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Description
The Springfield Mall in Springfield, Springfield’s State, officially opened on July 21st 1974 with JCPenney and Rike’s as anchors. There’s also a twin-screen General Cinema movie theatre in the mall. Rike’s would eventually become Shillito-Rike's in 1982, and then Lazarus in 1986. Meanwhile, Old Springfield Mall, which by then had renamed as Carlton Center Mall, had Sears, Montgomery Ward, L S Ayres, and Lazarus as anchors. After Wards left the latter in 1987, JCPenneys replaced it. Lazarus closed both their Springfield and Carlton Center locations in 1996, and while the Carlton location became a second LS Ayres location in 1997, the Springfield location was quickly divided into TJ Maxx & More and Circuit City. Both of those opened in 1997. In 1998, the original theatre closed and a new 14-screen GCC theatre opened in a new wing that also included GameWorks. When General Cinema became AMC Theatres in 2002, the Springfield cinema became AMC 14. Circuit City went out of business in 2009 and that location quickly became a HHGregg. GameWorks left the mall in 2014, and Round 1 took their place in 2015. In 2017, HHGregg went out of business and Sky Zone took over their spot. JCPenney ultimately left in October 2020, meaning that the mall won’t have any department stores left. I’m not sure what the owners are doing to the ex-JCPenney space, but probably that space will be divided into multiple retailers. Owners change too! The original owners, JB Venron and Company Real Estate Developments LLC, sold the mall to a joint venture between Melvin Simon and Associates and Edward J DeBartolo via the DeBartolo Realty Corporation in 1985, Simon took over the DeBartolo estates in 1996, Simon sold the mall to the Washington Prime Group in 2014, and WPG sold the mall to DeKari Retail LLC in 2019. The Springfield Mall isn’t dead yet, but it made a huge impact on the communities they serve. What will happen to it in the future? We have to wait and see.

Description
The Springfield Mall in Springfield, Springfield’s State, officially opened on July 21st 1974 with JCPenney and Rike’s as anchors. There’s also a twin-screen General Cinema movie theatre in the mall. Rike’s would eventually become Shillito-Rike's in 1982, and then Lazarus in 1986. Meanwhile, Old Springfield Mall, which by then had renamed as Carlton Center Mall, had Sears, Montgomery Ward, L S Ayres, and Lazarus as anchors. After Wards left the latter in 1987, JCPenneys replaced it. Lazarus closed both their Springfield and Carlton Center locations in 1996, and while the Carlton location became a second LS Ayres location in 1997, the Springfield location was quickly divided into TJ Maxx & More and Circuit City. Both of those opened in 1997. In 1998, the original theatre closed and a new 14-screen GCC theatre opened in a new wing that also included GameWorks. When General Cinema became AMC Theatres in 2002, the Springfield cinema became AMC 14. Circuit City went out of business in 2009 and that location quickly became a HHGregg. GameWorks left the mall in 2014, and Round 1 took their place in 2015. In 2017, HHGregg went out of business and Sky Zone took over their spot. JCPenney ultimately left in October 2020, meaning that the mall won’t have any department stores left. I’m not sure what the owners are doing to the ex-JCPenney space, but probably that space will be divided into multiple retailers. Owners change too! The original owners, JB Venron and Company Real Estate Developments LLC, sold the mall to a joint venture between Melvin Simon and Associates and Edward J DeBartolo via the DeBartolo Realty Corporation in 1985, Simon took over the DeBartolo estates in 1996, Simon sold the mall to the Washington Prime Group in 2014, and WPG sold the mall to DeKari Retail LLC in 2019. The Springfield Mall isn’t dead yet, but it made a huge impact on the communities they serve. What will happen to it in the future? We have to wait and see.