Glenbrook Square 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 ...

at 4201 Coldwater Road, in

Fort Wayne, Indiana 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 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 ...

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 ...

, and Barnes & Noble.

History

Glendale Center Inc. built the mall in 1966 under the original name of Glenbrook Center. Original anchor stores were

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 ...

and L. S. Ayres department store, their first location in an enclosed mall. Another major tenant was a Danners variety store, the largest in the chain at the time. Since the mall's opening in 1966, Glenbrook has been expanded and/or renovated five times. These expansions and renovations occurred in 1976, 1981, 1990, 1994, and 1998; with the 1976, 1981, and 1998 renovations also being major expansions. Glenbrook Square annually receives over 15 million visitors, and is the only enclosed super-regional mall in northeast Indiana. Based on leasable square feet, Glenbrook Square is also one of the three largest malls in the state of Indiana along with Castleton Square in Indianapolis and Southlake Mall in Merrillville. In total, Glenbrook Square has a gross leasable area of . Glenbrook Square features 152 stores and kiosks, three anchors, and space for two more. A food court can be found, along with casual dining restaurants P.F. Chang's,

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 ...

, Granite City Food & Brewery, and BJ's Brewhouse. A water main break occurred at Glenbrook Square on October 31, 2013 during overnight hours. 50 stores were damaged in the incident, but all five anchor stores were unaffected. Most affected stores were repaired and reopened within weeks, and all damaged stores except one reopened by Black Friday 2013.

Anchors

Glenbrook's current anchors are

, and Barnes & Noble, with one currently unused space under redevelopment and a second lot under redevelopment.

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 fash ...

(now Macy's) is one of Glenbrook Square's original anchors, in continuous operation since the mall's opening. The building for JCPenney was added in the 1976 expansion. An A&P grocery store was also an original tenant. It closed when A&P left Fort Wayne in the 1970s, and in 2007 the Barnes & Noble store opened in that area (it was converted from several smaller stores).

also opened simultaneously with the mall. It closed in 2018, and the building was demolished in summer 2019. New York-based Seritage SRC Finance LLC planned to build a new building at the location, attached to the Glenbrook Square building. Announced tenants included

Dave & Buster's Dave & Buster's is an American restaurant and entertainment business headquartered in Dallas. Each Dave & Buster's has a full-service restaurant and a video arcade. As of October 2022, the company has 151 locations in the United States and two ...

HomeGoods HomeGoods is a chain of home furnishing stores headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts. It was founded as a small chain in 1992, and grew to include hundreds of locations throughout the United States. HomeGoods sells furniture, linens, cooking ...

, and Portillo's, and more were expected to be announced later, opening in 2020. Although construction was halted due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. It was later announced that

would not be expanding to the location. Another anchor (now unused) was added in the 1981 expansion, which originally hosted a

Hudson's The J. L. Hudson Company (commonly known simply as Hudson's) was an upscale retail department store chain based in Detroit, Michigan. Hudson's flagship store, on Woodward Avenue in Downtown Detroit (demolished October 24, 1998), was the tallest ...

(later

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 ...

). In 2004

was bought by

May Co. The May Department Stores Company was an American department store holding company, formerly headquartered in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded in Leadville, Colorado, by David May in 1877, moving to St. Louis in 1905. After many ch ...

, which also owned the L.S. Ayres anchor. They closed the Marshall Field's anchor in 2005, and on December 12, 2007 the company (which by then had merged with

Federated Department Stores Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillito ...

and been renamed

Macy's, Inc. Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillito' ...

) sold the vacant store back to GGP for $1 million. For a few years the space was used for temporary retailers such as Glowgolf, a fashion show sponsored by local Christian radio station

WLAB WLAB (88.3 MHz) is a non-commercial, listener-supported FM radio station in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It is owned by the Star Educational Media Network and broadcasts a Contemporary Christian radio format. It holds periodic on-air fundraisers to s ...

Star 88.3, and a Habitat for Humanity gift-wrapping station and display of

Department 56 Department 56 is a U.S. manufacturer of holiday collectibles, ornaments and giftware, known for its lit Christmas village collections and Snowbabies collection. It is owned by Enesco and based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. History Department 56 w ...

houses that operated during several holiday seasons.

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 ...

anchored the space from 2013 until it closed on August 31, 2018 due their 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 ...

, going out of business. At the same time as the store closings, Brookfield and Seritage Growth Properties put plans in place to renovate the former Carson's and Sears spaces, respectively. On August 8, 2019, Japanese firm

Round One Entertainment , stylized as ROUND1, is a Japan-based amusement store chain. In Japan, the amusement centers offer bowling alleys, arcade games, karaoke, and billiards. They also have a larger variation of Round One known as SpoCha, abbreviated for Sports Chal ...

announced that they would be opening in the former Carson's in 2021 as part of a larger expansion plan in the United States. Round1 will feature bowling, karaoke, arcade games, and food. Despite similar products, Round1 is a family-oriented concept whereas Dave & Buster's is focused on adults.

References

External links

* {{General Growth Properties Shopping malls in Indiana Buildings and structures in Fort Wayne, Indiana Economy of Fort Wayne, Indiana Culture of Fort Wayne, Indiana Brookfield Properties Tourist attractions in Fort Wayne, Indiana Shopping malls established in 1966