In 1970, 30 acres of land were purchased from Louis Werhane, a local farmer, with the plan to develop it into a mall. Primary construction was completed in 1971, with the mall's name being chosen by the winner of a drawing. The name is a combination of the two towns which the mall primarily serves: Deerfield and Northbrook. Originally the internal theme of the mall was of a communal street scene with street lamps and water fountains featuring brass frogs and other sculptures of aquatic marine life. Sunken communal seating areas contributed to the small-town Main Street-like feel. The floor is mostly made of heavily lacquered-over red and brown bricks. Venture, the now defunct retail chain, was a ten-year tenant in the mall. Previous to Venture, the space housed a Turn Style store. Venture closed and vacated the space in January 1989. Other large retailers who vacated the mall, primarily as a result of the economic failure and reduction of the chains themselves, include Service Merchandise, Spiegel Outlet, John M. Smyth's Homemakers, and Montgomery Ward. Marshalls originally occupied the interior space, hosting T.J. Maxx. Montgomery Ward also operated an auto repair and tire facility in a separate outbuilding immediately southeast of the main mall, built in 1986 and last occupied by Bally Total Fitness, and closed in the summer of 2012 the building was eventually torn down. Best Buy, which occupied the former Spiegel space, closed in 2012. The former Best Buy space became a Hobby Lobby in 2015. The former Service Merchandise space was later, briefly occupied by The Great Indoors, and then for three months by a local children's superstore called Wonder!. In 2014, TJ Maxx, the last remaining tenant of the interior mall, announced that it would be relocating. Deerbrook Mall formerly housed a four-screen General Cinemamovie theater, which opened in the mid-1970s as a two-screen. Two auditoriums were added in the 1980s. The theater closed in 2001 amid the company's bankruptcy and never re-opened. In 2017, the theater, store fronts, mall interior and Ulta Beauty were demolished to make way for new construction between Hobby Lobby, south and Art Van Furniture, north. Sports Authority had closed their store as part of the chain's bankruptcy in 2016. Art Van Furniture opened Wednesday December 13, 2017, in the former Sports Authority location. Office Max closed on Saturday, December 16, 2017. On March 5, 2020, it was announced that Art Van Furniture would be closing as Art Van prepares to file for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and plans to close all locations.
In 1998, Atlanta-based Lend Lease Real Estate Investments Inc. acquired Deerbrook Mall on behalf of one of its public pension fund clients from Valenti Builders, a Northfield, Illinois based company. The new owners began a major interior and exterior renovation to update the aging mall which had been plagued by high vacancy rates.
