A sense of sadness and nostalgia can be felt inside of Stratford Square Mall in suburban Bloomingdale, as the once bustling mall of the 90s is now set to close at the end of this month.
“If I ever wrote a book about working here no one would believe me,” said Stephen Miller. “This mall was totally different. We had totally different stores and over Christmas we couldn’t park in the parking lot because we had so many cars.”
Miller has been a janitor at the mall for nearly 40 years and told NBC Chicago he has seen it all from new stores and the movie theater opening to remodeling to accidents on the escalator.
“I’ve seen fires, I’ve seen store robberies those are the things I want to forget,” he said. “Then you see things like that person buying a puppy out of Furry Baby and the puppy is so happy that is so nice.”
Opened in 1981, the mall was previously anchored by Sears, Marshall Fields, and Carson Pirie Scott. It faced many challenges, like other malls across the country trying to keep up with the changing retail landscape, the surge of online shopping and the economy.
“It’s amazing watching this whole thing go down,” he said. “Sad, if they really wanted too they could save this mall.”
The Village of Bloomingdale acquired the property and consolidated earlier this year. The village administrator told NBC Chicago they’re working to finalize a redevelopment plan for the property, including a blend of restaurants, entertainment venues, housing, and public open spaces.
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“This is the wave of the future so we really don’t know what’s coming, but we hopefully wait in anticipation for good things,” said Sandy Hoffman.
Hoffman spent 15 years at Marshall Fields before transferring to Woodfield Mall. She now walks the mall with her friends looking back on the memories and the history left behind.
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“When this came in 1981 we were delighted and our kids would come and spend the days here and we felt it was safe and now nobody let their kids go to a mall anymore,” she said.
As the remaining stores prepare to leave, Miller is still working up until the final minutes ready to close this chapter of his life saying he will miss the people.
The mall is set to close on April 21.
