Oak Park Mall

Oak Park Mall is a super-regional shopping mall located in Overland Park, Kansas, containing over 180 stores in a covered area of 1,607,803 sq ft (149,369.8 m2). It is the largest mall in the Kansas City Metro Area as well as the entire state of Kansas, and is split into two levels and contains five department stores. It was developed by Copaken, White & Blitt in conjunction with Frank Morgan and Sherman Dreiseszun. The mall is anchored by two Dillard's locations, Macy's, Nordstrom, JCPenney and H&M.

Oak Park Mall
LocationOverland Park, Kansas, United States
Coordinates38.953485°N 94.719476°W / 38.953485; -94.719476
Address11149 West 95th Street
Opening date1974[1]
ManagementCBL & Associates
OwnerCBL & Associates (50%)
TIAA-CREF (50%)
No. of stores and services180+[2]
No. of anchor tenants5
Total retail floor area1,607,803 sq ft (149,369.8 m2)[1]
No. of floors2 (3 in Dillard's South and Nordstrom)
ParkingParking lot
Websitethenewoakparkmall.com

Ownership

In May 2011, it was announced that TIAA-CREF would receive 50% ownership of Oak Park Mall and several other CBL malls in an attempt to reduce CBL's debt.[3]

History

The mall opened in 1974 with original anchors JCPenney, Macy's, Montgomery Ward and Stix, Baer & Fuller.

A 1982 CBS News special report titled "The Mall" was filmed entirely in the Oak Park Mall. The report detailed the rise of malls in the United States.[4]

The mall received extensive renovations in 1993 and was expanded in 1997.[5]

Target opened its doors for the first time south of the mall in 2005.

The mall received another extensive renovation in 2011, including altering the food court dining area and new entrance vestibules.[6] In June 2012, the area's first Microsoft Store opened at the mall in the former Talbots space.

In the center of the mall, near Dillard's North, is a double-decker carousel. The carousel was originally located in the atrium nearest Dillard's South. In the early 2000s, the carousel was removed and the area was remodeled to a woodland theme with a regular carousel appearing alongside a miniature ride-on train. In 2009, the double-decker carousel returned, relocated to the other main atrium. The mall used to be home to the Kansas City Metro's only Rainforest Cafe, which opened in 1999. The addition of the Rainforest Cafe necessitated a small expansion to the north of the existing mall to house most of the restaurant. Rainforest Cafe remained at the mall for a decade and decided not to renew their lease. The former space was then divided into three spaces with the American Girl store taking up much of the former restaurant's area.

On February 2, 2018, Nordstrom announced plans to move to the Country Club Plaza in 2021.

In July 2020, the American Girl store closed permanently.[7]

Oak Park Mall, during the holiday season.

References
  1. "Oak Park Mall". CBL & Associates, Inc. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2011-01-19.
  2. Oak Park Mall, Kansas - KS, (Malls and Stores). Retrieved 07 January 2015
  3. Bryant, Tim (May 11, 2011). "West County Center is part of big mall deal". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. STLtoday.com. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
  4. YouTube 1982 SPECIAL REPORT: "THE MALL" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2BlyvN6EeI
  5. "Oak Park Mall". Mall Hall of Fame. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  6. Smith, Joyce. "Oak Park Mall to get multi-million dollar renovation this year". Kansas City Star.
  7. https://account.kansascity.com/paywall/subscriber-only?resume=244256262
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