Southlake Mall (Indiana)

Southlake Mall is a shopping mall in Hobart, Indiana that is marketed as being in Merrillville, Indiana, due primarily to being served by the 46410 postal Zip Code. The tract of land on which it sits was annexed by the city of Hobart from unincorporated Ross Township in 1993. It lies in the Chicago metropolitan area. Southlake Mall is the only enclosed super regional mall in Northwest Indiana, as well as one of largest in the state overall along with Castleton Square in Indianapolis and Glenbrook Square in Fort Wayne. The mall's anchor stores are Kohl's, JCPenney, Macy's, H&M, and Forever 21. There are three vacant anchors stores that were once Dick's Sporting Goods, Carson Pirie Scott, and Sears. The Macy's store was an L. S. Ayres store prior to September 9, 2006. The mall first opened with only two anchor stores – JCPenney and Sears – and the north and south anchor wings were added later. The former Carson's had housed the cafeteria-style "The Garden Restaurant" by the entrance near the security garage on the south side of the mall from 1975 to 1989.

Southlake Mall
LocationHobart, Indiana, United States
Coordinates41.468418°N 87.310939°W / 41.468418; -87.310939
Address2109 Southlake Mall
Opening date1974
DeveloperRichard E. Jacobs Group
ManagementStarwood Capital Group
OwnerStarwood Retail Partners
No. of stores and services148
No. of anchor tenants9 (6 open, 3 vacant)
Total retail floor area1,300,000 sq ft (120,000 m2)
No. of floors2
Public transit accessBus interchange GPTC
Websiteshoppingsouthlakemall.com

History

Richard E. Jacobs's Jacobs Visconsi Jacobs group built the mall in 1974.[1] The company put it up for sale in 1999, but it was not purchased until 2002 by The Westfield Group,[2] who renamed it Westfield Shoppingtown Southlake, and again to Westfield Southlake.

On March 12, 1993, a 2-level Kohl's officially opened nearby in the mall's parking lot.[3] Target Greatland opened east of Sears on October 6, 1993.[4] The Home Depot then opened in the east corner of the parking lot on July 27, 1995.[5]

Westfield Southlake underwent a significant expansion in 2006 that added Dick's Sporting Goods and a Borders bookstore, as well as several structures in the mall's outlot areas, including a 12-screen AMC theater, a Fifth Third Bank branch, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Potbelly Sandwich Works, Red Robin, and Buffalo Wild Wings.

In July 2011, Borders Group announced it would be closing all of its stores by the end of September due to Chapter 7 Bankruptcy liquidation, including the Southlake Mall location. After Borders was closed, it became Books-A-Million.

Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurants opened in August 2012.[6]

On November 10, 2012, a group of teens ranging from age 14 to 16 were arrested after an altercation with another group of teens. One of the teens shot a 7.62×25mm Tokarev into the ceiling, which caused the gun to jam. The mall was shut down after the shooting and resumed business on November 11, 2012.[7]

Carson Pirie Scott wing at Westfield Southlake

Specialty discount retailer rue21 opened a store in the JCPenney wing in March 2013.

Westfield Group sold the mall and several others to Starwood Capital in September 2013. As part of the sale, the mall's name reverted to Southlake Mall.[8]

Books-A-Million relocated in 2014[9] and the old location became Forever 21 the same year.[10] H&M opened at Southlake Mall in the same wing in 2015.[11]

On April 18, 2018, Carson's announced it would be closing as parent company The Bon-Ton Stores was going out of business. The store closed on August 29, 2018.[12]

On August 6, 2019, Sears announced that it would also be closing as part of a plan to close 26 stores nationwide. The store closed on November 10, 2019.[13] The company had previously, on April 12, 2018, put the building up for sale.[14]

On September 21, 2021, Dick's Sporting Goods announced it would move out of the mall and relocate to an off mall location across the street at the Crossings at Hobart.[15]

On November 3, 2022, CubeWork, a flexible workspace and warehouse company, announced that they would be converting the vacant Carson Pirie Scott space into pop-up retail space, co-working offices, and sports events space. The concept opened on November 15, 2022.[16]

On November 25, 2022, Kids Empire, an indoor playground and party zone, announced that they would be filling a portion of the former Dick's Sporting Goods.[17]

References
  1. "Mall Developer David Jocobs". Post-Tribune. September 19, 1992. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
  2. McCollum, Carmen (March 15, 2002). "Closing on Southlake Mall sale delayed". Northwest Indiana Times. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
  3. Falzone, Kris (February 9, 1993). "Kohl's gears up: Retailer readies for March 12 opening". The Times. p. 23. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  4. Falzone, Kris (August 5, 1993). "Target sets sights on more workers". The Times. p. 42. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  5. "Home Depot opens in Hobart". The Times.
  6. "Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant debuts in Northwest Indiana".
  7. "Police: 3 teens arrested in mall shooting; fourth suspect sought". Northwest Indiana Times. November 10, 2012. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  8. Pete, Joseph (September 16, 2013). "Westfield sells Southlake Mall to new owner". Northwest Indiana Times. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
  9. Pete, Joseph S. "Books-A-Million closes its Southlake Mall store, will relocate". Northwest Indiana Times.
  10. Pete, Joseph (September 11, 2014). "Forever 21 coming to Southlake Mall". Northwest Indiana Times. Retrieved September 12, 2014.
  11. Pete, Joseph S. Pete. "H&M to open Southlake Mall store next month". Northwest Indiana Times.
  12. Pete, Joseph S. "Carson's to close in Southlake Mall, Hammond and Michigan City". Northwest Indiana Times. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  13. "Update: Sears to close Southlake Mall store, its last department store in NWI, after 45 years". Northwest Indiana Times.
  14. "Update: Southlake Mall Sears building put up for sale". Northwest Indiana Times.
  15. Pete, Joseph S. "Dick's Sporting Goods exiting Southlake Mall to move across the street in loss of another anchor". Northwest Indiana Times. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  16. "Southlake Mall Carson's being transformed into pop-up retail, co-working mall, sports and events space".
  17. "Massive Kids Empire playground and party zone coming to Dick's Sporting Goods space at Southlake Mall".
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