Yorktown Center

Infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Yorktown Center


image_width =
caption =
location = Lombard, Illinois, United States
address =
coordinates =
opening_date = 1968
developer =
manager = Long/Pehrson Associates, LLC
owner = Long/Pehrson Associates, LLC
architect =
number_of_stores = 180+
number_of_anchors = 3
floor_area = convert|1500000|sqft|m2|1
floors = 2 (the Von Maur and Carson Pirie Scott anchors have 3)
parking =
website = http://www.yorktowncenter.com
footnotes =

Yorktown Center is an enclosed regional shopping mall located in the village of Lombard, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1968, the mall currently features more than 100 stores on two levels. Anchor stores include Carson Pirie Scott, JCPenney, and a flagship Von Maur (the largest store in the Von Maur chain). [cite web |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/jobs/chi-sun_hiring_1111nov11,0,4201515,full.story |title=Holiday hiring time not joyful |accessdate=2007-12-07 |last=Rose |first=Barbara |date=2007-11-11 |work=Chicago Tribune] The mall also features three junior anchor stores: HomeGoods, Marshalls, and Steve & Barry's. Other amenities include a food court, a movie theater, and an outdoor concourse of shops known as The Shops on Butterfield.

Origins

At the time of its' 1968 opening, the 1.3 million square foot Yorktown Center ranked as the largest shopping center in America. [cite web |url=http://nreionline.com/mag/real_estate_reinventing_retail/ |title=Reinventing Retail |accessdate=2007-12-07 |last=Murphy |first=H.|date=2007-02-01 |work=National Real Estate Investor] The mall was originally a four-anchor indoor mall - three-story Carson Pirie Scott and Wieboldt's anchor department stores faced each other across a central courtyard, while wings for two-story JCPenney and Montgomery Ward anchor department stores stretched northward and southward, respectively, from the center courtyard. The mall even contained two two-story junior anchors: Madigan's, a department store near the Wieboldt's end of the JCPenney wing, and Woolworth's, a dime store near the Montgomery Ward anchor. Other major tenants included Chas. A. Stevens, Herman's World of Sporting Goods.

North of the mall proper, a strip mall dubbed the "Convenience Center" was constructed. This was originally anchored by a Grand Union supermarket, which later became a Scandinavian Design furniture store and most recently (as of 2008) a furniture store for the mall's Carson Pirie Scott anchor. Other perimeter buildings included auto centers for the JCPenney and Montgomery Ward anchors, a movie theater, and two restaurants.

1980's

A mid-1980s remodeling replaced the dark tile and flat white facades of the mall areas with pastels and neon lighting. As part of this project, freestanding elevators were added to each wing, replacing the "floating" staircases. Later that same decade, a pair of escalators was added near the JCPenney and Montgomery Ward anchors, with additional retail space built under each pair of escalators. (Previous to these remodelings, there were no elevators in the mall proper, and only one pair of criss-crossed escalators at the center of the courtyard.)

Unlike nearby Oakbrook Center - which would add to its anchor collection three times in twenty years - the middle-market Yorktown Center would lose multiple anchors over the same span. Wieboldt's was the first to close, shuttered at the bankruptcy of the chain in 1987; the anchor lay vacant for seven years, until Von Maur remodeled the anchor and opened it as their first Chicago-area store in 1994. Madigan's would close in 1988; this space, too, remained unoccupied until it was rebuilt as a food court and retail space.

1990's

When Woolworth's closed in 1997, it remained empty until Big Idea Productions, an animation studio known for its VeggieTales series, took over the space. [cite web |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20020929/ai_n12477859 |title="Tales" from the light side Finding God in a Cucumber |accessdate=2007-12-02 |last=Fiedelholtz |first=Sara |date=2002-09-29 |work=Chicago Sun-Times] Big Idea had originally planned to use the space as temporary offices as they rebuilt and expanded the local DuPage Theater into a new corporate headquarters. However, when Big Idea Productions collapsed in 2003, the company vacated their mall space, and the space was eventually converted to Steve & Barry's.

Meanwhile, the perimeter of the mall became a hotbed of development, featuring a Target Greatland. The JCPenney Auto Center would be redeveloped into The Pacific Club, a nightclub managed by Chicago football icon Walter Payton's restaurant group. The movie theater would be torn down and replaced with an eighteen-screen megaplex. Despite a remodeling, though, the "Convenience Center" suffered the loss of several prominent tenants, including a bank and an Ace Hardware store.

2000's

At the beginning of the decade, a major remodeling of the central courtyard took place. The narrow, linear bridge between the north and south sides of the courtyard was demolished, along with its pair of escalators. In its place, a wide diagonal bridge was built, with two pairs of escalators. As part of the project, a proper customer service desk was built near the north-side escalator; the mall had no such desk prior to this time.

Montgomery Ward was the latest anchor to fall, closing as the chain fell to bankruptcy in 2001. After a short stint as Magellan's Furniture, the anchor was demolished for a lifestyle center section known as "The Shops on Butterfield". This new section, anchored by HomeGoods, Marshalls, and Lucky Strike Lanes, opened in 2007. At the same time, the "Convenience Center" was renamed "The Shops at Yorktown"; despite the popularity of the Carson Pirie Scott furniture gallery, it has continued to exhibit a high rate of vacancies.

Also in 2007, a 500 bed Westin hotel was opened on the periphery. This hotel includes a conference center and two restaurants run by the Harry Caray restaurant empire. The Montgomery Ward auto center was torn down in favor of a Claim Jumper restaurant, which joined Rock Bottom Brewery, Buca di Beppo, and The Capital Grille along the property's perimeter.

ales Tax Rate

As of July 1, 2008, the general merchandise sales tax rate for Yorktown Center stores is 9.25%. Outside of the mall ring road, the sales tax rate for Lombard is 8.25%. [ [https://www.revenue.state.il.us/app/trii/servlet/TRIInquiry/0972032501221926758008 Lombard sales tax rate (click on 'view rate' link on General Merchandise line)] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.yorktowncenter.com Official website]