Northwoods 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 ...

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

. The mall opened in 1973. It is situated at the corner of Scenic Drive and

U.S. Route 150 U.S. Route 150 (US 150) is a 571-mile (919 km) long northwest-southeast United States highway, signed as east–west. It runs from U.S. Route 6 outside of Moline, Illinois to U.S. Route 25 in Mount Vernon, Kentucky. Route description Il ...

(West War Memorial Drive). The anchor stores are

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 ...

, Round 1 Entertainment, and The RoomPlace. There is 1 vacant anchor store that was once

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 ...

History

Northwoods Mall opened in 1973 and was designed by architects Sidney H. Morris & Associates of Chicago, with Harold Carson Associates as the manager. The original

anchor store In retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are typically located at the ends of malls. Wit ...

s upon opening were

Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a world-pioneering mail-order business and later also a leading department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001. The curren ...

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 ...

(shortened later to

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 ...

), and

. Original tenants included Helzberg Diamonds,

B. Dalton B. Dalton Bookseller (often called B. Dalton or B. Dalton's) was an American retail bookstore chain founded in 1966 by Bruce Dayton, a member of the same family that operated the Dayton's department store chain. B. Dalton expanded to become the ...

Claire's Claire's (formerly known as Claire's Boutiques, Claire's Boutique and Claire's Accessories) is an American retailer of accessories, jewelry, and toys primarily aimed toward tween and teen girls. It was founded in 1961 and is based in Hoffman E ...

, GNC, a

Fannie May Fannie May Confection Brands, Inc. is an American chocolate manufacturer headquartered in Chicago and currently owned by Italian company Ferrero SpA. Fannie May manufactures a broad variety of products including enrobed, barks, caramels, squares, ...

candy shop, a bank, Brown's Sporting Goods, and several restaurants. The mall was sold to

Simon Property Group Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/lifestyle centers. It is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States and is headquartered in Indian ...

in 1983. Carson's closed that same year and was replaced two years later by

Famous-Barr The Famous-Barr Co. (originally Famous and Barr Co.) was a division of Macy's, Inc. (formerly Federated Department Stores). Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, in the Railway Exchange Building, it was the flagship store of The May Department Sto ...

. Also in 1983, a

botulism Botulism is a rare and potentially fatal illness caused by a toxin produced by the bacterium ''Clostridium botulinum''. The disease begins with weakness, blurred vision, feeling tired, and trouble speaking. This may then be followed by weaknes ...

outbreak at the mall's Skewer Inn restaurant affected 28 customers.

closed its store in the mall in 1997, and

occupied its space a year later. A 2005 renovation added a

food court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dinner. I ...

. The Famous-Barr store was re-branded as

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 ...

in 2006. On January 7, 2016, it was announced that

would close in March 2016 as part of a plan to close 40 stores nationwide. In 2017, Round 1 Entertainment moved into part of the vacant

store on the 1st floor which opened on November 18, 2017. In 2018, it was announced that The RoomPlace would move into the rest of the half vacant

store on the 2nd floor which opened on May 11, 2018. On May 25, 2018, a Peoria police substation opened at the mall which is located on the upper level close to

. On August 24, 2018, it was announced that

Hibbett Sports Hibbett Sports, Inc. is an American publicly traded holding company for Hibbett Sporting Goods, a full line sporting goods retailer headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. As of January 29, 2022, the company operated approximately 1,096 retail st ...

will open on September 15, 2018. The new store will open on the upper level close to

. On September 25, 2018, it was announced that a new store Go! Calendars, Games and Toys opened a few days ago. The space was once occupied by

Hallmark Cards Hallmark Cards, Inc. is a private, family-owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark is the oldest and largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In 1985, the company was award ...

. On November 1, 2018, it was announced that an indoor Knockerball facility would open. The facility will open on the upper level next to

and will be open to the public as well as hosting private events. On November 20, 2018, it was announced that

Forever 21 Forever 21 is a multinational fast fashion retailer headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. Originally founded as the store Fashion 21 in Highland Park, Los Angeles in 1984,Forever 21History & Facts, n.d. Retrieved 27 April 2014 ...

would open in the mall in summer 2020 but it might not ever open because of its bankruptcy. On November 7, 2019, it was announced that

would close in February 2020 as part of a plan to close 96 stores nationwide. After

closed,

became the only remaining traditional anchor store left.

closed on February 16, 2020. In 2020,

Spirit Halloween Spirit Halloween, LLC is an American seasonal retailer that supplies Halloween decorations, costumes, props and accessories. It is the country's largest Halloween retailer. It is currently owned by Spencer Gifts. It was founded in 1983 and began ...

served as a temporary anchor store in the former

References

External links

* {{Shopping malls in Illinois 1973 establishments in Illinois Buildings and structures in Peoria, Illinois Kohan Retail Investment Group Shopping malls established in 1973 Shopping malls in Illinois U.S. Route 150