Woodfield Mall rises from Schaumburg cornfields
In the early 1960s, Schaumburg still had more open fields than buildings, but the village had already set aside its northeast corner for big businesses, since the new highway plans sped things up.
The plan depended on Interstate 90 and IL-53 crossing in the same place. The goal was to make the area a center for the region, and seeing the roads on the map made it feel more real and organized.
A. Harold Anderson began buying up farmland in the area, one acquisition at a time. Sears, Roebuck & Co. came in through its Homart Development subsidiary and partnered with Anderson and mall developer A. Alfred Taubman.
In 1967, Sears' Homart Development Co. and the Taubman Company formed Woodfield Associates and bought a 191-acre tract for the project.
Marshall Field & Company later joined the development as an anchor department store. The name "Woodfield" combined former Sears chairman Robert E. Wood with Marshall Field.
On October 8, 1969, Schaumburg mayor Robert Atcher and officials from nearby suburbs attended the groundbreaking.
The projected cost came in around $90 million, and the plans set the project up in big terms from day one.
Woodfield grand opening: aquariums, music, and scale
Charles Luckman & Associates designed Woodfield Mall as a bi-level enclosed mall about 25 miles northwest of Chicago's Loop.
It opened on September 9, 1971, with Marshall Field's and Sears operating on the first day, and J.C. Penney opening on October 6.
Sears filled two levels and about 373,000 square feet, the largest store in the chain.
Marshall Field's occupied three levels and about 355,000 square feet.
Penney's two-level store covered nearly 300,000 square feet.
Woodfield opened with 28 specialty stores, reached 59 by the end of September, and ended 1971 with about 160 stores and services across roughly 1.64 million square feet.
Early tenants included Lerner Shops, The Limited, Stride-Rite Shoes, Casual Corner, Gingiss Formalwear, and Waldenbooks.
On opening day, Vincent Price served as emcee, singer Carole Lawrence performed, and the Conant High School marching band played.
In the Central Court, a fountain/waterfall feature and a complex of three aquariums ran with a custom soundtrack, "Fish Music," composed by Suzanne Ciani, and a children's slide sat nearby.
The 1970s: Lord & Taylor and ice inside
Woodfield Mall expanded quickly. On October 2, 1973, a new south wing opened with a two-level Lord & Taylor of about 118,000 square feet and 25 new inline stores.
The addition raised Woodfield to roughly 1.94 million square feet and 189 stores and services. For a period, it carried the "world's largest shopping center" label and briefly held a Guinness listing tied to its size.
Entertainment grew alongside the footprint. On August 16, 1973, an indoor ice arena opened just off the Grand Court, with viewing windows along the mall corridor, plus lessons and hockey leagues.
The Woodfield Ice Arena operated until October 19, 1984, when it closed, and the space was rebuilt into a five-screen movie theater, which opened on June 21, 1985.
The property also built out its perimeter cinemas early: Woodfield Theatres 1 & 2 opened as a twin-screen theater in July 1971, and Woodfield 3 & 4 followed in 1979 as another twin, adding two more screens outside the main building.
Star power in the Grand Court years
Woodfield Mall quickly learned it could draw people for reasons that had nothing to do with a receipt.
On June 8, 1974, KISS appeared at Woodfield for a heavily promoted meet-and-greet during the mall's 'Kiss-Off' event.
In October 1974, conductor Henry Mazer led the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the Grand Court for a crowd estimated at about 40,000.
Actor John Travolta drew fans in 1976, and on October 26, 1976, President Gerald Ford delivered a campaign speech inside the mall to an estimated 35,000 to 40,000 people.
Ray Charles performed there in October 1979.
The 1980s kept the spectacle going. Woodfield Mall hosted a 10,000-square-foot Chrysler auto showroom inside the mall, operating from 1976 until 1992.
A LEGO Americana exhibit arrived in 1983 with scale models of U.S. monuments. In 1987, teen pop star Tiffany played Woodfield.
On June 10, 1989, a U.S. volleyball group staged a beach-volleyball exhibition on a sandy court set up outside Marshall Field's.
By the end of the decade, foot traffic was in the tens of millions a year, making it the most visited tourist attraction in Illinois outside Chicago's limits.
Schaumburg officials pointed to Woodfield as the engine behind the area's hotels and office parks.
1990s rebuild: Nordstrom and new wing
In 1984, Woodfield closed its ice arena and rebuilt that section as the five-screen Plitt Woodfield Mall Cinemas, trading skates for seats.
In 1991, a 20th-anniversary update added a small wing with 23 more stores. Then came the next leap.
Taubman Centers announced a $110 million expansion in 1993, and a three-level parking garage opened in 1994 adjacent to Marshall Field's.
The new southwest wing opened in stages: twenty inline stores debuted March 3, 1995, and the project culminated in October 1995 with a three-level Nordstrom of about 215,000 square feet and a new two-level Lord & Taylor of about 124,000 square feet.
The original 1973 Lord & Taylor closed, was gutted, and was rebuilt as a new mall concourse lined with specialty shops.
The expansion added about 50 stores, bringing Woodfield Mall to roughly 2.22 million square feet and about 288 stores and services.
A rededication on October 20, 1995, brought Tony Bennett to the Grand Court.
The same expansion wave added Rainforest Cafe, with animatronic jungle scenes and waterfalls.
2000s refresh: Apple, paint, and Macy's
Woodfield Mall helped create a district that kept growing around it.
IKEA opened across the street in 1998, and the struggling One Schaumburg Place was redeveloped in 1999-2000 into Streets of Woodfield, an outdoor center with big-box retail, entertainment venues, and a 20-screen movie theater.
A Woodfield trolley shuttle began circulating between the mall, nearby hotels, and surrounding attractions. Inside the mall, new retail trends moved in quickly.
In August 2001, Woodfield Mall opened one of the earliest Apple Stores in the world, only the fifth worldwide, and it added H&M and a LEGO Store in 2003.
The Woodfield Mall Cinemas 5-plex closed in 2000 after operating under Cineplex Odeon Corporation. Its former space shifted from screens to a theme restaurant, Mars 2112, which did not last long.
In 2006, the same area was converted again, this time into an Improv Comedy Club, the chain's first Illinois location.
In 2004, the original central fountain, waterfalls, and aquarium tanks were removed, ending the Grand Court water show and the familiar habit of tossing coins for charity fundraisers.
In 2005, the landmark water tower was repainted with a sky-blue, cloud-themed design, replacing a mid-1990s scheme built around teal "W" logos.
P.F. Chang's and Texas de Brazil opened that year. On September 9, 2006, Marshall Field's became Macy's, closing a 35-year chapter in one overnight sign change.
In 2006, Woodfield Mall was named Illinois' top tourist attraction and was drawing about 27 million visitors a year.
Simon era upgrades and the Dining Pavilion
Woodfield's ownership kept shifting behind the scenes. Taubman brought in CalPERS as a partner in 1993, and later a share moved to General Motors' pension fund.
In late 2012, CalPERS acquired that GM stake and sold a 50 percent share to Simon Property Group.
Simon took over management on January 1, 2013. In 2015, Simon spent about $14 million on an interior renovation, adding new flooring, lighting, glass railings, and modernized elevators and escalators.
Sears agreed to downsize, and in March 2015, a 40,000-square-foot portion of its upper level became Level 257, a Pac-Man themed restaurant and arcade with bowling lanes.
In mid-2017, Woodfield Mall began rebuilding its food court into the Dining Pavilion, which opened in May 2018 with more than 12 fast-casual bays and seating for about 820 on the upper level.
In the late 2010s, the mall generated more than $8 million a year in sales tax, supported more than 5,000 on-site retail jobs, and anchored a Woodfield Business District with more than 80,000 workers.
In the late 2010s, the mall brought in over $8 million a year in local and sales taxes for Schaumburg, had about 4,000 people working in its stores, and was in the middle of a community with around 75,000 to 80,000 jobs in total.
After 2019, Woodfield Mall absorbs shocks
On September 20, 2019, a man drove an SUV through the Sears entrance and into the mall corridors, crashing through kiosks and storefronts, including a Forever 21, before stopping.
No one was seriously injured, and Woodfield Mall repaired the damage quickly. In March 2020, it closed during the COVID-19 shutdowns and reopened on May 29 with safety protocols after roughly 10 weeks.
Rainforest Cafe closed January 1, 2020, ending a long-running themed draw, and the space was reworked into Peppa Pig World of Play.
Lord & Taylor closed in December 2020, after bankruptcy. Sears closed in November 2021, fifty years after opening, and it was the last full-line Sears in Illinois.
Shoppers drifted through the final weeks to say goodbye in person and hunt for a last bargain.
The closing came shortly after Woodfield marked its 50th anniversary in September 2021, a neat bit of timing that still felt like an ending.
New anchors and pop-ups at Woodfield Mall
Woodfield spent 2022-2025 converting vacant anchor space into smaller, newer draws. Level 257 returned as Enterrium in late 2021.
Transformco, which controls the former Sears, began dividing the building for multiple tenants.
Primark opened on October 12, 2023, after an $11 million renovation, taking 37,000 square feet on the upper level as the chain's second Illinois store.
Zellano Home Furniture opened in mid-2024 on the lower level, and filings laid out a plan to subdivide the ground floor for up to four tenants with their own entrances.
Velocity Esports opened in March 2024 and operated briefly, while a Dave & Buster's opened nearby at Streets of Woodfield.
Disney Store closed in 2021, and Radio Flyer closed its Woodfield store on January 24, 2025.
By 2025, Woodfield Mall held at 98.8 percent leased, with Macy's, JCPenney, Nordstrom, Zellano Home, and Primark as major anchors.
New tenant announcements included Aritzia, Ticknors, The Inspiration Co., Jamba Juice, Bliss Bowls Acai, and Vito's Burgers Wings N Things.
Tenant announcements set timelines for Ben & Jerry's and Gregorys Coffee in late 2024, Alo Yoga in spring 2025, and Kendra Scott in fall 2025 next to Warby Parker as its seventh Illinois store.
WONDRA, a new immersive experience, opened at Woodfield Mall in early November 2025 (and continues offering sessions in 2026).
Dragon Ball Pop-Up Tour USA 2026 runs at Woodfield from February 6–8, 2026.
