Comments on: White Oaks Mall (1993)

By: Alicia

Alicia — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 02:30:17 +0000

They called it White Oaks Mall because the White Oak is the state tree of Illinois.

By: Nicki

Nicki — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 06:29:28 +0000

I so miss that old center court. It felt so Barbiefied after the renovation. I miss the real restaurants and the good stores that we had. I don;t tend to go to the mall much now, but back then, my best friend lived in Colony West and we would walk over all the times.

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:55:55 +0000

The aerial photo of the mall is not from 1980. Probably from 1977. My house was built in 1978 behind Kmart and it’s not visible in this photo. Great picture by the way.

By: Kelly Joyner

Kelly Joyner — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:05:33 +0000

Ahh…the mall as it used to be! I can remember riding a bus all the across town on Saturdays with maybe a dollar in my pocket for lunch (fries from McD’s or a big Laffy Taffy from Osco) back in the 80’s because it was a cool place to hang out. Later, I worked at Herndon’s — what a gorgeous and classy store that was! I’ll bet you didn’t know that even though Herndon’s was on the second floor, the store actually had an upstairs and a downstairs in the back (downstairs was a receiving room, upstairs was a suite of offices). I remember The Limited being dark and trendy, the owner of Luca’s being there every day (and he recognized EVERYONE!), and just how interesting the whole place was back when it was full of shops.

By: Kate Hawkes

Kate Hawkes — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:02:07 +0000

They developed cornfields and called the mall “White Oaks”; not an oak in site, that I can recall. (Of course, Faihills Mall used to be a piglot!)
The destruction of this farm acreage led to the demise of downtown retail. One by one, the department stores moved west into the mall or closed outright. The stores that moved into the mall could not make it there, and closed also. We became a chain store town. Myers Bros, Barker’s, Herndon’s, Westenberger’s, Bressmer’s and so many more passed into retail history. The Mall itself prospered for a time, but it doesn’t look healthy now. It’s no wonder Wal-Mart does so well in this town.

By: Kate Hawkes

Kate Hawkes — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:50:55 +0000

They served tasty onion soup.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:02:20 +0000

I wish there were more pics of the “old” mall. I remember shopping at Silverman’s with all of the colorful clothes.

I worked at Bachrach’s for a while and at Musicland, and then Illini Sporting Goods, which was on the lower level outside of Sears. Across the way from Illini Sporting Goods was a hotdog place.

I remember being too young to go into the Change of Pace but went in anyway because my co-workers went in. I remember meeting Pete and Melissa from Days of Our Lives and also met The Lone Ranger himself, Clayton Moore as he was vying to keep his mask. There was some sort of legal battle over it and he wore these big, black sunglasses.

I miss that “old” mall and wish it could return to it’s glory days.

Thanks for sharing Russ!

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:08:05 +0000

Wow – This really does bring back memories. I remember embracing the renovations in 1993 because it was so dark and monotone before, but would now much rather see those brown tiled/concrete/stone floors. The way it is now makes me think of Miami Vice or something.

I moved away from Springfield almost 8 years ago so it’s always a treat to visit White Oaks when I go home. As with any mall, the people watching is still fantastic, no matter the decor.

By: Giuseppe

Giuseppe — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:03:33 +0000

Hey Gregg!
Yes Famous had a restaurant and they also served wine… I remember because I went there with some friends for lunch one day and they ordered what looked to be served in a punch bowl and they called it sangria, I think? It was like red wine with fruit in it! Oh to be young and wild again! LoL

By: Gregg

Gregg — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 21:09:20 +0000

When Famous Barr first opened, wasn’t there a restaurant in there? I thought there was a restaurant located somewhere in the vicinity of the current furniture department, but I could be thinking of a different mall.