White Oaks Mall is a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is located on the southwest side of Springfield, approximately five miles (8 km) southwest of the city center, at the junction of

Illinois Route 4 Illinois Route 4 is a major north–south highway that runs south from the Interstate 55 business loop around the state capital of Springfield, south to Illinois Route 13 just north of Murphysboro. This is a distance of . Route description I ...

(Veterans Parkway) and Wabash Avenue. With of retail space, it is the largest shopping mall in

Central Illinois Central Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois that consists of the entire central third of the state, divided from north to south. Also known as the ''Heart of Illinois'', it is characterized by small towns and mid-sized cities. Agri ...

. The mall's anchors are

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

and Malibu Jack’s. Junior anchors in the former Montgomery Ward anchor building are

Michaels Michaels Stores, Inc., doing business as Michaels, is an American privately held arts and crafts retail chain. It is North America's largest provider of arts, crafts, framing, floral and wall décor, and merchandise for makers and do-it-yourse ...

, Esporta Fitness and

Dick's Sporting Goods Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized in all caps as DICK'S Sporting Goods) is an American chain of sporting goods stores founded in 1948 by Richard "Dick" Stack. It is the largest sporting goods retailer in the United States and is listed ...

The mall's former

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

anchor store was remodeled in 2025 as state government offices.

History

Construction began in 1974. The original planned name of the mall was Westroads Mall.

Ed McMahon Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. (March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009) was an American announcer, game show host, comedian, actor, singer, and combat aviator. McMahon and Johnny Carson began their association in their first TV series, the American Bro ...

and

Billy Carter William Alton Carter (March 29, 1937 – September 25, 1988) was an American farmer, businessman, brewer, and politician. The younger brother of U.S. President Jimmy Carter, he promoted Billy Beer and Peanut Lolita; and he was a candidate for ...

attended the grand opening, on August 24, 1977. The four original anchor stores were

Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a mail-order business and later a department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001; its common nickname was "Monkey Wards". ...

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 Departmen ...

and Myers Brothers. Myers Brothers was bought by Bergner's in 1978 and the store was rebranded. In the early 1990s, it underwent a $14 million renovation which included the addition of a new

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 Vendor, vendors and provides a common area for self-serve di ...

. A carousel was installed in 1997. White Oaks Mall houses over 100 stores. Its operator, the

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 ...

, which owns 80.7% of the mall, describes White Oaks Mall as a "super-regional shopping mall". The mall shares its name with the

White Oak ''Quercus'' subgenus ''Quercus'' is one of the two subgenera into which the genus ''Quercus'' was divided in a 2017 classification (the other being subgenus ''Cerris''). It contains about 190 species divided among five sections. It may be calle ...

, the state tree of Illinois. White Oaks Mall has a children's play area.

The Children's Place The Children’s Place is a retailer of clothing for children. It sells its products primarily under its proprietary brands The Children’s Place, Gymboree, Sugar & Jade, PJ Place and Crazy 8. The company has about 525 stores in the U.S., Canada ...

and

Carter's Carter's, Inc. is a major American designer and marketer of children's apparel. It was founded in 1865 by William Carter. Carter's sells its products through its own Carter's and OshKosh B'gosh retail stores, its website, and in other retail ...

specialize in juvenile clothing.White Oaks Mall
OutletStoresMalls.com. Retrieved: 9 February 2015. In 2001, the Montgomery Ward anchor store closed, after the chain went out of business. In 2006, all Famous-Barr stores were rebranded as Macy's. In July 2018, the Bergner's anchor store closed when the chain went out of business. In September 2018, the

anchor store closed, as part of a plan to close 78 stores nationwide. This left

as the only anchor store. In 2020, the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, the custodian of Illinois state government real estate, purchased the 120,000 sq ft Sears anchor store, to be remodeled as office space for the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology,

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) of the state of Illinois is the primary body concerned with the protection of the environment for the state. The Illinois EPA's mission is "to safeguard environmental quality, consiste ...

, and Illinois Pollution Control Board. In January 2025, after $80 million in remodeling work, the Illinois EPA moved into the building. After Bergner’s closed, the space was replaced with an entertainment facility known as Malibu Jack’s in 2023. Malibu Jack’s has since become the primary anchor tenant for the space. On January 9, 2025, it was announced that Macy's store would close as part of a plan to close 66 stores nationwide. The store closed in March 2025, leaving the mall with no traditional anchors but with non-traditional anchor tenants with more of a focus on entertainment and office space.

References

External links

*Mal
website
*Corporat
website
{{Shopping malls in Illinois Shopping malls in Illinois Simon Property Group Buildings and structures in Springfield, Illinois Tourist attractions in Springfield, Illinois Shopping malls established in 1977 1977 establishments in Illinois