The Orchards Mall
Shopping mall in Benton Township, Michigan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Orchards Mall is a dead mall in Benton Charter Township, Michigan, U.S., just outside Benton Harbor. Opened in 1979, the mall originally featured Sears and JCPenney as its anchor stores, with Elder-Beerman, later Carson's, being added in the 1990s.
 | |
| Location | Benton Township, Michigan |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42.0853°N 86.424°W |
| Address | 1800 Pipestone Road |
| Opening date | October 24, 1979 |
| Developer | Westcor |
| Owner | Durga LLC and Bedi & Associates LLC[1] |
| Stores and services | See "Decline" section |
| Floor area | 624,972 square feet[2] |
| Floors | 1 |
| Public transit |  TCATA |
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.[3] Westcor acquired the land in August of the same year.[4] 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.[5]
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.[6] Elder-Beerman was added in 1992 as the mall's third anchor store.[7] 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.[8][9]
Meijer opened outside the mall on June 24, 1980.[10] In November 1994, Lowe's Home Improvement opened in the area.[11]
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.[12] 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.[13] KB Toys, an original tenant, closed in 2004.[14]In September 2004, Doctor ZZZZ'Z Mattress Center opened next to the Food Court. Ponderosa, which closed in 1997, became an Italian eatery in 2007.[15] The same year, the Subway became a local restaurant.[16]
Decline
Sears closed its store at the Orchards Mall on September 18, 2009, and remained vacant since.[17] Overflow Church purchased the building in 2012 and intended to move into it.[18] Elder-Beerman was converted to a Carson's in 2011.[19] 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.[20]
In 2014, the mall was put up for sale;[21] Kohan Retail Investment Group purchased it on December 9.[22] A 2016 news article lists 26 tenants.[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. 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. The store opened in late July 2022.[29]
As of December 2022[update], the three businesses remaining at the mall, two of which were the last remaining stores, were a mattress store, Doctor ZZZZ'Z; a discount furniture store, Open Box Outlet, which occupied the former Jo-Ann Fabrics space; and a US Postal Service (USPS) branch. Many storefronts in the mall had been vacant for 10+ years in December 2022.[30][31] Doctor ZZZZ'Z announced its closure in January 2024,[32] partially influenced by a December 2022 water main burst.[30][31] A video posted in July 2024 shows that Open Box Outlet was abandoned even though there was no official announcement of closure.[33][unreliable source] In March 2025, a press release stated that the USPS branch, which closed temporarily in 2023, was approved to relocate to a separate building within the Orchards Mall/Fairplain Plaza retail complex.[34][35]
As tenants vacated the mall, gulls became a nuisance;[36][37][38] a bird deterrent was installed in summer 2023.[39] As of 2024[update] tests are being run on the gulls that have died to determine cause of death.[40]
In spite of the mall's deterioration, as of 2023[update] there were no plans to demolish the building;[41] an April 2023 meeting between the owner and local officials indicated redevelopment plans.[42]
