Bannister Mall Opens in 1980 with Four Anchors
Bannister Mall opened on August 6, 1980, at 5600 Bannister Road in Kansas City, Missouri. The new center, located between I-435 and Hillcrest Road, launched with four department store anchors.
The anchors were Macy's, JCPenney, The Jones Store, and Sears. Together, they gave the mall a complete retail base and helped bring steady traffic from Kansas City and nearby counties.
The mall reached a peak of 180 stores spread over two floors, linked by escalators and broad concourses, with parking beside the anchor tenants. Families gathered at the Fun Factory arcade and the food court.
In 1986, Dillard's took over the former Macy's space. That move changed the mall's anchor mix but left no vacancy.
With JCPenney, Sears, and The Jones Store also in place, national chains drove the customer base.
Around the concourses, small retailers offered clothing, footwear, and home items, while kiosks caught passing sales.
Between 1988 and 1990, Benjamin Plaza expanded the commercial footprint north and east of the mall.
This project added more retail space, bringing restaurants and service tenants that increased traffic along Bannister Road.
Adding space made clear the mall's role as a retail hub in its first decade. Its site was not without history, once traveled by the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon trails.
The blend of new architecture with historic setting made Bannister Mall distinct in Kansas City's retail environment.
The Glow of the 1980s
Bannister Mall reached full occupancy by 1985.
Weekend crowds filled both levels, flowing between department stores, fashion retailers, music outlets, and kiosks lining the walkways.
Wide corridors and open atriums created space for shoppers to spend entire afternoons moving between anchor stores and side passages.
The Fun Factory arcade drew steady traffic. Glowing machines attracted kids with quarters bulging from their pockets.
OutRun arrived in 1986 with molded seating, steering controls, and air fans simulating high-speed racing.
Each game costs seventy-five cents. Lines formed constantly. Chess King and Musicland gave teens their own shopping loop within the complex.
The upper-level food court bustled with vendors. Orange Julius mixed fruit beverages.
Mrs. Fields produced fresh cookie batches. Egg Roll House sold hot entrees before Panda Express took over the space.
One Potato and Two, Tippins Pies, and Original Greek rounded out dining options.
Natural light streamed through overhead skylights onto family tables before shoppers returned to browse.
Benjamin Plaza was launched between 1988 and 1990 in the surrounding area. The new development brought additional restaurants and service businesses.
This expansion solidified the mall's position as the retail hub of the corridor by decade's end.
Trouble on the Horizon (1990s)
By the early 1990s, Bannister Mall no longer had the same pull it once did. Newer malls with updated designs opened in Johnson County, and national chains followed them.
Crowds that once crossed the city to shop at Bannister began thinning out, and empty units appeared where busy stores had been only a few years earlier.
Public transit expansions in the late 1980s made it easier to reach the property, bringing a steady stream of riders from across Kansas City.
At the same time, reports of crime in the surrounding area grew.
The mall gained a reputation that discouraged some shoppers, and fewer families treated it as their regular weekend stop.
The combination of new competition and changing perceptions put pressure on the retailers inside.
Storefront vacancies grew more visible by the middle of the decade.
The first to leave were the smaller shops, creating gaps along the walkways, while large department stores continued to operate.
The opening of bigger malls to the south drew more customers away. What had been a prime shopping route in Kansas City during the 1980s lost traction in the 1990s.
The Anchors Leave, 2000–2006
The first anchor to shut its doors was JCPenney in 2000. The departure created a wide hole at one end of the concourse.
Smaller tenants around it suffered from fewer visitors. The mall had already fallen from its early momentum, and the empty space stood as proof of the shift happening.
Dillard's, which had replaced Macy's back in 1986, followed two years later.
Its departure in 2002 removed another major draw, leaving two anchors to hold the property together. The Jones Store managed to hang on until early 2005, when it too closed.
With each exit, the roster of national names grew thinner, and shoppers who once came for the anchors had fewer reasons to stay.
Sears, the last of the four original anchors, closed in 2006.
Its departure left Bannister Mall without any department store tenants, a situation that few malls of its size could survive.
From a peak of 180 stores, the count had dropped to about 50 by early 2007.
Even the nearby Walmart Hypermart, one of the first of its format before later becoming a Supercenter, shut down in January 2007, just one day before a new Walmart opened at Blue Ridge Crossing.
Closure and Demolition, 2007–2009
By April 2007, the decision was made public: Bannister Mall would close after nearly three decades of operation.
Rising costs and a shrinking customer base left only half the complex in use, with entire corridors shuttered behind barriers.
On May 31, 2007, the doors were locked for the last time.
Demolition began in early 2009. Crews dismantled the concourses and anchor boxes that had once housed Macy's, JCPenney, Sears, and The Jones Store.
By the end of that year, nothing recognizable remained of the 1980 mall.
Around the same time, the Kansas City Wizards soccer team considered building a stadium on the site but ultimately chose Kansas instead.
Lane4 Property Group spoke of redeveloping the land into a retail and office project called The Trails.
Still, delays left the acreage cleared and waiting for its next use.
Plans for The Trails and Cerner's Arrival, 2009–2013
After the mall's demolition, the land drew attention from developers. Announcements continued, while the site remained cleared ground.
On August 1, 2013, Cerner Corporation revealed interest in 236 acres that included parts of the former Bannister Mall property.
The company described a vision of offices, training centers, daycare, a clinic, food service, and a fitness facility.
Projections suggested space for 12,000 to 15,000 workers and the possibility of additional hotel or retail development.
Cerner had explored the site before, as early as 2009, but no agreement was reached. By 2013, public statements renewed attention, though activity never advanced beyond planning.
The land once occupied by Bannister Mall stayed vacant, its future tied to proposals that remained on paper rather than construction.
Oracle Cerner's Innovations Campus and the Unused Ground, 2014–2025
On November 11, 2014, Cerner broke ground on its Innovations Campus, a 293-acre development nearby in the Bannister corridor.
Plans called for office towers, a service center, and on-site amenities such as daycare, food service, and a fitness facility.
The work progressed in phases, establishing a substantial corporate base for the company.
After Oracle Corp. acquired Cerner Corp. for $28 billion in 2022, the company shut down two of its three major campuses.
In 2024, accounts described building pads that had been prepared but left unused, along with paved roads now lined with weeds.
At the same time, employment numbers did not reach projections.
Instead of 16,000 jobs, Oracle Health listed about 6,400 positions in the Kansas City area.
As of 2025, the Innovations Campus stands as Oracle's main presence in the city. Office towers and support buildings operate on adjacent parcels.
Still, the land where Bannister Mall once stood remains empty, its future tied to plans that have yet to materialize.