Randhurst: The Original Indoor Mall and Its Rebuild
When Randhurst opened in Mount Prospect in 1962, it was the first enclosed mall in Illinois and, briefly, the largest in the world. How it rose, faded, and came back as Randhurst Village.
Before Woodfield, there was Randhurst. When it opened in Mount Prospect on August 16, 1962, it was the first enclosed shopping center in Illinois and, for a short time, the largest enclosed mall in the world.
The design
Randhurst was designed by Victor Gruen, the Austrian-born architect credited with inventing the modern enclosed mall. He'd opened Southdale near Minneapolis six years earlier. At Randhurst, Gruen built a giant equilateral triangle with a dome in the center and department stores anchoring the points.
At about a million square feet and fully air-conditioned, it was one of the largest air-conditioned spaces in the country at the time. For suburban families in the early '60s, being able to shop all day in shirt sleeves in the middle of a Chicago winter was a big deal.
The glory years
Randhurst was a destination for decades. People remember the dome, the fountains, the department stores, and the shops and restaurants that came and went over the years. For many families in the northwest suburbs, it was where you bought school clothes, saw Santa and met friends.
The fade
As bigger malls opened nearby (Woodfield in Schaumburg in 1971 among them), Randhurst slowly lost its spot. Stores changed hands, anchors closed, and the mall began to look its age. By the 2000s, the original layout was outdated and traffic had dropped.
The rebuild
Instead of letting it die, the owners went the other way. Most of the old enclosed mall was demolished starting in 2009, and the site was rebuilt as Randhurst Village, an open-air shopping center with a movie theater, restaurants and a hotel.
What happened to Carson's
Carson Pirie Scott was one of Chicago's great department store names. Its parent company, Bon-Ton, went bankrupt in 2018, and every Carson's store closed that year.
Why Randhurst matters
Randhurst was the start of the Chicagoland mall era. Every enclosed mall in the suburbs since, from Woodfield to the ones that are now gone, followed the model that opened in Mount Prospect in 1962. And Randhurst was one of the first to try a second act when the mall model faded.
For another mall that didn't get a second act, see Dixie Square Mall.
Sources (3)
Mount Prospect Historical Society: Randhurst Mall in the 1960s; Crain's Chicago Business: At 50, Randhurst Mall celebrates a second coming; Daily Herald: Memories of Randhurst at 60.
Photo: Carson Pirie Scott, Randhurst Mall by jonrev (talk) at en.wikipedia, Public domain.