The Plaza, formerly known as Evergreen Plaza, is an enclosed shopping mall located in Evergreen Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The mall’s anchor stores are Carson Pirie Scott and Office Depot; it also features over 120 stores, as well as a food court. Having opened in 1952, The Plaza is considered the first major regional shopping center in the country.
Montgomery Ward closed its four-story store in 2001 as the chain declared bankruptcy. Shortly afterward, Village of Evergreen Park officials submitted proposals for Target Corporation to open in the former Wards; however, these deals fell through.
Discount chain National Wholesale Liquidators opened in 2005, occupying two levels of the four-level anchor slot once occupied by Montgomery Ward. Walgreens closed in 2005, and has been replaced with Office Depot. Also, Circuit City closed in mid-2005 as well.
The movie theater that was present in the rear of the mall closed in the late 80s and early mid-1990s
Office Depot has since closed its Evergreen Park location in 2008 along with many other small retail shops over the last few years.
2007 Christmas Tree Fire This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2009)
In December 2007, A large Christmas tree at the southern end of the mall suddenly caught on fire. The mall was closed for three consecutive days. That section of the mall was closed off until February 2008. This fire caused a number of stores to close such as National Wholesale Liquidators, recently opened Lot Stores, and Champs Sports (which re-opened on March 24, 2008, and Closed again in 2009). NWL planned to return but never did. A lot of Stores remain closed as well.
Evergreen Theater
On June 26, 1964, Evergreen Theater was added in a separate building, located on the south end of the mall. It first opened with two screens and sat upon the parking lot by 98th Street and Western Ave., later, two more screens were added. In 1973, the manager was shot and killed during a robbery, many other incidents occurred which led to its closure in July 1999. In 2003 the venue was torn down, along with the parking garage, on the west corner of the mall for landscaped parking, and parking entrances were widened. That same year, an Applebee’s opened on an out parcel.
