Southlake Mall vs Orland Square Mall (Orland Park, IL) (Merrillville: 2013, luxury)

[ta1064]

After visiting Orland Square Mall, Southlake Mall could use some expansion and upgrades, especially an Apple Store.

[richb]

Southlake is already bigger then Orland Square.

Agree, it needs an Apple store and a renovation. Seems neither are in the cards. Orland Square looks really nice after its recent renovation.

[Deelighted]

Didn't there use to be an Apple store near 30 and Colorado and closed its doors a few years ago?

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by Deelighted

Didn't there use to be an Apple store near 30 and Colorado and closed its doors a few years ago?

No, there was never an Apple Store. What you are thinking of is the Gateway Computer store that was there years ago! And after that, it was a luxury used car dealership.

[ta1064]

Originally Posted by richb

Southlake is already bigger then Orland Square.

Agree, it needs an Apple store and a renovation. Seems neither are in the cards. Orland Square looks really nice after its recent renovation.

Are you sure Southlake is bigger than Orland Square? Orland Square looks larger; maybe it's the configuration. It definitely looks more modern than Southlake.

[richb]

Southlake has 1.36-million square feet of rentable space. The first section opened in 1974. It was the largest mall in Indiana until recently when a mall in the indy suburbs got an addition.

Orland Square has 1.21-million square feet of rentable space. Its first section opened in 1976. It was heavily remodeled in 1995 and again in 2013.

Southlake still has the original common area terrazzo flooring (that stuff never wears out) and Orland has changed flooring twice. I remember the original flooring in Orland Square from 1976, it was a hideous ugly dark brown tile. The 1995 remodel made OS so much more light. They added more skylights then too. SL was built with more of those to begin with.

[ta1064]

Originally Posted by richb

Southlake has 1.36-million square feet of rentable space. The first section opened in 1974. It was the largest mall in Indiana until recently when a mall in the indy suburbs got an addition.

Orland Square has 1.21-million square feet of rentable space. Its first section opened in 1976. It was heavily remodeled in 1995 and again in 2013.

Southlake still has the original common area terrazzo flooring (that stuff never wears out) and Orland has changed flooring twice. I remember the original flooring in Orland Square from 1976, it was a hideous ugly dark brown tile. The 1995 remodel made OS so much more light. They added more skylights then too. SL was built with more of those to begin with.

Thanks richb! It's probably the configuration, spacing and lighting at Orland Square.

Also, though the 2 malls have many of the same stores, seems like Orland Square has more upscale stores.

[Dr. Blish]

I for the life of me can't understand everyone's obsession with Orland Park. I prefer Merrilville over Orland any day. U.S. 30 is much easier to drive compared to LaGrange Rd.

Ironically, River Oaks is only one level and is still larger than Orland by square footage. 1.3 million vs 1.2 million. Any one remember when River Oaks was planned to have a second level and fifth department store added in the early 90's?

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by Dr. Blish

I for the life of me can't understand everyone's obsession with Orland Park. I prefer Merrilville over Orland any day. U.S. 30 is much easier to drive compared to LaGrange Rd.

Ironically, River Oaks is only one level and is still larger than Orland by square footage. 1.3 million vs 1.2 million. Any one remember when River Oaks was planned to have a second level and fifth department store added in the early 90's?

IMO, Orland Square reflects what I think the standard for a suburban mall should be. It is not mostly exclusively upscale like Oak Brook Center but it also better than Southlake Mall. Also, the Orland Park area has much more shopping options and is an overall much nicer area than Merrillville.

[TGPII]

I remember when orland square had birds.