Belvidere Mall
Encyclopedia
Belvidere Mall is a small shopping mall located in Waukegan
, Illinois
, United States
. It was one of the first shopping malls in the Chicago metropolitan area, and the first enclosed mall in Lake County
. Its current main anchor store
is a Home Depot. The mall is notable for reinventing itself over time to remain open, with a current store mix primarily aimed at Hispanics.
While the mall thrived at first, the opening of the much larger nearby Lakehurst Mall
in 1971 put a serious dent in Belvidere's fortunes. In 1988, sole anchor Montgomery Ward left for Lakehurst. After about seven years of being empty, Builders Square
occupied the anchor spot in 1995, and was replaced with Home Depot around 2000.
The mall has been renovated twice, in 1985 and again in 1998. The mall is currently owned by Imperial Realty, who purchased it from original owners Landuau & Heyman Inc. in the fall of 1985. As part of the 1998 renovation, the mall was renamed Belvidere Discount Mall.
A 1,000 seat movie theater opened at the mall in January 1966. It was originally operated by General Cinema, and acquired around 2002 by Village Theaters, the same owners of the nearby Lakehurst Cinema. It began as a one-screen operation, and was later divided into two, and then four, screens. Village closed the cinema in 2004 or 2005.
Today Belvidere Mall differs from Lake County's other shopping malls, Gurnee Mills
and Hawthorn Center because all of the tenants, except for The Home Depot
, are family-owned. Nearly all of them are Hispanic
-owned or Hispanic-oriented.
Waukegan, Illinois
Waukegan is a city and county seat of Lake County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 87,901. The 2010 population was 89,078. It is the ninth-largest city in Illinois by population...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was one of the first shopping malls in the Chicago metropolitan area, and the first enclosed mall in Lake County
Lake County, Illinois
Lake County is a county in the northeastern corner of the state of Illinois, on the shore of Lake Michigan. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 703,462, which is an increase of 9.2% from 644,356 in 2000. Its county seat is Waukegan. The county is part of the Chicago metropolitan area...
. Its current main anchor store
Anchor store
In retail, an anchor store, draw tenant, anchor tenant, or key tenant is one of the larger stores in a shopping mall, usually a department store or a major retail chain....
is a Home Depot. The mall is notable for reinventing itself over time to remain open, with a current store mix primarily aimed at Hispanics.
History
Belvidere opened on November 18, 1965 and was Lake County's first enclosed shopping mall. At its opening, it contained 35 stores and 300000 square feet (27,870.9 m²).While the mall thrived at first, the opening of the much larger nearby Lakehurst Mall
Lakehurst Mall
Lakehurst Mall was the first regional shopping complex in the northern Chicago suburb county of Lake County. It was built in 1971 to service the growing town of Waukegan, the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, and eventually the far northern suburban sprawl of Chicago...
in 1971 put a serious dent in Belvidere's fortunes. In 1988, sole anchor Montgomery Ward left for Lakehurst. After about seven years of being empty, Builders Square
Builders Square
Builders Square was founded as a big-box home improvement retailer headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. A subsidiary of Kmart, its format was quite similar to Home Depot, Menards and Lowe's with floor space of about . Builder's Square.com, Inc. has its headquarters in Edison, New Jersey...
occupied the anchor spot in 1995, and was replaced with Home Depot around 2000.
The mall has been renovated twice, in 1985 and again in 1998. The mall is currently owned by Imperial Realty, who purchased it from original owners Landuau & Heyman Inc. in the fall of 1985. As part of the 1998 renovation, the mall was renamed Belvidere Discount Mall.
A 1,000 seat movie theater opened at the mall in January 1966. It was originally operated by General Cinema, and acquired around 2002 by Village Theaters, the same owners of the nearby Lakehurst Cinema. It began as a one-screen operation, and was later divided into two, and then four, screens. Village closed the cinema in 2004 or 2005.
Today Belvidere Mall differs from Lake County's other shopping malls, Gurnee Mills
Gurnee Mills
Gurnee Mills is an indoor mall, established in Gurnee, Illinois. It's located about halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a 40 minute drive either way, and near Six Flags Great America. It is a single-level Z-shaped mall. At of gross leasable area, it is the fourth largest mall in...
and Hawthorn Center because all of the tenants, except for The Home Depot
The Home Depot
The Home Depot is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products and services.The Home Depot operates 2,248 big-box format stores across the United States , Canada , Mexico and China, with a 12-store chain...
, are family-owned. Nearly all of them are Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
-owned or Hispanic-oriented.