Lansing Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located in Delta Charter Township, Michigan, United States, just outside Lansing, the state capital of Michigan. Opened in July 1969, the same year as its crosstown competitor Meridian Mall, Lansing Mall consists of of gross leasable area, with approximately 60 stores and restaurants, as well as a food court. Its original anchor stores were Wurzburg's, Federal's, and Montgomery Ward. Only three years after opening, Wurzburg's and Federal's were replaced by J.W. Knapp Company (Knapp's) and Robert Hall Village respectively. In 1979, the Robert Hall space was then vacated as part of an expansion project that also added a new mall wing ending in Hudson's, while J. C. Penney replaced Knapp's a year later and Mervyn's joined in 1987. The mall's anchor stores remained unchanged between then and the first decade of the 21st century: Hudson's was renamed to Marshall Field's, which itself later became Macy's, while the bankrupted Montgomery Ward and Mervyn's were replaced with Younkers and a Regal Entertainment Group movie theater. Following the closures of Macy's and Younkers, the mall's only operational anchor store is J. C. Penney. Other major tenants include Dunham's Sports, Barnes & Noble, a food court, and a 12-screen movie theater. The mall is managed and owned by Kohan Retail Investment Group.
History
Lansing Mall was built by Detroit, Michigan-based mall developers Forbes-Cohen, just outside the state capital of Lansing, Michigan within Delta Township along M-43 (Saginaw Highway). It officially opened to the public on July 31, 1969. Originally, it included three anchor stores: Montgomery Ward at the eastern end, Federal's at the western end, and Wurzburg's, a department store based out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, in the middle. Other major tenants at opening included Cunningham Drug, Schensul's Cafeteria, and McCrory. Wurzburg's sold its store to the Lansing-based J.W. Knapp Company (Knapp's) in March 1972, in order to focus on its Grand Rapids-area stores. In December of the same year, Federal's announced the closure of six stores due to a bankruptcy filing, including both the Lansing Mall store and a second Lansing-area location at the Frandor Shopping Center. Robert Hall Clothes announced in late 1974 that it would open a Robert Hall Village discount store in the former Federal's space. This store also lasted only three years, and its inventory was liquidated in 1977 after Robert Hall filed for bankruptcy.
In 1979, the mall underwent a two-phase expansion. The first phase divided the former Federal's/Robert Hall Village anchor store into a new mall concourse, which featured soft seating areas, planters with ficus trees, and skylights. Stores present in this expansion included The Limited, Casual Corner, Lane Bryant, The Gap, and Herman's World of Sporting Goods, along with a cluster of restaurants that included Elias Bros. Big Boy, York Steak House, Hot Sam Pretzels, Great Hot Dog Experience, Morrow's Nuts, Mrs. Fields, and Olga's Kitchen. The second phase, featuring identical decor, consisted of a new wing extending westerly beyond the first phase of expansion, adding several new stores along with a Hudson's department store. After the expansion was complete, the mall featured over 105 tenants. One year after this expansion, Knapp's also filed for bankruptcy and sold its location at Lansing Mall, along with ones at Meridian Mall in nearby Okemos and Westwood Mall in Jackson, to J. C. Penney. After York Steak House closed, its space was used to create a food court known as the Picnic, which opened for business in August 1984. Included in the food court were nine restaurants, seating for 299 patrons, and new planters. As they were adjacent to the Picnic, many of the restaurants added in the 1979 expansion were considered part of it as well.
1980s to Mid-1990s
Another expansion to the mall was announced in 1986 and completed a year later, consisting of a new wing anchored by a Mervyn's department store. The opening of this store was part of that chain's entry into the Michigan market, which comprised several other stores across the state including a second Lansing area store at Meridian Mall. Construction of this wing required the demolition of an original outparcel, the Lansing Mall Theater, which was the last single-screen cinema in the Lansing area. Lansing Mall's expansion, extending northerly from the Picnic, consisted of fifteen new storefronts including Lerner New York (now known as New York & Company) and LeRoy's Jewelers, along with relocations of Waldenbooks and three other existing tenants. In addition, Taco Bell joined the food court.