Why Some Chicago Malls Are Thriving

While Ford City Mall in West Lawn faces demolition and going the way of many of its mall brethren, two other suburban shopping centers in the area are thriving. A “reader’s choice” report from USA Today says Oakbrook Center in the western suburbs and The Fashion Outlets of Chicago in Rosemont are among the best in the nation. Reset looks at what makes these and other Chicago-area shopping centers great and discusses how local malls are changing to draw visitors at a time when malls nationwide have been in decline. Our guests: Amanda Lai, Director of Food Industry Practice at McMillanDoolittle; Meha Ahmad, Reset senior producer; Rachel Herzog, Crain’s Chicago Business commercial real estate reporter. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.