uptown at the District and several restaurants as well. Phase 2 is yet to be complete with stores and restaurants.

References

External links

Mayfair Mall
{{Brookfield Properties Brookfield Properties Shopping malls in Wisconsin Tourist attractions in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Shopping malls established in 1958 Wauwatosa, Wisconsin Buildings and structures in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin