ONE SCHAUMBURG PLACE: SCHAUMBURG, IL
Rich's Commentary
Posted March 29, 2006 (user submitted)
One Schaumburg Place was opened in 1991, directly across the street from the
southern end of Woodfield Mall. It was meant to supplement Woodfield, rather
than compete against it, hence the large selection of discount retailers. I
also found it ironic that their entryway never quite lined up properly with
that of Woodfield's - although I suspect this was probably due to Woodfield's
clout, I feel that the lack of a proper entryway setup probably helped lead to
this mall's downfall. If people could have crossed directly from one mall to
the other, then this story might have had a different ending.
One Schaumburg Place was a full two level mall with a single hallway, and its
green-themed architecture was reminiscent of the last of the indoor malls built
in the area (Charlestowne, Lincolnwood Town Center, and even Gurnee Mills have
similar elements). Stores lined the west side of the hall, and a facade of
glass made up the entire east side, behind which the ground level parking sat.
In addition, there were two multi-level parking structures, one each on the
north and south ends of the mall. Each parking structure had an indoor
connecting ramp to the second level of the mall. Montgomery Ward was the most
prominent anchor, and they resided on the north end. They were the only store
in the mall which took up two levels, and they also had an auto shop which lay
inside the first level of the north parking structure. The other anchors on the
first level were Phar-Mor and Child World (both towards the middle, plus
Highland Superstores (later Office Depot; south end). There also was a Super
Crown Books. The second level included a Filene's Basement.
The middle portion of the second level housed the first-and-last food court in
the town of Schaumburg, plus a complex of several movie theaters towards the
back of the food court. First-run movies were spread amongst these theaters
and the Woodfield Cinemas across the street.
Even when I was employed at the Ward's store here in 1995, the mall occupancy
really wasn't at full occupancy. However, the weekend traffic still gave me a
good run for my money. There was also a busy nightclub named Venus which
occupied the second level in the space between Ward's and the north parking
structure; I can fondly remember reading in the newspapers about all the
trouble they caused at the time.
By the end of the 1990's, most of the prominent tenants experienced financial
trouble and thus vacated the mall. The disappearance of the Filene's Basement,
Child World, and Phar-Mor chains is well known. Ward's also shuttered their
store here in 1997, as a part of their last round of cutbacks before the
ultimate liquidation which was to come four years later.
By 2000, One Schaumburg Place had been entirely vacated. It has since been
redeveloped as an designer strip mall now known as the Streets of Woodfield.
Much of the original two-level skeleton structure was preserved, with some
significant alterations nonetheless. There is now a two-level Carson Pirie
Scott which resides in the former location of the food court, itself reduced in
depth by a circular driveway out front. The theaters have been relocated to
the southern end of the complex and were summarily expanded onto two levels. A
two-level Galyan's (now Dick's) was placed at the northern end of the mall
where Ward's used to be. The north parking structure was also demolished, and
the south parking structure no longer has a connecting walkway.