Non Dead Mall: Oakbrook Center - Oakbrook, Il

[@stevenbeaudot7752]

Thank you so much for the tour! Oakbrook Center played a huge part of my early life. My dad drove the first bus to offer service at the mall. I christened the Sears Auto Center by dumping a motorcycle through a giant plate glass window at Christmas time. I thought I was getting coal, for sure. I bugged my mom for Beatle Boots at Flagg Bros Shoes. We saw one of the 1967 tornadoes on the way to the mall. I can still smell the Carmel Corn at Kresge's (precursor to KMart). I've been away for 38 years, but all of the fond memories are still with me.

[@mallaholicretailadventures]

My favorite mall in the suburbs. Beautiful. The whole sears thing was a joke from the beginning because they weren't off the main corridor.

[@UrbexAPeakInside]

Agreed.

[@pilotgrrl1]

Sears never fit in there, even before the mall went upscale. Unfortunately, Lord and Taylor is gone.

[@JMan1380]

This mall is an example on how to do it right. The Food Court there is such a neat place to hang out now. Oak Brook knows how to get a mix of shopping and experiences to keep business going. I used to go to the old WB store and KB toys regularly. I miss the WB store so much. Newer locations like Pinstripes are good too. The food is delicious...as is the brunch. I used to work in or around Oak Brook Mall. My parents grew up in OBT and going there for fireworks has been a tradition for years.

[@user-ue3pl2gf4o]

much better than orland

[@user-ue3pl2gf4o]

so excited to go this summer. My mom is going to be working for tesla there. Such a fancy modern mall

[@WilliamHerlihy-p4g]

Very charming at Christmas. Loved going there as a kid.

[@Joanie_dee]

Omg my hometown mall!! I always make sure to stop when I’m home for the holidays ❤

[@candyb2625]

When I go here I enjoy being outside .this mall is beautiful at Christmas .. tons of decorations

[@pilotgrrl1]

Thanks for bringing me Oakbrook, I spent lots of time here, especially when I lived in Elmhurst. Oakbrook and Yorktown always had different types of shoppers. Oakbrook used to cater to people that worked in the offices on the perimeter and across 22nd Street and Yorktown more toward the typical suburban shopper. Must say it's looking great!

[@UrbexAPeakInside]

Thanks for watching. Had my eye on Oakbrook for a long time to do a video. Never thought about it that way but it makes sense. Will probly do Yorktown once things start opening up.

[@kendalson7817]

My favorite mall as a kid. Lots of trees and flowers and fountains. Originally it was Sears and Field's with a small Best and Company and a nice Bonwit Teller in between. Good quality local stores like Baskin's men's shop and Rosalee for women. They had a Henrici's restaurant and coffee shop too. And Crate and Barrel had their first suburban "mall" shop there as well. I remember seeing "The Man Who Would Be King" at the movie theater. In the seventies they added Lord and Taylor, Mark Shale and Colby's furniture. Around 1980 the new wing with Saks, Neiman's and I.Magnin opened. Oakbrook Center was very classy in its time. Not so much anymore. Thanks for the vid!

[@Anynom]

It's still going strong, great to see it remain as a classic place for shopping of all types.

[@jerrycoughlin-iq7lb]

Bought some of my original albums here and also at Randhurst.Very good old days!

[@timward3116]

Wow! My mom used to take my brother and me there when we were kids in the 1960's (haven't been there since). It seems to have changed a lot, though. It was upscale by 60's standards back then, and it was always an adventure to go there... but it looks as though it has grown quite a bit and, of course, most (if not all) of the stores are different now. Always sad to think that the Marshall Field's was degraded to a Sears-like Macy's, although Marshall Field was, himself, far from admirable.

[@misterhot9163]

This is a fabulous mall.... I make a point of visiting at least once each time I come to Chicago.

[@pjangels609]

Ahhh the memories... I worked at the Marshall Field's in the early 90s.

[@adrianmontelongo9707]

That is beautiful oakbrook mall 👍

[@UrbexAPeakInside]

I would come back again when it's busier. It def. was a fun place to visit.

[@alexanderpoderys8059]

Oak Brook Mall is awesome. I always enjoy coming here.

[@arosenweig]

Oakbrook Center is the sister mall to Westfield Old Orchard which is on Chicago’s North Shore in Skokie.

[@AroundIndiana]

Great video. Looks like a nice place

[@UrbexAPeakInside]

Thanks. It still has a nice atmosphere.

[@InmyDTIphase]

This gave me so many ideas

[@nancydarling4918]

Nice video. Nice mall.

[@Drake_Is_Very_Tuff]

I love this place

[@santfam3835]

The Oakbrook and River Oaks malls started out the same, as opened air malls. River Oaks Mall was converted to a closed mall in the 90’s, and lost it’s charm. River Oaks Mall is barely hanging on, with many stores closed.

[@retailadventures6]

Glad to see another great mall

[@UrbexAPeakInside]

Thanks for watching.

[@retailadventures6]

Urbex- A Peak Inside It is my favorite outdoor mall in Illinois.

[@UrbexAPeakInside]

@@retailadventures6 Mine too. Reminds me of the Old Orchards Mall.

[@aruglaempire2518]

We went to the Sears store every time we needed a new appliance. I remember my mother got a bunch of Christmas lights and decorations there one year. It was so much fun to carry the packages. Good-bye Sears.

[@galechicago325]

Wherever there’s an Apple Store, there’s a thriving mall. Apple real estate team was genius at determining which malls to move into. Way back in 2000, when the retail initiative was being planned. Location, location, location... and demographics.

[@UrbexAPeakInside]

That's true when you think about it Apple stores are always in thriving Malls. Wish my local 1 had one. Everybody has been requesting one for years.

[@galechicago325]

Urbex- A Peak Inside, the irony of it is that Apple had to fight to get into these malls initially. Gateway had just bit the dust, and nobody wanted another computer store in their mall. By our second Christmas in 2002, Apple had become such a phenomenal retail success story (and drove so much traffic to their malls), that mall owners were offering huge financial incentives to try to lure Apple to their malls. The income generated at an Apple Store exceeds that of a huge department store anchor. Apple sales per sq ft = $5,546. Number 2 is Tiffany & Co, at $2,951 per sq ft.

[@aps125]

I live in Naperville. We have our own Apple store albeit it’s a small one.

[@aps125]

@Mike Krumlauf good to know. Are u still living in Chicago area?

[@arugulaempire8779]

Apple is a demon.

[@UrbexAPeakInside]

Check out the large open air Oakbrook Center. Please subscribe to see many more dead and non dead mall videos in the series.

[@aps125]

My second favorite mall in the Chicago suburbs, after Chicago Fashion Outlet. You can find many upscale European designer boutique stores.My wife purchased her first coach, lv, burberry, and fendi there. We are talking about spending some serious $$$$...

[@markhilbertrossetti1796]

Pie & Five? Enjoy five places at once, as intended. Dinner!

[@PinkAgaricus]

I feel like plants work very well for outdoor malls/shopping centers because they can use the weather (if it rains) to water the plants instead of having to find some way to water the plants (probably some sort of irrigation and a human that waters the plants) like in an indoor mall. I feel like indoor malls should adopt an alternate way to bring greenery inside that requires very little human interaction. I know the outdoor version of a mall would also need an irrigation system if there is no rain. Well, unless there is some sort of catastrophic rainstorm that ruins the landscaping. Other than that having direct access to the weather is an advantage. It probably also has the advantage of it being very difficult to make it bland and beige and white (safe interior design). (since this one, aside from the anchors) is a single level outside. I feel like it's very easy to blandify an indoor "hall" mall, since everything can be painted white, light grey/gray, and/or beige. (There's probably a way to do that color scheme right, but the interior designers are so bad at it, that they do the easiest thing..."Heck let's just make the whole thing bland!") That being said this is a very nice mall, I can see why it's living despite missing 2 anchors. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I feel like at least one of our indoor malls did their interior right (Windward Mall), IIRC the flooring of the ground floor of that mall is a rockwall style veneer (I remember going there once while they were changing out the floor) in the wings, I think the center court floor stayed the same. (this mall also lost their Sears, I hope they do something about that void)[I think the wing floors used to be carpet.] ^ I think since I haven't been there in a while since everything closed down this description doesn't give it justice Our main outdoor shopping center has palm trees growing from the street level through openings in the deck to the mall level. Unfortunately one section of it's water feature isn't on, it had Koi fish in it, and I think near Macy's (Mall Level) over there also had a water feature near it's entrance, but it got removed in favor of a plant feature (or maybe this was always a plant feature and they renovated it). This is a multi level outdoor shopping center so the only place that doesn't have plants is street level.

[@selasiametewee]

They had a NANDO'S and I NEVER knew that after living/WORKING there for a YEAR. WHAT!!!! 🤦🏼‍♀️👸🏼😎😍👁😉🤣🤣🤣🦁🍦✌🏻

[@sparklebomb27]

And yet, Yorktown is looking dead.

[@UrbexAPeakInside]

Really! Have to check it out.

[@ron78tht74]

This mall is looking beyond dead. Don't you need shoppers? Outdoor mall in Chicago winters? Genious

[@tomkeating65]

They ruined what was a nice mall all for the sake of progress

[@huinonw8985]

🎄🎇🎄🎒🌃🎒