Southlake 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 ...

Hobart, Indiana Hobart is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,890 at the 2020 census, up from 29,059 in 2010. It has been historically primarily residential, though recent annexation has added a notable retail corridor to the city ...

that is marketed as being in

Merrillville, Indiana Merrillville is a town in Ross Township, Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 35,246 at the 2010 census. Merrillville is in east-central Lake County, in the Chicago metropolitan area. On January 1, 2015, Merrillville became the ...

, due primarily to being served by the 46410 postal Zip Code. The tract of land on which it sits was annexed by the city of Hobart from unincorporated Ross Township in 1993. It lies in the Chicago metropolitan area. Southlake Mall is the only enclosed super regional mall in

Northwest Indiana Northwest Indiana, nicknamed The Region after the Calumet Region, comprises Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton and Jasper counties in Indiana. This region neighbors Lake Michigan and is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. According to the 2020 Ce ...

, as well as one of largest in the state overall along with

Castleton Square Castleton Square is an enclosed shopping mall in the Castleton neighborhood on the northeastern side of Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Built by Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation and Homart Development Company in 1972, it is owned and manage ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

and

Glenbrook Square Glenbrook Square is a shopping mall at 4201 Coldwater Road, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The anchor stores are JCPenney, Macy's, and Barnes & Noble. History Glendale Center Inc. built the mall in 1966 under the original name of Glenbrook Center. Orig ...

Fort Wayne Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

. The mall's 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, H&M, and

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 ...

. There are three vacant anchors stores that were once

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 ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. The Macy's store was an

L. S. Ayres L. S. Ayres and Company was a department store based in Indianapolis, Indiana, and founded in 1872 by Lyman S. Ayres. Over the years its Indianapolis flagship store, which opened in 1905 and was later enlarged, became known for its women's fas ...

store prior to September 9, 2006. The mall first opened with only two anchor stores – JCPenney and Sears – and the north and south anchor wings were added later. The former Carson's had housed the cafeteria-style "The Garden Restaurant" by the entrance near the security garage on the south side of the mall from 1975 to 1989.

History

Richard E. Jacobs Richard E. "Dick" Jacobs (June 16, 1925 – June 5, 2009) was an American businessman and real estate developer who co-founded the Jacobs Entertainment, Richard E. Jacobs Group, and owner of the Cleveland Indians from 1986-1999. Biography Jacob ...

's Jacobs Visconsi Jacobs group built the mall in 1974. The company put it up for sale in 1999, but it was not purchased until 2002 by

The Westfield Group Westfield Group was an Australian shopping centre company that existed from 1960 to 2014, when it split into two independent companies: Scentre Group, which owns and operates the Australian and New Zealand Westfield shopping centre portfolio; ...

, who renamed it Westfield Shoppingtown Southlake, and again to Westfield Southlake. On March 12, 1993, a 2-level

officially opened nearby in the mall's parking lot.

Target Greatland Target Corporation (doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a compon ...

opened east of Sears on October 6, 1993.

The Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement re ...

then opened in the east corner of the parking lot on July 27, 1995. Westfield Southlake underwent a significant expansion in 2006 that added

and a

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

bookstore, as well as several structures in the mall's outlot areas, including a 12-screen

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** AM ...

theater, a

Fifth Third Bank Fifth Third Bank (5/3 Bank), the principal subsidiary of Fifth Third Bancorp is an American bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Fifth Third is one of the largest consumer banks in the Midwestern United States, Fifth Third B ...

branch,

Chipotle Mexican Grill Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (, ), often known simply as Chipotle, is an American chain of fast casual restaurants specializing in bowls, tacos and Mission burritos made to order in front of the customer. Chipotle operates restaurants in the Unit ...

Potbelly Sandwich Works Potbelly Corporation is a publicly traded American fast-casual restaurant chain that focuses on submarine sandwiches and milkshakes. Potbelly was founded in 1977 in Chicago, and its name refers to the potbelly stove. Potbelly's menu features a va ...

Red Robin Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc., more commonly known as Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews or simply Red Robin, is an American chain of casual dining restaurants founded in September 1969 in Seattle, Washington. In 1979, the first franchised ...

, and

Buffalo Wild Wings Buffalo Wild Wings (originally Buffalo Wild Wings & Weck, hence the nickname BDubs, or BW3) is an American casual dining restaurant and sports bar franchise in the United States, Canada, India, Mexico, Panama, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, and Unit ...

. In July 2011,

Borders Group Borders Group, Inc. (former NYSE ticker symbol BGP) was an American multinational book and music retailer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. In its final year, the company employed about 19,500 people throughout the U.S., primarily in ...

announced it would be closing all of its stores by the end of September due to

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code (Bankruptcy Code) governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States, in contrast to Chapters 11 and 13, which govern the process of ''reorganization'' of a debtor. ...

liquidation, including the Southlake Mall location. After Borders was closed, it became

Books-A-Million Books-A-Million, Inc., also known as BAM!, is a bookstore chain in the United States, operating 260 stores in 32 states. Stores range in size from 4,000 to 30,000 square feet and sell books, magazines, manga, collectibles, toys, technology, ...

. Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurants opened in August 2012. On November 10, 2012, a group of teens ranging from age 14 to 16 were arrested after an altercation with another group of teens. One of the teens shot a 7.62×25mm Tokarev into the ceiling, which caused the gun to jam. The mall was shut down after the shooting and resumed business on November 11, 2012. Specialty discount retailer

rue21 New rue21, LLC (rue21) is an American specialty retailer of women's & men's casual apparel and accessories headquartered in the Pittsburgh suburb of Warrendale, Pennsylvania. Its clothes are designed to appeal to people who desire, wish, or feel ...

opened a store in the JCPenney wing in March 2013. Westfield Group sold the mall and several others to Starwood Capital in September 2013. As part of the sale, the mall's name reverted to Southlake Mall. Books-A-Million relocated in 2014 and the old location became

the same year. H&M opened at Southlake Mall in the same wing in 2015. On April 18, 2018, Carson's announced it would be closing as parent company

The 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 ...

was going out of business. The store closed on August 29, 2018. On August 6, 2019, Sears announced that it would also be closing as part of a plan to close 26 stores nationwide. The store closed on November 10, 2019. The company had previously, on April 12, 2018, put the building up for sale. On September 21, 2021, Dick's Sporting Goods announced it would move out of the mall and relocate to an off mall location across the street at the Crossings at Hobart. On November 3, 2022, CubeWork, a flexible workspace and warehouse company, announced that they would be converting the vacant Carson Pirie Scott space into pop-up retail space, co-working offices, and sports events space. The concept opened on November 15, 2022. On November 25, 2022, Kids Empire, an indoor playground and party zone, announced that they would be filling a portion of the former Dick's Sporting Goods.

References

External links

* {{Chicagomalls Shopping malls in Indiana Buildings and structures in Lake County, Indiana Tourist attractions in Lake County, Indiana Shopping malls established in 1974 1974 establishments in Indiana Pacific Retail Capital Partners