Meridian Mall

J. W. Knapp filed for bankruptcy in 1980 and sold all three of its shopping mall stores (in Meridian Mall, Lansing Mall, and Jackson's Westwood Mall) to JCPenney.[8] A new wing was added to the south end of Meridian Mall in 1982, bringing in the Detroit-based Hudson's as a third anchor.[9] New tenants in the Hudson's wing included several clothing stores and a Foot Locker, while the existing mall was refurbished with new planters, flooring, seating, skylights, and canopies over the mall entrances.[10] Later in 1982, the F. W. Woolworth Company closed all stores in the Woolco division, and in 1983, the vacated Woolco space was subdivided for a 50,000-square-foot (4,600 m²) Service Merchandise catalog showroom, a food court, and a mall corridor with space for up to fifteen more tenants. Among these tenants was a local 18,000-square-foot (1,700 m²) men's clothing and sporting goods store known as B. Altman's.[11] A 1987 expansion added another new wing ending in a Mervyn's department store. The store opened concurrently with seven others in the state, one of which was located at Lansing Mall, as part of the chain's introduction to Michigan.[12] This addition at Meridian Mall included more than ten new storefronts, including Lerner New York (now known as New York & Company), LensCrafters, Babbage's (now known as GameStop), and new locations for Gantos and County Seat.[13]

Meridian Mall side entrance from west end of building

By 1993, expansions at Lansing Mall had created significant competition between the two malls; that year, the approximately 60 businesses had stores at both malls, and 40 unique to each.[14] One of the few renovations to Meridian Mall during the 1990s came in 1995, when Hobie's restaurant was removed from the food court to accommodate more seating.[15] Additions in 1996 included Abercrombie & Fitch, Select Comfort, and the first Kirkland's home furnishings store in Michigan.[16]

On August 27, 1998, CBL & Associates Properties (now known as CBL Properties) acquired Meridian Mall.[17][18] Immediately afterward, several new tenants joined the mall, including The Children's Place, Mrs. Fields, Braun's Fashions (now known as Christopher & Banks), and the first Ann Taylor and Old Navy stores in the Lansing area.[19] Service Merchandise closed its Meridian Mall store in early 1999.[20] A $20 million mall renovation began in 2000, which added new floor tiles, skylights, seating areas, and restrooms, along with many new stores.[21] One of the key tenants in this renovation plan was a two-story Jacobson's department store, which opened in early 2000 on the former site of Service Merchandise, and replaced an existing Jacobson's in downtown East Lansing.[22] In addition, Bed Bath & Beyond built a store in the same wing, the food court was relocated to center court, and the Hudson's was expanded by 50,000 square feet (4,600 m²).[23] Shortly after receiving the expansion, Hudson's was renamed to Marshall Field's when parent company Target Corporation began consolidating the names of its department stores.[24] The new food court opened in November 2000, with restaurants including A&W, Sbarro, Olga's Kitchen, Panda Express, and Arby's. The remaining restaurants from the old food court stayed until year's end,[25] when that space was removed for Schuler Books & Music, replacing their previous location across the street.[26] Galyan's, a sporting goods store based out of Indiana, opened next to the new food court in 2002.[21] Coinciding with the addition of these stores, the mall also added Suncoast Motion Picture Company, Steve & Barry's, Hollister Co., and an AT&T Wireless store, while Bailey Banks & Biddle, MC Sports, and several locally-owned stores closed.[27] The site occupied by Galyan's was originally to have been occupied by a new multiplex theater, but this was canceled due to concerns that major theater chains were overbuilding.[28] Prior to the renovation, both of the existing theaters in the mall had closed: Meridian East 4 in December 1999,[29] and Meridian West 4 in July 2000.[30]

Jacobson's declared bankruptcy in 2002 and closed.[31] A year later, its building was tenanted by Younkers,[2] which also opened at Lansing Mall the same year. Due to space limitations in the old Jacobson's, Younkers operated its men's and children's departments in a newly-created, adjacent storefront. This expansion displaced the mall offices, which operated out of a temporary location in the Mervyns wing for a short time, until the Steve & Barry's store was relocated to the JCPenney wing and the previous location was remodeled into a new mall office.[32]

In 2004, Dick's Sporting Goods acquired and renamed all of the Galyan's stores.[33] Two more changes came to the mall's anchors in 2006; first, in early 2006, Mervyn's closed all of its Michigan stores, and later the same year, Marshall Field's was one of several chains to be acquired and renamed by Macy's.[34] Younkers expanded its presence at the mall in mid-2008 by moving its men's clothing, children's clothing, and furniture departments into the vacated Mervyn's space, while retaining women's clothing and accessories at the existing store. This two-store concept, referred to by parent company The Bon-Ton as a "dual anchor", alleviated the congested layout of the existing store, while allowing a greater variety of merchandise to be offered between the two locations.[35] Steve & Barry's closed at the mall in September 2008.[36]

The former Meridian Mall Outer 6 AMC movie theater on the mall's periphery closed its doors on September 5, 2011. The theater reopened in December 2012 as Studio C!, offering drinks and made-to-order food ordered and served at patrons' seats.[37] In late 2013, plans were approved to add H&M and Gordmans to the mall sometime in 2014. Planet Fitness and Shoe Carnival both opened in the Macy's wing in late 2013.[38][39] On April 29, 2017, Gordmans closed their Meridian Mall location due to bankruptcy.[40] Launch Trampoline Park was announced as its replacement in mid-2018.[41] The Bon-Ton filed for bankruptcy in mid-2018, and began liquidation of all its stores, including both Younkers locations at Meridian Mall.[42] In mid-2019, High Caliber Karting and Entertainment announced that it would open in the former Younkers Men's & Home store.[43] In early 2020, Old Navy closed, and High Caliber plans to expand into the resulting vacancy.[44]

On June 23, 2020, JCPenney announced that it would be closing as part of a plan to close 13 stores nationwide after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[45] However, JCPenney cancelled the store's closing in early July.[46]