Stores Forever

April 18 th 1979, The night of the FIRE at Elmwood Plaza

2009-04-14T13:01:00.000-07:00

The day the mall burned.
April 18th 2006 was the 27th anniversary of a day I will always remember. It was the day my mall burned. I was a teenager and like all teens, going to the mall known as Elmwood Plaza was the center of my life at that time. Since it had been built in 1957, Elmwood Plaza was old and a little rundown. It had two department stores which were J. C. Penney and Goldblatts. It was the Goldblatts that would be ravaged by the fire. It was during Easter break and I had spent the whole day there with my friend Jim. We started with lunch at Burger King and later walked around the plaza all afternoon and ended our day at the Zayre across the street. Then we went home for dinner. We couldn't have been gone for more than a hour when the tragedy struck. The fire started in the Goldblatts beauty salon and spread through the first floor of the store. My family had dinner at Denneys and later on that evening as we were heading home, we saw fire trucks racing to a fire. my father was working a part time job at that time and wood drop us off at home we were settling in for the evening of watching tv when dad called and said ther had to be a big fire on our side of town because the fire trucks were coming from the north side . With that information, I got on my bike and started looking to see if I could find the fire and was very shocked to see it was Goldblatts. I still can feel the chill in my back as I stood there and watched that big black smoke cloud rise from the store. It would be November before things were back to normal there and we would be once again able to shop at Goldblatts. Unfortunately, the store would close two years later because Goldblatts had gone bakrupt. The building that once housed Goldblatts would sit empty for almost 20 years until a supermarket would take it's place. Most of the other stores would close or move to the bigger and newer Regency Mall down the street. The old plaza has been redone and is now more of a neighberhood center with the supermarket as its main store.

Elmwood Plaza Racine WI.

2009-04-14T11:01:00.000-07:00

Opened in October of 1957, the new Elmwood plaza shopping Center was one of Wisconsin's largest. The plaza as locals call it was a true regional center at it's beginning and it had over 30 stores including two department stores . The anchors were the Goldblatts department store which was a chain from Chicago and the J C Penney Co. It was Penney's second store in Racine and the chain would operate 2 Racine stores until both were merged into one in the 1980s. The plaza also had a Kroger food store and a S.S. Kresge Co . variety store and even housed a local drug store chain called the Red
cross Drug Co. The plaza had a strong mix of local and national stores that were big at the time. They included three sister stores: Kinney shoes, Richmans men's store, well known locals including Feiges, The Leader Store , and Lepp & Co. There were other stores as well that many would come and go as the years passed but because of the great location and the centers popularity, it never had a vacancy problem. Elmwood Plaza enjoyed market dominance until the opening of Regency Mall in 1981. The first big changes happened with the closing of Kroger which would be replaced by a Goodwill store that would eventually become a Whitlock auto supply. The next change at the plaza would be Kresge which survived the opening of the local Kmart and would get re branded Jupiter, a store I would say would compare to a Family Dollar store of today. Jupiter wasn't the only change at Elmwood Plaza as Red Cross would close the plaza store and it would later become a Jamb Discount beauty supply store. The biggest changes came with the opening of Regency Mall in 1981. Most of the stores including J C Penney would move to the mall at the same time. Goldblatts would go into bankruptcy and would close the Racine store leaving the plaza what today we call a dead mall by the year 2000. However, things looked much better after 20 years of nothing and Goldblatts would finally be replaced by Racine Produce giving the center a new anchor. As the small stores filled in quickly, the new owners of the center remodeled it with a new canopy and store fronts as well as a new sign and landscaping. With the exception of today's economy causing some problems, the plaza is again alive and well even though it is known more as a neighborhood center than the regional power it once was.

its the holiday 2008

2008-12-25T08:58:00.000-08:00

Hello one and all. It has been a season that has almost killed me this year. The Wal-Mart that i work in is one hard store.So what im trying to say is that ,i did not get a chance to much of anything other than work theses last few monthts.i did get to do the anual trip downtown chicago to see the stores this year so for the holiday this year i will show you the sights of macys state st.
happy hollidays everyone
from storesforever

Old Randhurst Mall Mt. Prospect Il.

2008-10-06T12:14:00.000-07:00

Know that Randhurst is closed ,I thought that i should post the photos,from my first visit there. I also am posting the anchor stores as they changed trough the years.Hope you enjoy them.

Randhurst mall Mt.Prospect Il. RIP Sep.30th 2008

2008-09-19T09:38:00.000-07:00

The Randhurst mall will close for good on Sep.30 th , many things have already been written about its past and can be seen on Labelscar.com and deadmalls.com so i don't want to do a repeat of that but take a more personal look at the mall and what it meant to me and how it fit into my life.The first time i ever herd of Randhurst was when i was in high school. I was doing a paper on urban planing for one of my classes and while going through old books in the library i found a book that talked about Randhurst. it said that Randhurst was one of the most innovative mall to date.It also said it had been the largest built at the time of its opening in 1962. I talked my parents into taking me there so in the spring of 1982 i wood walk though the doors for the first time. with my camera in hand ( i will post those photos soon ) . Through the years since, I wood come and go through there doors many many times. I saw Weibolds close and Bergners open. Wood see Mainstreet come and then become Kohls. Wood see Carsons move to Bergners building and then JCPennys open only to close latter. Spiess wood come and go . Oh what a fantastic store that was just to high end for Randhurst. Then Wards wood go that store was first the Fair Store . Kohls wood move down the street leaving only Carsons in the mall. Wards and kohls and jcpennys stores wood come down and be replaced by Cosco . with only one big problem no mall entrance and not a mall door near the new store . All i have to say is why did that do that?I wood move to Ill. In my 20s i wood move to Chicago and wood work at Randhurst as the assistant manager of the Bombay co. store there, I wood spend many years working There before becoming manager at the Spring hill store. So I want to not only say good buy to Randhurst but to the many people that I met their though the years , Nancy, George, Carson, Anita, Jay, Larry and all the people i worked with . Also a thanks to all the food court workers, mall security and most of all the customers who shopped us and keep ed us there fore as long as they could. Thank you to all and best wishes to the new randhurst village coming spring 2010 you know i will be there with my camera in hand on opening day
john

Burlington Coat Factory Regency Mall Racine Wi.

2008-09-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

The new Burlington Coat Factory is now open at Regency Mall. It fill the vacant Bergners store (see first post on Regency Mall) . I know that Meany of you mall people feel that Burlington is the kiss of death for most malls , i fell that this is a good fit for Regency it returns this building to its full use and brings a forth anchor back to the mall. Unless something happens to Sears i see Regency staying this way for a long time to come. The photos were taken on opening day at about 11 am 8-29-08. so it shows the store at what will probably.

Zahns department store Racine Wi. update

2008-08-23T10:09:00.000-07:00

Hello John,

I came across your Zahn's Department Store page while searching on the web. I am the great great grandson of Edward Zahn, who founded the store. I grew up in Racine (but now live in California).

Thank you so much for your page. That store meant a lot to many people. Unfortunately it closed when I was 11 years old, so I never really appreciated it like older people did.

I'm curious, where were you able to find all those photos? Many of those I have never seen before, and my family has many old photos. The Zahn's Food Shop photo was very interesting; I'd not seen that before.

If you'd like to see more photos, I have some other ones posted at my Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ited/sets/72157600236816713/

Thanks again,
Ted Zahn

Thank You Mr.Zahn your email means a lot to me . i also thought that i wood add a few Zahns things that i had saved through the years.

Westfair Mall West Bend Wi.

2008-08-23T09:42:00.000-07:00

I don't really know any thing about this mall.What I do know is it had Shopko on one end and Prescotts Food Store on the other it also was vary small with only 12 to 15 stores in it. The mall closed when Shopko moved to a larger store across the street. today the mall is a Pic n Save food store.

2008-08-07T17:26:00.001-07:00

Old Market Square Kenosha Wi.

2008-07-31T16:47:00.000-07:00

Old Market Square Mall came to life in late 1981 or early 1982 in a building that had been vacant for several years that was once a Topps Department Store. The malls anchor store, so to speak, was the Market Square Theatres which was a twin movie theatre at that back of the mall. In line stores accounted for the rest of the space. There were maybe twenty to twenty-five stores most of which were never occupied. The only chain that I am aware of to ever be in the mall was Merle Norman Cosmetics. The rest of the stores were small mom and pop which were mostly gift orientated stores. There was a video arcade near the theatre. The mall would close in stages becoming the Kenosha Job Training Center and local job service offices. The theatres would be the last to close, doing so in the late nineties.

The Stores and Malls of Johannesburg South Africa

2008-07-17T15:10:00.000-07:00

I thought that I would change the posting a little bit by posting some photos taken by ex-coworker and friend Julian Cohn. Mr. Cohn now resides in the northern Chicago suburbs but was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. When Mr. Cohn returned home for a visit, he took the pictures for me at that time. The photos include several of South Africa's largest retailers and malls.

Major retailers scene:

1. Pick N Pay Hypermarkets
2. Woolworth's Departments Stores "not associated with F.W. Woolworths"
3. Checkers Supermarket
4. Edgars Department Stores
5. Okay Bizarres
6. Jet Department Store
7. Sales House Department Stores

Malls scene:

1. Balfour Park Mall
2. Killarney Mall
3. Sandton City Mall
4. Eastgate Mall
5. Downtown Johannesburg
6. Town of Delmas, South Africa " a town that is 35 miles east of Johannesburg"

Thank You Mr. Cohn for your pictures. Please forward any comments on this section.

Zahns department store Racine Wi.

2008-07-07T09:38:00.000-07:00

This is how it all began for me Zahns. When I was a small kid my family wood go to downtown Racine every Friday night this was the only nitre the stores were open. i remember how dig Zahns was and how the large post were so big and round and the walkways lined with counters and tables. that look that feeling i knew that retail was for me. and 40 years latter here i am with my own blog on malls and stores who wood have thought such a thing wood be possible.

As for Zahns it began in 1898 with a small shop a move to a much larger store wood happen in 1916. that store at 436 main st. wood latter be come a part of Racine's woolworths.In 1925 the store wood move to 500 monument sq. it wood be its last home and its largest 4 floors and a full basement there wood also be a store next to the main store latter known as the annex it wood house the Zahns food store. the store wood have all the features of its big city revels including a restaurant and budget store in the basement. the store wood be remodeled several times through the years with the most extensive renovation hapening in the 1950s mr. Zahn wood sell the store to the Goldstine fammily. Thay wood then in turn sell the store to Chandlar Copp he wood remodel the store for one last time in the end of the 70s . he also wood eliminate several departments and close the basement and forth floor in 1981 with presher mounting for him to pay back lones to the bank mr Copp wood file bankruptcy and close for good just before Regency Mall wood open it was the start of the end for that era of downtown Racine retail.

Westgate Mall Racine Wi.

2008-07-03T14:59:00.000-07:00

The story of Westgate Mall con not be told without talking first about Turn-Style discount department stores. The site of the mall Had been the Turnstyle store and the Westgate outdoor theater. Turn Style and a Jewel food store were built in front of the theater in 1962 . jewel food stores owned Turn- style and racine was the first store in the mid west for the co. It also had a Osco drug store in the Turn- style store. It wood be Remolded in the early 1970s and the Jewel wood Be converted to Big E foods a Test concept for Jewel in 1978 Jewel wood sell the Turn-style division to Venture stores of stlouis . Venture did not want to enter the Wisconsin market and sold the store to Shopko stores of Green Bay the theater was not doing well by this time and was kind of odd to be right in the middle of a city so the property owner and Shopko decided to build Westgate Mall. shopko wood anchor one end and Sentry Foods the other. in the middle wood be local women's retailer Eitles witch wood move from downtown. the first problem arose when sentry pulled out with no reason given then Eitles decided to relocate to Regency Mall that itself was just being built westgate also had problems finding tenants do to Regency being only two miles away. sentry wood be replaced with Randalls county market.
shopko opened first in nov of 1979 the mall wood open the next spring with only one in line store and Randalls wood soon open the Eitles spot wood be taken by a retailer called the Gamut it was a sportting good art supply store with some clothing in the mix a vary odd first big box type store. during the next few years the stores wood come and go with the peek occupancy being about 70%. the Gamut wood close and Randalls wood take that spot but wood not have a mall entrance and that killed that end of the mall. it just went down hill from there. Then Randalls closed just as a wal-mart super center opened mall dies and closes . now it is being de malled and converted into a strip mall with dollar stores and junk like that but one store remains from the beginning and does well that is shopko thr retailers are now moving farther west or by Regency Mall so time will tell how this story ends i hope thay can find stores for the strip and clean it up a bit it is a good neighborhood and dose not need this type of blight.

Steve & Berrys

2008-07-01T09:58:00.000-07:00

Just heard that Steve&Barrrys may close 100 or more stores, and may even close all together. This is the Old Orchard store in the chicago aria. will have to see what happens to them . maybe thay grew to fast we have all seen it before.

REGENCY MALL RACINE WI.

2008-06-23T10:13:00.000-07:00

I grew up in Racine , when i was a kid we had to go to Milwaukee or Ill. ti shop. then in 1981 the mall as locals call it opened I was in high school and Finley had a mall. i will do a sort of time line of this mall to give you a idea how things went the mall is still alive and Farlay well today though there has been a lot of changes and one anchor spot has had seven different signs on it through the years this is the story.
1. talk of mall first happened in 1970
2. Boston Store signs on as anchor
3. Economy tanks no mall for now
4. Mall is put back on table in late 70's
5. Ground broke in 1979
6. Mall to be named Racine Mall.
7. Surrounding towns object to name developer changes name to Regency Mall
8. Regency opens Aug 5 th 1981 with most inline stores plus Boston Store Bergner-Wise and Target
9. J.C.penney openes in sept. 1981 replacing downtown and Elmwood Plaza store in Racine as well as downtown Kenosha store
10. Sears opens in 1982
11. Bergner drops Wise name
12. P.A.Bergner co. buys Boston Store in 1985 sells Bergners to H.C.Prange Co.
13. 1992. Pranges is sold to Younkers - Boston Store is now part of carson pire scott
14. carsons buys Younkers and converts Younkers store to a Boston Store for Home
15. CLB buys regency Boston Store for home is closed
16 Talbets and Jos. A Bank open with outside doors a first for mall
17. Steve and Barrys opens in old bergner building mall remodled
18. space is created for new Linens and things store
19. Steve and Barrys moves to smaller spot in mall and repens spring 2008
20. Burlington Coat Factory will open in fall 2008 in ols Steve and Berrys space will use whole building
21. Linens and Things files bankruptcy and will close Regency store
this is
a quick history of the Mall as i remember it. hope that linens gets new filled fast will keep you all posted.

EASTTOWN SQ. MALL,MILWAUKEE WI

2008-06-15T21:51:00.000-07:00

The Easttown Sq. mall is a small mall with about 25 upscale boutique's retailers and one restaurant. The malls target customer is women with a higher than average income.I wood guess that there are people in Milwaukee that have never heard of this mall. It is in a affluent northern suburbs and some what hard to find it took me three trys before i was able to find it. i wood say it is worth a stop and look but don't plan on a whole day there maybe 30min. combine it with another place to shop and you will have a great day.

FAMOUS DEPARTMENT STORE LIQUIDATIONS DEERFIELD IL.

2008-06-12T15:16:00.000-07:00

Hello to all! Welcome to my new blog. Hope you like it. This will be dedicated to department stores and malls. I would like to let every one know I do have a grammar and spelling problem do to a learning disability, that I have had sense I was a kid so please excuse my mistakes.

My first entry will be about a short lived store in Deerfield IL. It was named famous department store liquidations. It was opened for the sole purpose of liquidating the inventory of the McRaes department store from Edgewater mall in Boloxi Ms. that was damaged by hurricane Katrina. The store was operated by the Hudson capitol co. and was only opened for 4 months I had the personal pleasure of working there for the whole event. the building had been occupied by the great indoors by sears I worked there for several months prior to there closing and was offered the job after TGI closed have lots of photos let me know what you think.