The Orchards Mall

Meyer C. Weiner Company first proposed a mall called Pipestone Mall in Benton Harbor in 1974. By March 1976, Hudson's had been rumored as a potential anchor store.[5] Westcor acquired the land in August of the same year.[6] The mall was part of a development along Pipestone Road near Interstate 94 which also comprised a strip mall anchored by a Kmart. By 1977, Sears and JCPenney had been confirmed as anchors, with negotiations underway for Carson Pirie Scott as the third anchor.[7]

Orchards Mall was built in 1979 by Westcor. Opening for business in 1979, it featured J. C. Penney and Sears. Major tenants included Walgreens and York Steak House.[8] Elder-Beerman was added in 1992 as the mall's third anchor store.[9] Walgreens moved out of the mall in the mid 1990s, and remained vacant until Jo-Ann Fabrics replaced it in the late 2000s.[10][11]

General Growth Properties became the mall's management in 1999. A year later, several new stores were added including Bath & Body Works, while the Casual Corner and Finish Line, Inc. stores were remodeled, and Benton Township approved a $111,000 tax cut to help attract more new businesses.[12] General Growth sold the mall to Sequoia Investments in 2002, at which point four more businesses opened, including a Subway and a Chinese eatery in the food court.[13] KB Toys, an original tenant, closed in 2004.[14] Ponderosa, which closed in 1997, became an Italian eatery in 2007.[15] The same year, the Subway became a local restaurant.[16]

Sears closed its store at the mall in 2009.[17] Overflow Church purchased the building in 2012 and intended to move into it.[18] Elder-Beerman was converted to Carson's in 2011.[19] Sears returned to the mall in 2012 with its Sears Hometown format, a smaller-scale Sears store which sells major appliances and household hardware, in a spot vacated by an FYE music store. At the same time, the former Sears Auto Center on a mall outparcel was reopened as a local auto repair shop.[20]

In 2014 the mall was put up for sale;[21] Kohan Retail Investment Group purchased it on December 9.[22]

Sears Hometown closed in July 2017. On January 31, 2018, The Bon-Ton announced that Carson's would be part of a plan to close 42 stores nationwide. The store was closed in April 2018.[23] The mall was sold to Durga LLC, on November 30, 2018.[2][24] On March 4, 2019, it was announced that JCPenney would also be closing as part of a plan to close 27 stores nationwide. The store closed on July 7th, 2019.[25] Bath & Body Works is currently planning to move out of the mall.[26]

As of 2020, the mall's website no longer exists.

• The Orchards Mall