Rogers Plaza 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 ...

Wyoming, Michigan Wyoming is a city in Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 76,501 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Wyoming is the second most-populated community in the Grand Rapids metropolitan area ...

, a suburb of

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

. Opened in 1961, it was the first shopping mall in Western Michigan and the first enclosed one in the state of Michigan. The center features

Planet Fitness Planet Fitness (PFIP LLC) is an American franchisor and operator of fitness centers based in Hampton, New Hampshire. The company reports that it has 2,039 clubs, making it one of the largest fitness club franchises by number of members and loca ...

and Citi Trends among its major stores.

History

Built in 1960, the mall originally included S. S. Kresge and

W. T. Grant W. T. Grant or Grants was a United States-based chain of mass-merchandise stores founded by William Thomas Grant that operated from 1906 until 1976. The stores were generally of the variety store format located in downtowns. History In 1906 the ...

variety stores,

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 Cincin ...

and A&P supermarkets, Cunningham Drug, and

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 ...

. An adjacent development, Southland Plaza (now Wyoming Village Mall), opened one year later with a Wurzburg's department store. Mall developers were initially unsuccessful in attracting a department store for the eastern anchor, but by 1971, a

Turn Style Turn Style was a chain of discount department stores and was a division of Chicago-based Jewel, the parent company of the Jewel Food Stores supermarket chain. Some mid-western Turn Styles had an Osco Pharmacy, at the time very uncommon for a d ...

discount store had opened on the east end. This store was the subject of a lawsuit from Kresge. Into the late 1980s, the Stannard's Music store was one of the first stores in the area to introduce the public to the

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...

, giving seminars on the capability of the device. By the 1990s, the mall was having difficulty attracting business. In 1990, the mall's east anchor had become

Best Products Best Products Company, Inc., or simply Best, was a chain of American catalog showroom retail stores founded by Sydney and Frances Lewis in 1957 and formerly headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. The company was in existence for four decades befor ...

and in 1990 and 1991, the mall held a "Haunted Hotel" event, sponsored by Easter Seals, near Halloween. In 1991, a fire in the Best store resulted in three people hospitalized for smoke inhalation. In 1994, Office Max became a tenant replacing Bargain Books, with the bookstore moving into a smaller space. while Gantos, a boutique, closed. In 1998, a

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

store opened in the center of the mall. Rogers Plaza had a total of 30 retail stores in 1999 with the mall "filling up fast", with the former space used by Best being filled. However, much of the mall's business was taken by the newly opened

Rivertown Crossings Mall RiverTown Crossings is a two-story enclosed super-regional shopping mall in Grandville, Michigan. It has four anchors: Macy's, Kohl's, JCPenney, and Dick's Sporting Goods with two vacant anchors last occupied by Younkers and Sears. History Desig ...

in Grandville. Into the 2000s, Ward's closed in December 2000 with 140 employees losing their jobs while the mall was sold in May 2000 to a new owner. In 2001 and 2002, the mall underwent a 14-month renovation project. As part of the renovation, the vacated Montgomery Ward was demolished for a

Family Fare Family Fare is an American supermarket chain. A division of SpartanNash, it has operated stores in Michigan since 1966, and also operates in North Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. History The first Family Fare store ...

supermarket and

AJ Wright AJWright (formerly formatted as A.J. Wright until 2009) was a chain of about 129 American retail/outlet stores established in 1998 and owned by TJX Companies. Like its sister company T.J. Maxx, AJWright sold clothing, domestics, giftware, footwea ...

discount store. In 2002, a redevelopment plan presented by the City of Wyoming included a street leading west from the mall, across Michael Avenue through Wyoming Village Mall and ending at Studio 28, with businesses and apartments anticipated to be constructed along the street. The project never launched as the owners of Wyoming Village Mall disagreed with demolishing a portion of their mall for the street. AJ Wright closed in February 2011 and became CW Price in August of the same year. The mall was purchased by Sun Valley Ltd. in June 2012. At the time, other major tenants included

Big Lots Big Lots Stores, Inc. (stylized as Big Lots!) is an American retail company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio with over 1,400 stores in 47 states. History The Big Lots chain traces its history back to 1967 when Consolidated Stores Corporation w ...

Harbor Freight Tools Harbor Freight Tools, commonly referred to as Harbor Freight, is a privately held tool and equipment retailer, headquartered in Calabasas, California, United States. It operates a chain of retail stores, as well as an e-commerce business. The com ...

, Citi Trends, and

OfficeMax OfficeMax is an American office supplies retailer founded in 1988. It is now a subsidiary of The ODP Corporation, which is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. As of December 2012, OfficeMax operated 941 stores in 47 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S ...

. In June 2019, Family Fare was closed down and the space is going to be auctioned off while OfficeMax closed shortly after.

References

{{Shopping malls in Michigan Shopping malls in Michigan Shopping malls established in 1960 Tourist attractions in Grand Rapids, Michigan Buildings and structures in Grand Rapids, Michigan Economy of Grand Rapids, Michigan 1961 establishments in Michigan