Carol Gliksman's Commentary:

Posted May 17, 2005 (user submitted)

The Scottsdale Mall in South Bend, IN was recently torn down. It was originally built in the early 1970s as South Bend's first mall. Population and buying potential shifted to another part of the area with the highly successful University Park Mall. In the beginning it was quite glamourous and appealed to a variety of shoppers. Montgomery Wards, LS Ayers and Ayr-Way were the original anchor tenants.

I worked in four stores there over a period of 10 years from high school to grad school--Lerner Shops, A Hallmark Shop, LS Ayres and a private women and men's upscale clothier. In high school Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor was one of our favorite places--especially after attending one of the movies in the mall.

Eric's Commentary:

Posted May 17, 2005 (user submitted October 24, 2003)

Scottsdale Mall in South Bend, Indiana has been on the decline for about 5 years now. It is so sad to go in there, I was there today, and I maybe saw about a dozen people walking around. The Target is still around as the anchor, Wards and LS Ayres closed in the last few years, other known stores still around are Chick-Fil-A, Deb, Electronics Boutique, Finish Line, Bath & Body Works, Claire's, and a few other mom-and-pops.

The mall is slated to be demolished in early 2004, most stores are planning to stay for the christmas season. Many of the mom-and-pop stores are set to move about 15 minutes east to Elkhart's modest Concord Mall.

It was remodeled a lot in the early 90s. It has the coolest elevator and escalator system (it's a 2 floor mall). Basically, the shopping district of nearby Mishawaka has taken the bulk, with their much trendier University Park Mall.