Maple Hill Mall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Maple Hill Pavilion (formerly Maple Hill Mall) | |
 Main entrance to former Maple Hill Mall, 2004 |
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| Mall facts and statistics | |
|---|---|
| Location | Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States |
| Opening date | Maple Hill Mall - 1971 Maple Hill Pavilion - 2004 |
| Management | Kimco Realty |
| Owner | Kimco Realty |
| No. of stores and services | Former mall - approx. 70 Pavilion - approx. 20 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 8 |
| Total retail floor area | Former mall - 641,625 sq.ft. Pavilion - 296,093 sq.ft. |
| No. of floors | 1 |
Maple Hill Mall was an enclosed mall serving the city of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Maple Hill Mall became a dead mall after the demise of several of its anchor stores, and has since been re-developed as a strip mall.
Contents |
[edit] History
Maple Hill Mall opened in 1971 on West Main Street (M-43) on the northwestern side of Kalamazoo. Early 1970s Kalamazoo Gazette articles indicate that Maple Hill was originally to be called "Kalamazoo Mall", but this caused a stir among Kalamazoo residents, because the downtown pedestrian mall (Burdick Mall) was often referred to as "Kalamazoo Mall". The developers of Maple Hill sought suggestions from the public, and hundreds were submitted by mail. The name "Maple Hill" was agreed upon shortly before the mall's opening.
Originally anchoring the mall were Montgomery Ward, as well as three local department stores - Steketee's, Wurzburg's (both based in nearby Grand Rapids) and Gilmore Brothers.[1] A combination Turn Style/Jewel Food Stores was located next to Wurzburg's, but was detached from the mall.
Despite the opening of The Crossroads in 1981, the older Maple Hill Mall remained viable, even containing many of the same tenants as The Crossroads. In the mid 1980s, Turn Style closed and was replaced with Meijer Square[1], a failed concept store of Grand Rapids-based superstore chain Meijer. Meijer Square was strictly a discount department store, lacking the full-line grocery section normally found at Meijer stores.
Eventually, Jewel Foods moved across the street to replace JCPenney at West Main Mall; Meijer then expanded into the former Jewel space, converting the "Square" store to a regular Meijer. Shortly after Meijer's arrival, Wurzburg's closed; the former Wurzburg's was then converted to mall space, allowing the Meijer store to connect to the mall itself. By the early 1990s, Meijer re-located outside the mall; the old location was demolished and replaced with Target.
Gilmore Brothers closed in 1995[2]. The former Gilmore Brothers became mall space. Montgomery Ward and Steketee's closed in 2000 and 2003, respectively.[3] Without the draw of its anchor stores, the mall lost customer traffic and many inline tenants.
Several big box tenants were opened in the late 1990s and early 2000s to fill the increasing number of vacancies. Among these stores were Dunham's Sports, Old Navy, Office Max and Marshalls. Both Dunham's Sports and Old Navy lasted only a couple years in the mall, however. Kimco Realty acquired the dying mall in 2003, with plans for renovation. Value City Furniture and Hobby Lobby opened in 2004, each taking half of the former Montgomery Ward. Immediately prior to demolition, only four inline tenants remained - GNC, Dollar Tree, Regis Hairsylists and Glamour Nails (a nail salon).
[edit] Maple Hill Pavilion
Kimco began demolition on the mall in summer of 2004. The mall's anchor stores were all left standing, as was a Secretary of State office next to Target. After demoliton was complete, a new strip mall called Maple Hill Pavilion was built connecting the remaining spaces. GNC, Regis, Dollar Tree, and Glamour Nails all opened new locations in the strip. Since the opening of the strip mall, PetSmart, Rue 21[4], Pier One Imports, GameStop, and DSW Shoe Warehouse have also opened[5]. In 2006, the Value City Furniture store was re-named Rooms Today.
[edit] Trivia
- Maple Hill Mall was built directly across the street from an older mall, West Main Mall, which opened in 1969. West Main Mall featured W. T. Grant (later JCPenney), Jo-Ann Fabrics, Kroger, and Federal Department Store (later Zayre), as well as a movie theater. West Main Mall, which saw several anchor stores change over time, was shuttered and demolished in the mid-1990s, except for the former W. T. Grant building (which now houses a Kohl's).
- The Meijer store at Maple Hill was the only Meijer store known to be located in an enclosed shopping mall.
- Storetrax data indicate that a Texas Roadhouse and a big box bookstore (most likely Borders or Barnes & Noble) were planned for Maple Hill Mall in the early 2000s, and the Storetrax lease plan even indicates space for these stores. For some reason, these stores never opened.
[edit] Current Anchors
[edit] Former Anchors
- Dunham's Sports
- Gilmore Brothers (closed 1995)
- Jewel Foods (torn down in early 1990s for Target)
- Meijer Square (torn down in early 1990s for Target)
- Montgomery Ward (closed 2001; split between Value City Furniture and Hobby Lobby)
- Old Navy (torn down, Dollar Tree on site)
- Rite Aid
- Steketee's (closed 2003)
- Turn Style (later Meijer Square)
- Value City Furniture (now Rooms Today)
- Wurzburg's
[edit] References
- ^ a b http://www.angelfire.com/mi4/forgottenmi/maplehill.html
- ^ Rootsweb.com: Kalamazoo Co. History, Page 6 http://www.rootsweb.com/~mikalama/kalamazoohistory2d.htm#GILMORE%20BROTHERS
- ^ MiBiz - Michigan's Business Advocate: Sometimes smaller is better in world of Kalamazoo retail http://mibiz.com/absolutenm/templates/template.asp?articleid=2235&zoneid=34
- ^ http://www.mlive.com/weblogs/print.ssf?/mtlogs/mlive_kalgazlive/archives/print161139.html
- ^ http://www.angelfire.com/mi4/forgottenmi/maplehill.html Maple Hill Mall on Forgotten Michigan
