BREMENTOWN MALL: TINLEY PARK, IL
Nick Archer's Commentary
Posted March 24, 2007 (user submitted)
Brementown Mall opened in 1973 on the southwest corner of 159th Street and Oak Park Avenue in Tinley Park. It derived its name from the township (Bremen) and was a salute to the German Americans who originally settled the area. It was a very small 2-anchor mall (really only an anchor-and-a half.) Even though there were spaces for thirty specialty stores it was never fully occupied and its fortunes only sank as time went on.
The building was situated on an east-west orientation with the main entrance facing north on 159th street. There was also an auxiliary mall entrance next to Dominick's. It was anchored by Gately's Peoples Store on the west end and Dominick's Finer Foods and the Essaness Bremen 1 & 2 Theaters on the east. It was a sub-regional mall built to serve the solidly middle-class area of Tinley Park, Oak Forest, Orland Park and even Crestwood, Frankfort, and Westhaven (later to become Orland Hills). At that time, the southwest suburbs were experiencing explosive growth. That was one advantage that Brementown Mall had. Another was that it was first. It opened several months before the larger, regional Lincoln Mall and three years before Orland Square. So for a very brief time it thrived but for the rest of its life it struggled.
There were two big parking lots, one on the north side off 159th Street and the other on the south side behind the building. In an outlot directly at the corner of 159th Street and Oak Park was a Golden Bear restaurant, a family-style place similar to Denny's. Later, Brown's Chicken built an outlet nearby. To the west of the mall was the original site of the Brementown Theater and west of that, at the corner of 159th and Harlem was a K Mart dating from the sixties.
The main anchor was Gately's Peoples Store, a south side department store with its main store on Michigan Avenue in Chicago's Roseland neighborhood. The main store in the city was most remembered for its donut machine where customers could watch donuts being fried, like Krispy Kreme. The new suburban store did not have a donut machine but it did have all the amenities of department store, including a restaurant and a beauty shop. It was a two-level store with men's, women's and children's clothing, shoes and jewelry on the main level and housewares, furniture and linens on the second. Gately's was also one of the few stores in the area that carried Scout uniforms. I was unable to find the exact date that the main Gately's closed, but I am sure it closed by 1980.
While Gately's anchored the west end of the mall, the east end of the mall was anchored by Dominick's Finer Foods, Walgreen's and the Brementown 1 and 2 Theaters, originally operated by Essaness. The Dominick's had an unusual entrance to the mall. Dominick's closed the store sometime in the mid-80's. After that it became a flea market and also sat vacant for long periods of time.
Inside the mall screamed 1973. It was decorated in dark earth tones. The floor was brown brick and the ceiling was brown as well. Rectangular lighted signs hung from the ceiling in front of each store perpendicular to the storefront. Empty storefronts had groovy abstract "artwork" instead of a company logo. Walgreens took up a big chunk of the north side of the mall. It also had its own outside entrance. Some of the other tenants included Waldenbooks, Hallmark and Kinney Shoes. There was a large, popular arcade across from the theaters on the east side. (It was called Just for Fun or #1 Fun -- it probably changed names.) There was a store that sold vacuums and sewing machines on the south side of the mall next to Gately's. Small local stores such as one selling Catholic religious goods came and went. Later, a Gertie's/Lindy's (Gertie's Ice Cream/Lindy's Chili another South Side institution) opened in the north corridor near the theaters and arcade. They had tables and chairs set up in the mall itself, like an outdoor caf . It would be the closest Brementown would ever come to having a food court. There were probably other restaurants inside the mall but I don't recall.
The mall management tried to promote sales. They hosted traveling carnivals in the north parking lot during the summer and even hosted Circus Vargas at least once. Inside they held craft, art and antique shows. They tried to fill empty spaces. One empty storefront on the east end became a community room that hosted meetings like sewing groups and Weight Watchers. Gately's advertised heavily in newspapers. And despite the interior being hopelessly dated, it was clean and well maintained. Unlike most other dying and dead malls, they at least tried to keep their little mall afloat.
It was a losing battle. The theaters subdivided and became second-run theaters sometime in the eighties. Gately's had a very loyal customer base but they were unknown outside the South Side and south suburbs. The former Dominick's space sat vacant most of the time and the interior entrance to the mall was sealed off. Teenagers and young adults cruised the south parking lot near the entrance to the theaters and the arcade. There were fights and vandalism -- never serious -- but enough that the police had to be called. This gave the mall a somewhat unsavory reputation.
By the early nineties, the writing was on the wall. The only stores that survived were ones that had outside access. Gately's never remodeled and its stock was also dated. Stores began to close and were not replaced.
Gately's went out of business before Christmas 1993. By this time, the interior entrance to the mall was sealed off. Walgreens remained for a while, as did the theaters and the arcade.
The entire mall was remodeled into Menard's (A Midwestern home improvement store) around 1994. A long corridor remained from the north parking lot running next to the former Dominick's space to provide access to the theaters and arcade. The Gately's building was sold to the Star chain of suburban newspapers and became their main offices. The former Golden Bear restaurant, which had been a banquet hall in later life, was demolished.
I don't know exactly when the arcade closed, but the theaters remained open until 2003, when they were sold to Menard's for an expansion of their store. To date they were the only indoor theaters in Tinley Park.
The main Brementown Mall sign on 159th remained standing for several years after Menard's invaded the mall, a testament to the struggles of a small, neighborhood mall with local retailers against the big boys.
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Nick Michalak’s Commentary:
User submitted in 2024Lord, I wish there some photos online for this old mall. I remember the candy store, the Chinese place was a regular takeout for my parents, and the theatre was a BIG deal for us kids. My dad took me to see Transformers: The Movie there in 1986, before it became a second run theatre. Lindy's & Gertie's was right next door as a full-on diner, and of course, the arcade was AWESOME! I also recall the Wheel of Wisdom attraction that came around to various venues in the area, and they did a few shots at this mall in the late 80's.
Dave Downing’s Commentary:
User submitted in 2023After brementown banquet closed it became a Nancy's pizza and bankquets.i worked there for 4 years. Very good memories.
Bill Rothe’s Commentary:
User submitted in 2022I used to work at the Brown's Fried Chicken on the corner near this mall (around '74-76). Back in the day, I can remember the mall being quite busy around the holidays, but with the exception of the theaters, it was dead most of the rest of the year.
Daniel Sumidlowski’s Commentary:
User submitted in 2021The Orange Bowl Pizza 🍕 was the best!!!
Laura Griffin McMahon’s Commentary:
User submitted in 2021Lee’s chop suey was the Chinese restaurant. There was a 5-7-9 women’s store a couple shops down from Orange Bowl, a Jean Ranch next to the arcade, a camera shop, a record store that I. Any remember the name. Tally Ho was the restaurant before Gerties.
James Ward’s Commentary:
User submitted in 2021Yes, Orange Bowl (not Orange Julius) was located in the mall, not too far from Walgreens.
James Ward’s Commentary:
User submitted in 2021Dominick's remained open until the late 1980s.
Robin Fowler Lash’s Commentary:
User submitted in 2021I seem to remember an Orange Julius type of place there, and the mall once hosted a Wrestling event in the middle of the mall itself
James Douglas’ Commentary:
User submitted in 2020I grew up in Tinley Park from 1973 to still living in the area today. , I could be mistaking because I was young. But I thought Golden Bear is now the Pepe’s building and it is still there. The Bremen House was the Banquet hall (we had baseball banquets there) and later became Polina. I know Polina lasted until at least 2002 because my wife’s family and friends had her baby shower there.
Ray Darby’s Commentary:
User submitted in 2019big hangout when i was young.1.00 movie arcade and cruising in our cars in the lot was fun in the day
Heidi Loflin’s Commentary:
User submitted in 2019As a 14 year old, this was my hangout. I watched Dirty Dancing in the theater several times that summer and played Tron in the arcade countless times. I worked at the Orange Bowl for a few months and definitely enjoyed the pizza and ice cream it offered. Such good memories.
Mark Mensing’s Commentary:
User submitted in 2019As I remember it, the Golden Bear restaurant was eventually turned into Pepe's, and the banquet hall (Bremen & Palonia Banquets ?) that was next to Browns chicken was torn down and now is Golden Corral.
Patricia Kittelle Thompson’s Commentary:
User submitted in 2019When I was in high school I worked at a women's clothing store in the mall called Stuart's. I have such good memories of the mall. I used to go to the theater all the time. First place I got my ears pierced was in that mall. I remember when Dawn of the Dead came out and it was at the theater. Rumor had it that you had to have an ID that said you were 18 to get in. I had just turned 18 and was so disappointed when I didn't even get carded. Saw the Song Remains the Same there and as soon as you walked into the theater you could smell the...ahem...you know what I mean, lol. Yep, good memories!
LaZeric Freeman’s Commentary:
User submitted in 2019I was a student at Trinity Christian College in 1989. We loved when our off campus buddy would come and drive us to the mall. The arcade, the theater .... For years, that theater was one of my main date spots. Hate that it went away.
Ray Ciscon’s Commentary:
User submitted in 2018This mall was a regular hangout of mine. The theaters were good, and the arcade, just opposite of the theaters, was awesome! The brown brick floor was very nice....