The Lakes 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 ...

serving the city of

Muskegon, Michigan Muskegon ( ') is a city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Muskegon County. Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, pleasure boating, and as a commercial and cruise ship port. It is a popular vacation destination because of the expans ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Opened in 2001, the mall features more than sixty retailers, plus a food court, in of

gross leasable area In architecture, construction, and real estate, floor area, floor space, or floorspace is the area (measured as square feet or square metres) taken up by a building or part of it. The ways of defining "floor area" depend on what factors of the buil ...

. Anchor stores are

Bed Bath & Beyond Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. is an American chain of domestic merchandise retail stores. The chain operates many stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Bed Bath & Beyond was founded in 1971. It is counted among the Fortune 5 ...

, Dick's Sporting Goods, and

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 ...

, with two vacancies last occupied by

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

Younkers Younkers Inc. is an American online retailer and former department store chain founded as a family-run dry goods business in 1856 in Keokuk, Iowa. The retailer had evolved over more than 150 years to include a presence in locations throughout Iowa ...

History

The Lakes Mall was developed by CBL & Associates Properties of Chattanooga, Tennessee, on a site south of town, near the junction of Interstate 96 and U.S. Route 31 in Michigan, U.S. Highway 31, at the southeastern corner of Sternberg Road and Harvey Street. Construction began on the property in late 1999. On August 15, 2001, the mall's grand opening was announced, although Sears had been operational since March of that year. The mall, upon opening, featured

and

among its anchor stores. JCPenney had relocated from a standalone store, while Sears had relocated from the former Muskegon Mall downtown. Dick's Sporting Goods was added in late 2004. On April 18, 2018, it was announced that Younkers would be closing as parent company The Bon-Ton is going out of business. The store closed in August 2018. On December 28, 2018, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of a plan to close 80 stores nationwide. The store closed on March 14, 2019. Bed Bath & Beyond closed in 2023

Impact on the community

Prior to the development of the mall, the only major business that operated at the intersection of Sternberg Road and Harvey Street was a strip mall known as the Lakeshore Marketplace. This center, a former outlet mall, was eventually redeveloped into Big-box store, big box space (including Toys "R" Us, Barnes & Noble, Old Navy, TJ Maxx, and Elder-Beerman, which was converted to a Younkers furniture store in 2008), and several restaurants soon opened along The Lakes Mall's periphery. Muskegon Mall, an older mall created by enclosing several blocks of Muskegon's downtown, had operated in downtown Muskegon since 1976. However, it was not considered a major retail draw for the Muskegon area, because it lacked the major chain stores present at the malls in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Grand Rapids. Since its opening in 2001, The Lakes Mall has been cited as the most popular retail destination in the Muskegon area.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lakes Mall, The Shopping malls established in 2001 Namdar Realty Group Shopping malls in Michigan Buildings and structures in Muskegon, Michigan Tourist attractions in Muskegon, Michigan 2001 establishments in Michigan