The Lakes Mall facts for kids
| Location | Muskegon, Michigan, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 43°09′02″N 86°12′08″W / 43.150464°N 86.202209°W |
| Opening date | August 15, 2001 |
| Developer | CBL & Associates Properties |
| Management | Namdar |
| Owner | Namdar |
| No. of stores and services | 100+ |
| No. of anchor tenants | 5 (3 open, 2 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 645,677 square feet (59,985.4 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 |
The Lakes Mall is a large shopping mall located in Muskegon, Michigan, United States. It first opened its doors in 2001. This mall is a popular spot with over sixty different shops and a food court where you can grab a bite to eat. It's a very big place, covering about 645,677 square feet (59,985.4 m2) of space!
The main stores, often called "anchor stores," are Bed Bath & Beyond, Dick's Sporting Goods, and JCPenney. There are also two large empty spots that used to be home to Sears and Younkers.
Mall History: How It Started
The Lakes Mall was built by a company called CBL & Associates Properties. They chose a spot south of Muskegon, close to where two major highways, Interstate 96 and U.S. Highway 31, meet.
Building the mall began in late 1999. The grand opening for most of the mall happened on August 15, 2001. However, one of the big stores, Sears, actually opened a bit earlier in March of that year.
When the mall first opened, its main stores included Bed Bath & Beyond, JCPenney, Sears, and Younkers. JCPenney moved to the mall from its old standalone store. Sears also moved from a different mall downtown called the Muskegon Mall. Later, in late 2004, Dick's Sporting Goods joined the mall as another big store.
In 2018, Younkers announced it would close because its parent company was going out of business. That store closed in August 2018. Then, in December 2018, Sears also announced it would close its doors as part of a plan to close many stores across the country. The Sears store at The Lakes Mall closed on March 14, 2019.
The Mall's Effect on Muskegon
Before The Lakes Mall was built, the area only had a smaller shopping center called Lakeshore Marketplace. This center used to be an outlet mall. Over time, it changed into bigger stores like Toys "R" Us, Barnes & Noble, and Old Navy. Many restaurants also opened around The Lakes Mall, making the area a busy place for shopping and dining.
Muskegon used to have an older mall downtown called Muskegon Mall, which opened in 1976. But it wasn't as popular because it didn't have the same big chain stores that malls in Grand Rapids had. Since The Lakes Mall opened in 2001, it has become the most popular place for shopping in the Muskegon area.
