Charlestowne Mall

Word has it that they are going to put a Cooper’s Restaurant here! And rename this retail wasteland the Quad

Out of all the malls I visit just to visit because I like to think of myself as a mall tourist. This is hands down, the most depressing mall in the world. You feel like your the only person left in the world and it’s really scary. I thought Ford City was bad and on a catastrophic road like this but they turned around and got their customer base back after many years but from a business perspective, how do you attract people to this mall if there’s nothing there? This is a mall walkers paradise. Great place to run in if you’re looking for a jog too. I’ll update my review when I see this «brand new mall» …
I’m a South Park enthusiast and if you watch the recent episode called «SoDoSoPa» where basically the town poured money into a place that was failing which made the city look bad into something repackaged and fresh for the community. The business trend boomed; but only temporarily because the other business around it lost businesses/​customers too and they became the sore thumb of the community which end closing their doors. THIS IS WHAT I SEE WITH THIS MALL… they’ve already repackaged the name for one…

Have you been here? I thought Spring Hill Mall was deserted! They have a Carson’s, a Kohl’s and a Von Maur. You will find a handful (maybe 4 – 6 stores) of other places open. We love Von Maur but this is just depressing.

I remember being in elementary/​middle school when this mall still had stores. Now literally all that’s left are a couple of department stores (Kohl’s, Carson’s, Von Maur), otherwise it’s completely empty. It’s kind of weird to see what’s an essentially abandoned mall still operating. Last time I was here, the escalators were shut off (which makes me assume there is nothing upstairs anymore) but people were still wandering through the empty mall. It seriously reminded me of the opening scene from Warm Bodies where the zombies are just wandering around an abandoned airport.
This would be a great place to shoot sort of zombie apocalypse movie, but definitely not to shop. If you’re looking for an actual shopping center/​mall in the area, Geneva Commons would probably be your best bet now, but the Chicago Premium Outlets and Fox Valley Mall really aren’t that far either.
The only reason to come here anymore would be after-​Christmas sales for Carson’s and Kohl’s (if you’re trying to avoid crowds of people, because this location is a lot emptier than some of the other ones). Hopefully whoever owns this property decides to do something with it because it’s such a shame to see this space (which is still surprisingly well-​maintained minus the parking lot) go to waste.

Nothing in the mall! So sad! I know that it would not last! They say that their going to remodel, but I don’t see it…

Man this place is depressing, we went there on our way from Geneva. Never again. Literally only stores that were open were Von Maur, Carson’s and Kohls. The mall itself looked liked something out of a horror movie. No people, no stores and very dark. This place has potential but I have no idea what the problem is.

This place is a complete shell of what it used to be. In the mid to late 1990’s this place was bustling with business & had every store imaginable. This place used to have an awesome food court that you could go to before going to see a movie. When I recently came here I was in shock that the entire food court is shut down. It is just one big area with chairs to sit down. The elevators here are all shut down in what I am assuming is an attempt to save some electricity. The mall was very cool & air conditioned however.
This mall would be ideal for some older people to come walk around in. The place literally has no one in it especially in the actual mall. Most of the customers are found in the big three anchor stores & not the mall itself.
The three main anchor stores that are still left are Von Maur, Carson’s & Kohls. This mall also has a Lens Crafters & a GNC. Add acouple kiosks to that & that is literall all that is left in this mall.
The parking lots are also pretty bad. They look like they could be used tor a monster truck rally because there are pot holes all over & some spots have grass & weeds growing out of them.
There is some good news for this mall however. After 23 years the mall is going to get a fresh start. In November 2014 a company bought the mall for over $ 9.5 million.
The first part of the of the mall redevelopment phase will be focusing on exterior work to the mall building. The first part of that plan includes demolishing the former stores. Thie first will be the Sears anchor store which has been empty since 2011. Also headed for demolition is the former food court.
Overall this mall can’t receive a high rating from me because there are barely any stores. However it does sound like this mall will get a fresh start & a lot more stores which could turn this place around.

Wanted to update my review 3 years later — had some time off to kill during a hot afternoon in July 2015 and stopped in the mall to have a look around and a fresh perspective. I actually saw that some of the parking lots seemed «full» and thought maybe some progression had taken place. I was wrong — I simply now assume all of those cars were a combination of employees and people there for the theatre and a few of the anchor stores still left. Funny, but I will also list some PROS to this mall, still.
As of July 2015:
— Mall itself is literally still «dead», even probably more so than when I reviewed it back in 2012. I walked around it twice — top to bottom — and scoped out everything. Aside a «Lens Crafters» on the 2^nd floor near Carson’s, there is NOT ONE chain store remaining. Not one. All are boarded up or just shut down. I must mention I did notice 2 small kiosks — one was a donut kiosk and the other some eyebrow threading station. I can’t envision either making more than about $ 20 business on an average day, and probably won’t be there by say October.
— Food court area — not one restaurant remains. It is essentially an open area with a FEW chairs and tables. Even the bathroom area adjacent to the food court is dimly lit. While accessible to the public still, you can tell few people venture back there. I did and the men’s restroom area was only half-​lit. If you have to use the restroom though and want total privacy, this would be the one to use rather than using the ones in say Carson’s or Kohl’s.
— The theatre remains (I hear this still does decent), as do the 3 main anchor stores — Carson’s, Von Maur, and Kohl’s.
— Noticed some women gathering in the mall center (carpeted area) for what appeared to be some kind of exercise or yoga class. Good idea if you ask me. Open, mostly private air-​conditioned area, decent place to meet rather than some confined studio or somebody’s frontroom :)
— Most of the escalators — except one (by the old Sears) were shut down, probably to save on electricity. I looked thru the windows of the old Sears and did see what appeared to be «construction activity» inside, as if maybe somebody is attempting to do something with the store.
— Mall still seemed pretty well air-​conditioned and cool. There is a huge plus to this for those people who may want to escape here — alone or with the kids — and walk around a wide-​open mall to keep cool or just to pass some time. Also, I can envision this place being a huge plus for older people or even people out of surgery or rehab who need to «Walk», but don’t necessarily want to join a gym or walk in the elements of the weather outside. You can come here and walk around comfortably with no fear of any kind of crowds or ruckus and almost have the entire mall to yourself.
— Parking lots and streets are pretty bad, full of potholes and just in sad shape — probably not worth the time and effort to «repair» at this point. The Carson’s lot is BAD, parts of the lot are even overgrowing with weeds as if the lot has been abandoned for 10 years. The parking lots and adjacent roads almost seemed as if used for bombing runs by the military.
— Lots of nostalgia here, as I mentioned in my previous review. I walked around here and literally remembered almost every store back in the early to mid 90’s when this place did very well. I remember how Sears and JcPenney’s did very well. I remember holiday times when the mall boomed with crowds. I remember lines out of the door of the «Oberweis» store (which now has been boarded up for about 15 years, the familiar red/​white striped designs on the store still remain though) to hanging in the food court with buddies before a movie and being able to meet other people doing the same thing. Ghosts of that now remain in what was once this area, you can even hear slight echoes of your footsteps if you walk in the food-​court.
This mall is NOT a dump, still does/​would have potential if the right people and right dollars went into it. I keep saying if I ever came into a huge fortune I would buy this mall and turn it partially into an off-​campus NIU — St. Charles, or U of Illinois — St. Charles. There are so many empty stores that could easily be turned into classrooms. I can only assume whoever owns it now is very wealthy and can afford to keep this place open and basically a/​c or heat what amounts to an empty stadium. The anchor stores can only draw so much, and Kohl’s/Carson’s DO NOT seem to get a lot of clientele. I haven’t been here during holidays in awhile, but I imagine this mall would not even have a Santa or Easter Bunny during those times anymore.
Still 2 out of 5 stars. Lots of memories and ghosts remain with this mall, but there are still some perks to be found by stopping here every now and then, or if you wish to go to the theatre.

The sad thing about this mall is that too many stores still are listed online as being in it but have been gone for years such as Pay Less. I have driven to this stupid mall to get last minute shoes for classes twice and forgot the PayLess isnt really their despite what Bing says and ended up paying way too much at Von Poors as I had no time’Just close it and forget it. People who are sentimental about this mall forget how it took customers away from the torn down mall at 38 and Randall and how Springhill Mall took customers away from downtown Elgin. And yes this mall does only have 4 stores in it.

The owner was a greedy you– know-​what and overcharged all the tenants causing them to close down. This place is depressing now, I think there might be one other place open besides the anchor stores. They keep saying they are going to do something. With this mall, but have yet to see it happen.

Shadow of what it used to be. I only go here for Charlestowne 18 and Von Maur. Sad.

I am rated this review solely based on nostalgia purposes.
As a kid, my family would take me here on weekends for spend some time shopping and hanging out. I remember there being like three record stores one time with plenty of cds that I was interested in during those times 99 – 01. There was a arcade there too called time out or something like that and it was pretty decent as far as arcades go. I used spend so many quarters there and drove my parents crazy with all the time I spent there as a young boy. Another place I would go was the B. Dalton bookstore where I read the humor section that included Calvin & Hobbes, Simpsons & Garfield comics. There was one video store that carried plenty of nicktoon video tapes that I picked up occasionally. Also, back then GameStop used to be called Babbages and I couldn’t wait to get the next game that would show up every Tuesday. Of course, the theater was a nice addition to the mall and I went there a few times as well. There were plenty of good restaurants and I remember there used to be a great taco place next to the theater entrance.
It is shame that this place has fallen to such a dead zone. Hopefully, they can do something in the future to bring some life back to this mall but I doubt it.

NEW MALL: Charlestowne was bought by a new mall group late 2013 and is set to be renovated completely (proposed drawings online), and it looks like it should be beautiful (restaurants, new food court with window wall, outdoor seating, etc)!
Will be called «The Quad».
I’ve been coming here pretty much my whole life so nostalgia factor is coming through, and I really hope for the best!
Rooting for you new owners, bring it back to its glory!

This would be the perfect mall to bring a flash mob together, and do a group singing of this PS4 ad inside of:
(whoops, now got the right URL)

I cannot agree more with what my fellow reviewers have already said about this mall. George Romero needs to come here and film another Night of the Living Dead flick. He could have the place all to himself.
The mall itself, with huge center «stage» area and several «wings» for shopping and walking, could be fantastic. St Charles has, apparently, approved a skating rink to be installed (Lord, please don’t tell me our local tax money went into a skating rink in this dead zone).
Okay, soapbox time. this mall needs to be revitalized, and here’s how to do it: free rent! The town and mall owners are already paying to upkeep the thing… give away free rent for one year to any approved retailer who wants space. Get the crowds back in. And give a schedule of rent right up front to anyone accepting the free rent so they can plan. 12 – 18 months, rent is «x» (likely about half of full retail), and 18 – 24 months rent is «y» (about ¾ of full retail rent), and 24 months plus rent is «z», full retail. Could have them sign a two-​year contract with these terms… so they can get out if they didn’t make it by then (before full retail rent). Hire a marketing company paid by a portion of sales tax revenue to market to retailers (not public, but potential renters)/
One retailer draws customers, other retailers follow, some come to skate (still a stupid idea, but it’s done), St’ Chuck’s gets consumer tax revenue again from the place, and bingo, it is flourishing again.
In addition, St Charles Board needs to STOP approving new strip malls and off-​site retail space. «You want to build a new Chick-​A-​Filet? We welcome you… to the food court in the mall! For free!»
I pray this mall will not be torn down or re-​purposed. There is a food court with one Japanese and one Chinese place, but the volume is so low, I’d hate to get toe-​mein. It’s sad.
I do go to the movies here, though. Established retailers (theater, anchor stores) are big and still pay rent under my scenario – they will be thrilled with smaller shops moving in down the hallway, trust me. The guy who buys a pipe at Joe’s Hooka Shop in the free rent district will go to Von Mauer to buy a New Year’s eve ball gown for his wife. It just works that way. lol.

Scratch that. All that’s left is Von Maur, Carson’s, Kohl’s, Lens Crafters, GNC and two kiosks.
At least the theater is still nice. And cheap! $ 11 for two tickets on a Sunday. Concession stand prices seem a little high. But I haven’t been to another theater in years, so I could be off.

It’s so sad how empty and depressing this mall is now. The only reason I came here today was because the Carson’s had something I was looking for that was out of stock at other locations. I can see why they had a full stock. Nobody shops here!
The parking lot was pretty much empty when I arrived. Went into Carson’s and it wasn’t that busy but there were people shopping.
I decided to check out the rest of the mall but there were literally no stores to shop at. About 90% of the spaces here are empty. There weren’t many people walking around, aside from the old people walking around the mall for exercise. It looks deserted and sad. It was killing my mood so I had to leave.
I remember coming here when I was younger and it being a super busy, nice mall. I loved coming here. Now it’s just an empty building with dim lighting to further add to the depressing feel of this once popular mall.

I am giving this mall TWO stars because of Von Maur and the theater. Otherwise it would receive one.
Von Maur and the theater are the only good things this mall has going for it.

Sad. I didn’t even want to wander from Von Maur to Carson’s once we stepped foot into the main area. Sunday afternoon and it was dead… As a doornail. I was also grossed out and uncomfortable by how hot it was while we walked through. Apparently once all of the tenant’s have vacated the premises, they can’t afford to turn on the a/​c in eighty degree weather. Sad, depressing and gross. Thank goodness for the sky lights or we would have been walking in the dark sweating our tushies off.

The muzak should be playin. «Just a vacancy, love don’t live here anymore.»
How sad. At one time I bet this place was thriving and striving to be a decent mall.
I had some time to waste and went meandering around the mall. Like others have noted, it’s pretty much a ghost town. I think I saw some tumbleweed blow by.
Wandered around and saw all of the vacancies and few tenants still left.
Kind of a sad site to see, but still a few shoppers left and the power mall walkers which the mall still serves a purpose for.