Merry Christmas

To this day, I never pass up a chance to visit Oakbrook Center, the famed open-air mall in the west suburbs. Opened in 1962, it has retained a high degree of elegance and charm, despite numerous expansions and the normal coming-and-going of tenants.

Most early photos of Oakbrook depict the majestic Marshall Field’s there (now Macy’s), or the superb modernist Sears (now- still - Sears), or perhaps the beautiful landscaping and fountains.

But here, from an original slide, is a rarely seen view of the “back side” of the mall, showing three stores and the Oakbrook Professional Building, tastefully decorated for Christmas, after hours and against the night sky, looking peaceful.

Left to right are Maurice L. Rothschild, part of a (now defunct) Chicago-based clothier, Lane Bryant, the still popular women’s apparel store (still at Oakbrook but in a different location) and a Jewel Food Store. The Jewel, like its fellow mall-based counterpart at Randhurst, moved offsite to larger quarters fairly early on.

Whether you celebrate Christmas Day or not, I hope the day finds you well, and that you were able to spend it with people special to you. And may 2015 be filled with joy, peace and health for you and your loved ones.

And whether you’ve been following Pleasant Family Shopping for years or just found us recently, whether you stop by frequently or just once in a while, I want you to know it is deeply appreciated. Your readership, comments, photo contributions and friendship make it all worthwhile, and provide the best possible reason to continue doing this. I can honestly say when it comes to uncovering great old photos of retail stores and the stories and personal memories behind them, we’ve just begun to scratch the surface. From the bottom of my heart, thanks again.

Dave

Sears Oakbrook Center, 1962

Here’s a unique Sears store from one of my all-time favorite malls, Oakbrook Center, which is located in Chicago’s Western Suburbs. This store, which opened along with the rest of the mall in March 1962, was designed by famed architect Richard Marsh Bennett, who also designed many of the mall’s other structures (including the exterior of the Oakbrook Jewel Food Store, featured in one of this site’s earliest posts). Bennett originally gained fame by designing the very influential Old Orchard Shopping Center, which opened in Skokie, Illinois four years earlier.

Definitely one of the Chicago area’s most successful malls, Oakbrook Center has been expanded many times yet has always managed to maintain the clean, timeless look and feel of the original 1962 concept. I would contrast it with Golf Mill, (another favorite, with a Sears of course) located in near NW suburban Niles, which lost its very charming outdoor concourse (including a wooden miniature “mill”) when it was enclosed in the 1980’s. Oakbrook has remained for the most part an “outdoor” mall, and in a delicious irony seems even more contemporary given the trend of recent years away from enclosed malls.

The Sears store with its distinctive aggregate façade still exists, with some notable changes – the dual script logos were replaced with a single 60’s style serif logo (in the center) many years back. This logo was replaced with the 1990’s block letter logo, which it still currently sports. A central entrance has replaced the dual entrances and many of the windows are now covered. The natural tan color of the aggregate has been painted over (gray) and a blue accent bar has been added across the full width. Sadly, the exquisite metalwork and lighting are gone, replaced with large, round cement columns, which I presume may have been done for structural reasons.

Jewel's Stores Within Stores

Jewel was one of the early proponents of the "store within a store" concept. Starting around 1960, they implemented this new form of departmentalized shopping in all of their new stores and retrofitted the concept in their existing higher volume stores. The departments all had a theme designed to convey the feel of an individual storefront.

The initial "stores within stores" were "Jewel Pastries" (frozen cakes and other baked goods) the "Sausage Shop" (deli meats) and the "Patio Food Shop" (pre-prepared foods including potato salad, barbeque, fried chicken, etc.), along with traditional standard departments - dairy, produce, meats and the like. Later on came "Pier 14" (seafood). The Patio Food Shop was later renamed "Chef's Kitchen".

These photos are from the Oakbrook, Illinois Jewel, which was located next to the famous Oakbrook Center Mall and featured an exterior design by the same architect as the mall. They were taken in 1962, shortly after the store's opening. This was a special store designed for an upscale clientele and featured the chain's first liquor department. Pictured here are several of the "stores within a store" along with the main entrance.