Yorktown Center
| Company type | Shopping mall |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1968 |
| Headquarters | Lombard , United States |
Area served | Chicago suburb |
| Products | Retail stores, entertainment, dining |
Yorktown Center is a shopping mall situated in Lombard, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. The mall hosts anchor stores such as JCPenney and Von Maur, along with an 18-screen dine-in AMC Theatres located on a separate parcel.
Initial Development
When it debuted in 1968 with , Yorktown Center held the distinction of being the largest shopping complex in the United States. Its original layout included four major department store anchors: the three-level Carson Pirie Scott and Wieboldt's positioned opposite each other across a central plaza, complemented by two-story wings housing JCPenney to the north and Montgomery Ward to the south. Adjacent to the main mall was the "Convenience Center," a strip mall anchored by a Grand Union grocery store, as well as auto service centers for JCPenney and Montgomery Ward, a General Cinema movie theater, a banking facility, and several dining establishments.
1980s Developments
A renovation during the mid-1980s refreshed the interior design, incorporating pastel hues, neon lighting, and skylights to amplify natural illumination. Staircases in each wing were replaced by standalone elevators, while escalators were installed near JCPenney and Montgomery Ward, creating additional retail space beneath these new features. Prior to this update, escalators existed only centrally in one pair, and no elevators were present inside the mall.
During this era, the former supermarket space within the Convenience Center was transformed into a Scandinavian Design furniture outlet. Unlike Oakbrook Center nearby—which expanded its anchor stores multiple times—Yorktown Center experienced a decline in anchor tenants over twenty years. After Wieboldt's shuttered in 1987 due to bankruptcy, its vacant location remained unused until 1994 when Von Maur renovated it to open their inaugural Chicago-area store. This Von Maur location ranks as the chain’s second largest following its 2012 flagship at Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody, Georgia.
1990s Changes
Madigan's, a two-story apparel retailer near JCPenney, closed its doors in 1992. This area was subsequently redeveloped into an upper-level food court and retail shops on the lower level while preserving Madigan’s original escalator. After Woolworth's closure in 1997 left that space empty for some time, animation company Big Idea Productions—creators of VeggieTales—moved in temporarily in 1999 during renovations of their DuPage Theater headquarters. Eventually donating that theater, Big Idea remained at Yorktown until relocating to Franklin, Tennessee in 2004. The vacated premises later became home to Steve & Barry's.
Further expansion occurred around the mall’s perimeter with Target Greatland opening in October 1996. The JCPenney Auto Center was converted into The Pacific Club nightclub operated by Walter Payton’s restaurant group. The original General Cinema theater was replaced by an eighteen-screen megaplex offering dine-in movie experiences. Despite these upgrades, the Convenience Center lost significant tenants like Ace Hardware. Meanwhile, Carson Pirie Scott expanded by acquiring the former Scandinavian Design furniture store space.
2000s Renovations
At the start of the new millennium, Yorktown’s central courtyard underwent significant redesign: a narrow bridge equipped with escalators was replaced by a broader diagonal bridge featuring two sets of escalators; additionally, a customer service desk was installed near the northern escalator.
Following Montgomery Ward’s closure in 2001 due to chain-wide liquidation, its space briefly hosted Magellan's Furniture before being demolished to make way for "The Shops on Butterfield," a lifestyle center anchored by HomeGoods, Marshalls, and Lucky Strike Lanes bowling alley that opened in 2007. The former Montgomery Ward Auto Center was repurposed as a Claim Jumper restaurant. That same year marked the debut of an eighteen-story Westin hotel adjacent to the mall. Concurrently, the Convenience Center was rebranded as "The Shops at Yorktown"; although Carson Pirie Scott expanded its furniture gallery successfully, vacancy rates remained elevated throughout this period.
2010s
In April 2012, a partnership between KKR and YTC Pacific purchased Yorktown Center for $196 million.
By 2014, management allocated $18 million toward upgrading the food court, introducing healthier menu selections, expanding seating by 200, installing entertainment screens, creating laptop workstations, and establishing a family lounge area.
The Carson's anchor store ceased operations in April 2018 due to its parent company's bankruptcy. The following year, two upscale apartment complexes—Elan and Overture—were launched on the mall’s northern side, both owned and managed by Greystar Real Estate Partners.
2020s
Pac-Man Zone commenced operations in November 2020.
In 2021, Lombard approved the development of an Olive Garden restaurant on the mall’s southern perimeter, which opened its doors in 2023.
In 2022, D.R. Horton obtained permission to build 90 townhomes called The Summit at Yorktown on a portion of the vacant Shops of Yorktown strip mall.
Also during 2022, Pacific Retail Capital Partners (PRCP) revealed plans to transform the former Carson’s anchor location into a mixed-use project combining residential units, retail spaces, and parkland. Demolition work began in 2024 to ready the site for construction.
Cemetery
An important landmark is the Boeger-Brinkman Cemetery situated at the southern edge of the parking area along Butterfield Road. Once part of a family farm sold for Yorktown Center’s development, only a small segment remains intact while other graves were relocated during the mall’s construction.
Current
Former
- Wieboldt's (1968–1987; transformed into Von Maur in 1994)
- Carson Pirie Scott (1968–2018; demolished in 2025)
- Montgomery Ward (1968–2001; demolished in 2004)
- Woolworth (1968–1990; remained vacant for over ten years before being subdivided) (unofficial anchor)
- Madigan's (1968–1992; repurposed as food court) (unofficial anchor)
Sales tax rate
Lombard enforces an 8% sales tax rate with an additional 1% Business Improvement District surcharge applied to new developments on the former Montgomery Ward parcel and parts of Yorktown Mall’s southwest wing, including The Shops on Butterfield. Moreover, sit-down restaurants within Yorktown are subject to a further 1% Places for Eating Tax, primarily impacting establishments along Highland Avenue and Butterfield Road.
Bus routes
- 313 St. Charles Road
- 322 Cermak Road/22nd Street
- 715 Central Dupage
- 722 Ogden Avenue
- 834 Joliet/Downers Grove