Arahuas opens at Westfield Old Orchard Mall in former Lord & Taylor space – NBC Chicago

Furniture and design brand Arhaus has opened at Westfield Old Orchard Mall in Skokie in the newly renovated space that formerly housed a Lord & Taylor department store.

According to a statement from the mall, the furniture store officially opened to the public on Friday. It is one of four highly anticipated tenants taking over the massive space, which was recently converted into a multi-unit building with floor-to-ceiling windows.

European fashion brand ZARA was the last store to open in the converted building. Puttshack is also scheduled to open there in 2024. In the fall, Pottery Barn is scheduled to move from its current store in the mall and become a tenant.

The opening is part of an ambitious plan the mall announced in 2022 to make Westfield Old Orchard the “preeminent living, working, shopping and leisure destination on the North Shore.”

“As a premier destination on the North Shore, we remain focused on creating a suburban oasis that has everything the city has to offer and more – where you can shop top fashion, dine at the finest restaurants and enjoy the latest entertainment in a lush outdoor setting not found anywhere else in Chicago,” said Serge Khalimsky, senior general manager of Westfield Old Orchard, in a previous press release.

According to officials, the plan also includes a public park, health and wellness facilities and a sprawling apartment complex with about 400 luxury apartments.

Other suburban shopping centers, including the Golf Mill Town Center Mall in Niles, are also currently undergoing major renovations.

Last week, the village held public open houses and unveiled visualizations of what the $450 million Golf Mill project will look like, including completely rebuilt shops, restaurants, luxury apartments – and even a new water mill.

Officials called the redesign of the decades-old shopping center – which once housed department stores such as Sears, Roebuck & Co. – a “renaissance.”

Meanwhile, other suburban shopping centers have also recently closed their doors.

In February, Spring Hill Mall in West Dundee announced that it would “close its doors permanently” on March 22, with some exceptions. Demolition of the mall is scheduled to begin this summer.

Less than a month later, on April 21, Stratford Square Mall in Bloomingdale closed its doors. The closure was announced in late March.