Louis Joliet Mall, formerly known as Westfield Louis Joliet Mall, is a shopping mall in Joliet, Illinois. The mall's anchor stores are JCPenney, Macy's, Cinemark, and FunFlatables. There are 2 vacant anchor stores that were once Carson Pirie Scott and Sears. It also has 3 restaurants: TGI Fridays, Panera Bread, and a former Tilted Kilt. Louis Joliet is a one-level mall with Macy's and JCPenney at one end and the former Bergner-Weise/Carson's and the former Sears at the other end. There is a food court off the main corridor in the center of the mall.
History
The mall opened in 1978 with Sears and Marshall Field & Company. Bergner-Weise opened in September 1979, and JCPenney would move from downtown to the mall one month later. In the beginning, Louis Joliet Mall had stiff competition from the slightly older mall a few miles away on Jefferson Street, Jefferson Square Mall. Many shops had a location in both malls. After the Wieboldt's at Jefferson Square closed in 1987, many of these stores either went to Louis Joliet Mall or simply closed their Jefferson Square location. The Mall had renovations in 1995. The mall barely escaped destruction when the Plainfield Tornado passed within a few hundred yards of the southwest entrance. Some shoppers report seeing nothing but a huge, black wall when they looked to the southwest. In 1991, Circuit City opened outside of the Mall. The chain went bankrupt in 2009. It was replaced by hhgregg in 2011. Six years later in 2017, hhgregg filed for bankruptcy as well. It was replaced by Binny's Beverage Depot in fall 2018. In September 1992, Best Buy, located outside the mall, opened for the first time. It is connected to Value City Furniture. In 1994, A Super 8 Motel was built northeast of JCPenney. Three years later in 1997, Hampton Inn and Motel 6 opened northwest of Super 8. Linens 'n Things opened outside of the Mall in 1999 and closed in 2008 when the chain went bankrupt. It was replaced by Ashley Furniture in 2010. In 2002, a Flagship Turk Furniture opened on the West Side. Jefferson Square ultimately closed around 2002 and was demolished in 2004 for a Menards and Walmart, both of which opened in 2007. The Marshall Field's store was officially renamed Macy's on September 9, 2006. General Cinema Theaters opened in 1984 with three screens. It became Silver Cinemas in 1990 and featured more screens. It closed in July 2008. Cinemark opened in its place on May 8, 2009. Two days before it opened, Movies 8, which opened on June 22, 1990 closed its doors. The Westfield Group acquired the shopping center in 2003, and renamed it "Westfield Shoppingtown Louis Joliet", dropping the "Shoppingtown" name in June 2005. However, most locals rarely used the full name for the mall due to several other Westfield locations, notably in Aurora and Chicago Ridge; as such, the outdoor signage was eventually restored to say "Louis Joliet Mall". In April 2012, the mall was sold to Starwood Capital Group, with CBL & Associates Properties responsible for management. The mall itself is one floor and contains a variety of shops, stands, and food shops. The mall also features a small play-area for children with seating for parents. H&M and Pandora opened in December 2014. In 2015, Sears Holdingsspun off 235 of its properties, including the Sears at Louis Joliet Mall, into Seritage Growth Properties. On February 16, 2017, MC Sports announced that all 66 Stores would be closing. That same year, A Home2 Suites by Hilton Hotel was built outside of The Mall. On April 18, 2018, it was announced that Carson's will close as the parent, Bon-Ton Stores, was going out of business. The store closed on August 29, 2018. On August 2, 2018, it was announced that the Senior Services of Will County might move into the former Bernger-Weise/Carson's space. On October 15, 2018, it was announced that Sears would also be closing as part of a plan to close 142 stores nationwide. The store closed sometime in 2019 which left JCPenney, Macy's, and Cinemark as the only anchor stores left.
