Randhurst Village - 2000s

2000s

The problems for Randhurst continued as one of Chicago's first lifestyle centers, Deer Park Town Center, opened in north suburban Deer Park in 2000. This open-air shopping center became increasingly popular and may have attracted patrons who would have otherwise traveled to Randhurst or nearby Woodfield. Meanwhile, Randhurst suffered the loss of its JCPenney and Montgomery Ward anchors within months of each other in 2001. JCPenney had labeled the Randhurst store as an "underperformer," and therefore closed their location as they did many other "underperforming" locations. The Montgomery Ward store at Randhurst had undergone a remodeling and rebranding (as "Wards") program in 2000 as part of a chain-wide "last-ditch" effort to revive the brand; when this failed, Montgomery Ward closed their entire chain of stores and went out of business. In 2003, Kohl's moved its store to a space formerly occupied by Venture near the corner of Elmhurst Road and Dempster Street on the south end of Mount Prospect. Following the sudden departure of these three anchor tenants, many stores inside the mall closed as well. The devastating loss of numerous tenants and anchors led many to believe that Randhurst was about to become a dead mall.

In 2004, some revitalization did occur for the mall, as a grand remodeling and repositioning scheme for the mall was put in motion. The former JCPenney and Kohl's anchors were demolished to build a new 160,000 sq ft (15,000 m2) Costco anchor with no entry to the mall proper. Similarly, the former Montgomery Ward anchor was mostly torn down to create a grand new "promenade" entrance for the mall. Unfortunately, no upscale stores ever moved into the new addition, except for an Applebee's which moved from another section of the mall. However, unlike its previous home, which had both exterior and interior entrances, the new location was serviced by an outdoor entrance exclusively. A Buffalo Wild Wings was built on an outlot close to Carson's and the Jewel. Circuit City closed in 2005, and Old Navy moved to nearby Arlington Heights, all in the midst of the new construction. Bed Bath & Beyond and Steve & Barry's quickly took their places - Bed Bath & Beyond moved into the former Circuit City retail space, while Steve & Barry's opened in the former Applebee's restaurant and Old Navy spaces. The Gruen design had been partially destroyed, and the renovation only helped temporarily stem the tenant outflow.