The Orchards Mall
LocationBenton Township, Michigan
Coordinates42°05′07″N 86°25′26″W / 42.0853°N 86.424°W / 42.0853; -86.424
Address1800 Pipestone Road
Opening dateOctober 24, 1979 (October 24, 1979)
DeveloperWestcor
OwnerDurga LLC and Bedi & Associates LLC[1]
No. of stores and services3 (as of December 2022)[2]
No. of anchor tenants3 (all vacant)
Total retail floor area624,972 square feet[3]
No. of floors1
Public transit accessBus interchange TCATA

The Orchards Mall is an enclosed shopping mall near Benton Harbor, Michigan. Opened in 1979, the mall originally featured Sears and JCPenney as its anchor stores, with Elder-Beerman (later in 2011 known as Carson's) being added in the 1990s. All three anchors have vacated in the 2010s, as has much of the mall's interior, with only three businesses remaining. The mall is owned by Durga LLC.

History

Meyer C. Weiner Company first proposed a mall called Pipestone Mall in Benton Harbor in 1974. By March 1976, Hudson's had been rumored as a potential anchor store.[4] Westcor acquired the land in August of the same year.[5] The mall was part of a development along Pipestone Road near Interstate 94 which also comprised a strip mall anchored by a Kmart. By 1977, Sears and J. C. Penney had been confirmed as anchors, with negotiations underway for Carson Pirie Scott as the third anchor.[6]

Orchards Mall was built in 1979 by Westcor. Opening for business in 1979, it featured J. C. Penney and Sears. Major tenants included Walgreens and York Steak House.[7] Elder-Beerman was added in 1992 as the mall's third anchor store.[8] Walgreens moved out of the Orchards Mall in the mid-1990s, with its store space remaining vacant until Jo-Ann Fabrics replaced it in the late-mid 2000s.[9][10]

Meijer opened outside the mall on June 24, 1980.[11] In November 1994, Lowe's Home Improvement opened in the area.[12]

General Growth Properties became the mall's management in 1999. A year later, several new stores were added, including Bath & Body Works, while the Casual Corner and Finish Line, Inc. stores were remodeled. Benton Township approved a $111,000 tax cut to help attract new businesses.[13] General Growth sold the mall to Sequoia Investments in 2002, at which point four more businesses opened, including a Subway and a Chinese eatery in the food court.[14] KB Toys, an original tenant, closed in 2004.[15] Ponderosa, which closed in 1997, became an Italian eatery in 2007.[16] The same year, the Subway became a local restaurant.[17]

Decline

Sears closed its store at the Orchards Mall on September 18, 2009, and remained vacant since.[18] Overflow Church purchased the building in 2012 and intended to move into it.[19] Elder-Beerman was converted to a Carson's in 2011.[20] Sears returned to the mall in 2012 with its Sears Hometown format, a smaller-scale Sears store which sells major appliances and household hardware, in a spot vacated by an FYE music store. At the same time, the former Sears Auto Center on a mall outparcel was reopened as a local auto repair shop.[21]

In 2014 the mall was put up for sale;[22] Kohan Retail Investment Group purchased it on December 9.[23]

Sears Hometown closed in July 2017. On January 31, 2018, The Bon-Ton announced that Carson's would be part of a plan to close 42 stores nationwide. The store was closed in April 2018.[24] In June 2018, the water supply to the mall was cut off. The owner, Kohan Retail Investment Group had outstanding water bills. The mall was closed for a day because the occupancy to the mall had been revoked, although JCPenney remained open. The mall reopened the following day.[25] It was sold to Durga LLC, on November 30, 2018, and management was taken over by Bedi & Associates LLC in June 2020.[1][26]

On March 4, 2019, it was announced that JCPenney would also be closing as part of its planned closure of 27 stores nationwide. The JCPenney closed on July 5, 2019.[27] In this same period, Rainbow Shops, one of the last three national tenants in the mall closed too. In August 2020, Bath & Body Works moved out of the mall. They never reopened in the mall space since COVID-19, and instead relocated to the Fairplain Plaza.[28] In November 2021, Jo-Ann Fabrics announced it would be closing and relocating to the space next to the nearby Ollie's Bargain Outlet that once held Ridge & Kramer Auto Parts and Big Lots. The store opened in late July 2022.[29]

As of December 2022, three businesses remaining at the mall, two of which are the last remaining stores, are a mattress store, Doctor ZZZZ'Z; a discount furniture store, Open Box Outlet, which occupies the former Jo-Ann Fabrics space; and a US Postal Service branch. Many storefronts in the mall have been vacant for 10+ years as of December 2022.[30][31]

In late December 2022, a burst water main caused significant damage in the mall. The mall reopened a week later.[30][31]

As tenants have vacated the mall, gulls have become a nuisance;[32][33][34] a bird deterrent was installed in summer 2023.[35] In spite of this and other deterioration, as of 2023 there are no plans to demolish the building;[36] an April 2023 meeting between the owner and local officials indicated redevelopment plans.[37]

References

  1. 1 2 Wittkowski, Tony (December 5, 2018). "New owner of Orchards Mall is revealed". The Herald-Palladium. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Breathing New Life into the Orchards Mall". Moody on the Market. Mid-West Family Broadcasting. June 28, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets Michigan City, IN: Other Retail" (PDF). Simon.com. May 2012. p. 3. Archived from the original on December 13, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ↑ Wyndarden, Mike (March 17, 1976). "Hudson store reported for Pipestone Mall". The Herald-Palladium.
  5. ↑ "Pipestone Mall start scheduled. Opening of big shopping center planned in '79". The Herald-Palladium. August 31, 1976.
  6. ↑ "Pipestone development termed 'new city': Shopping mall just part of commercial-residential project". The Herald-Palladium. July 2, 1977.
  7. ↑ "Kickoff Wednesday for Orchards Mall". Herald Palladium. October 23, 1979. p. A1. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  8. ↑ Leuty, Ron (October 11, 1992). "elder+beerman" "Pinning hope on Elder-Beerman". Herald Palladium. p. 1E. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  9. ↑ "Orchards Mall; Benton Charter Township, Michigan - Labelscar". Labelscar: The Retail History Blog. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  10. ↑ "New in business". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  11. ↑ "Meijer Thrifty Acres In Benton Harbor Nearing Completion". The Herald-Palladium.
  12. ↑ "Benton superstore opens: Lowe's packs in merchandise, customers". The Herald-Palladium.
  13. ↑ "Exceeding expectations: Orchards Mall stages comeback". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  14. ↑ "Retail building boom stalls, but property owners count on a turnaround soon". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  15. ↑ "KB Toys at Orchards Mall one of 377 going under". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  16. ↑ "BENTON TOWNSHIP Ñ By Christmas,…". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  17. ↑ "New in business". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  18. ↑ "Sears store to close in Benton Harbor; some workers may land jobs at Portage store". MLive.com. 7 July 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  19. ↑ "Michigan Church selling former Sears building to Orchards Mall". Wndu.com. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  20. ↑ "Elder-Beerman changing names". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  21. ↑ "Sears returning to Orchards Mall". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  22. ↑ Dalgleish, Jim (June 21, 2014). "Orchards Mall up for sale". The Herald-Palladium. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  23. ↑ Matuszak, John (December 12, 2014). "Orchards Mall's new owner: rescuer or bad apple?". The Herald-Palladium. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  24. ↑ Wittowski, Tony. "Carson's shutting down at Orchards Mall". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved Jun 5, 2020.
  25. ↑ https://www.953mnc.com/2018/06/07/orchards-mall-shut-down-due-to-unpaid-water-bill/
  26. ↑ Wittkowski, Tony (December 1, 2018). "Orchards Mall gets new owner". The Herald-Palladium. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  27. ↑ Newman, Alexandra (July 6, 2019). "J.C. Penney closes its doors at Orchards Mall". The Herald Palladium. p. 1. Retrieved October 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ↑ Wittkowski, Tony. "Bath & Body Works moving to Fairplain Plaza". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  29. ↑ Knot, Juliana. "JoAnn Fabrics to leave The Orchards Mall". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
  30. 1 2 Knot, Juliana (December 29, 2022). "Flooding causes extensive damage at Orchards Mall". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  31. 1 2 Knot, Juliana (January 7, 2023). "U.S. Postal Service reopens Orchards Mall location after flooding". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  32. ↑ Knot, Juliana (July 9, 2022). "Gulls continue to swarm Orchards Mall". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  33. ↑ Hatfield, Jordan (June 28, 2022). "Dead seagulls around Benton Township mall draw concern". WBND-LD. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  34. ↑ Parnass, Larry (June 11, 2019). "'I'm not playing games any more'...One tenant's all-out battle with a Kohan-linked mall". The Berkshire Eagle. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  35. ↑ Wrege, Louise (December 30, 2023). "Orchards Mall manager says he wants to make it a jewel". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  36. ↑ Knot, Juliana (March 11, 2023). "No Teardown in Sight: Orchards Mall Won't Be Demolished due to Cost, Size of Property". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  37. ↑ Knot, Juliana (April 15, 2023). "Berrien County Commissioner Pleased with Orchards Mall Plans". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
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