Louis Joliet Mall (aka Westfield Louis Joliet)

Joliet, Illinois - circa late '70s

Family shopping trip... late-seventies style! Welcome to Louis Joliet Mall, or Westfield Louis Joliet, as it's officially known these days (naturally). This photo is from a print ad dating to around the late 1970s or so. Here's the ad copy:

"Whatever you have in mind, we have in store. Explore Louis Joliet Mall and find more of what you're looking for. More choices. More variety. More of the latest fashions in over 100 fine stores. Plus a mouth-watering variety of foods to suit every taste. Convenient services that put an end to driving all over town. And exciting special events. So when you're looking for more, discover... Louis Joliet Mall

More than 100 fine shops and services including Sears, Marshall Field's, Bergner's, and J.C. Penney"

Here's some excerpted history from its Wikipedia page:

"The mall opened in 1978 (August 2) with Sears and Marshall Field & Company. Bergner's 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.

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 do not use the Westfield name for the mall. Many call it 'Joliet Mall', or 'Louie Mall'."

Mall history: 1978 - present
Developer: Homart Development
Current website: here
Current aerial view
Info from Wikipedia
Reference links: 1, 2
Previous entries: none

The Daily Mall Reader: Joliet Mall Makeover

A daily dose of mall-related reading...

"Joliet Mall Overhaul In Works"
'Lifestyle centers' may be the trend, but Westfield has plans to stay competitive

The Herald News - March 13, 2007

(Excerpt) JOLIET -- Lifestyle malls, with their fancy architecture and enticing boutiques, may be trying to woo shoppers away from the boxy, old malls, but not everyone is willing to lose business to the latest retail mistress.

Westfield Group, the Los Angeles-based company that owns Westfield Louis Joliet, is planning not only to update the interior of the 29-year-old building but also to construct a new shopping plaza and movie theater.

"New elements, new life, new energy," is how Catharine Dickey, a Westfield spokeswoman, described the plan.

Read the full article here.

Jefferson Square Mall

Joliet, Illinois - 1981

Interior view of the now defunct, Jefferson Square Mall, as it looked back in 1981, which is pretty snazzy, I must say! Here's a small snippet from the shopping center's entry over at Dead Malls, where you can read an excellent history of the place if you're interested in all the details (I mainly just like looking at pretty pictures myself, lol):

"Built in 1975 as the first enclosed mall in Joliet, Illinois, a city about 45 miles southwest of Chicago's Loop, Jefferson Square Mall boasted 65 stores, Walgreen's, Woolworth's, Wieboldt's, and Montgomery Ward. The mall was built such that the central court had four branches off it.

The central court was oriented such that the north and east wings branched off at the northeast end, and the south and west wings branched off at the southwest end. At the northeast end of the court was a bandshell with a water feature around it, and at the southwest end was a kiosk with four shops. Between was open space."

Mall history: 1975 - 2006 (redeveloped)
Current website: n/a
Current aerial view: n/a
Info from Wikipedia
Previous entries: none