First, Carson's constructed a 2-story 60,000 square foot location which opened in 1954, serving as the anchor tenant of Woodmar Mall in Hammond, Indiana.

[14] Carson's quietly acquired a 20-acre triangular tract of land located between the intersections of Lake Avenue, Skokie Boulevard and the (planned) Edens Expressway between the years of 1948 and 1953.

[17][3][4][5] The location was selected because of its accessibility to automobiles, and because of Wilmette's relative proximity to the communities of Arlington Heights, Deerfield, Evanston, Des Plaines, Glencoe, Glenview, Golf, Highwood, Kenilworth, Lake Forest, Morton Grove, Northbrook, Northfield, Skokie and Winnetka.

It opened the same year as Edens Plaza with a 300,000 square foot Marshall Field's department store and retail space for 64 additional tenants.

On May 5, 1953, Carson Pirie Scott announced their plans to construct a department store and retail center on the triangular tract of land they had acquired in Wilmette.

[4][7] Some Wilmette residents agreed that it made sense for the site to be zoned commercial by virtue of its location at the intersections of three arterial roadways.

[4] Many who supported the proposal believed that the tax revenues generated would lessen the burden placed on the rest of the village's property owners.

[4][17] They pointed-out that the rezoning would extend commercial operations along Skokie Boulevard, consequentially bringing traffic and congestion to the area.

They argued that this could allow traffic to encroach upon their neighborhood's quiet streets, thus creating a hazard for their children,[4][7] and would also decrease the property value of their residences.

Its architectural design is reflective of Anderson, Probst & White's post-war abandonment of their previously trademark neoclassic style.

[24] The store had five separate entrances, allowing customers to easily access it from any part of the shopping center's 648,000 square foot 1,700-car parking lot.

[3][24] To the left of this entrance was a section of the store themed to Alice in Wonderland, which was meant to appeal to the children in the young suburbanite families which Carson's sought as clientele.

[3] There was an outdoor sales area located in the exterior arcade on the west side of the courtyard where patio, picnic, lawn and gardening products were displayed.

[27] In its first years, a lack of frequent public transit routes serving the shopping center proved to be an impediment to finding workers to fill job vacancies at Edens Plaza's stores.

This included the construction of a 25,000 square foot structure on the property's northern end, which would subsequently serve as the longtime site of a JoS.

[29] Thus, Carson's ultimately decided to stay at Edens Plaza, concluding that the retail center would need to be updated and refurbished.

[7] The zoning ordinances that were in-place at the time would have allowed nearly one-million square feet of office space to be constructed on the site of Edens Plaza.

[33] Due both to the local opposition and his failure to secure tax increment financing, Tucker ultimately lost interest in the project and officially withdrew his plans in October 1987.

[38] In January 1989, Carson Pirie Scott unveiled a $100 million plan by Edens Plaza Associates (a consortium of partners consisting of Henry A.

[29] Ornamentation in the malls decor was to feature elements inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's prairie style of architecture.

Bergner & Co.[49][50] The plans were additionally complicated in late-December 1991, when Skokie granted approval for Old Orchard to construct an expansion that would add 500,000 square feet of retail space.

[18][31] After Edens Plaza Associate's plans fizzled, the village government decided to take the opportunity to reassess the property's zoning regulations.

However, in order to guarantee that retail would remain a key component of any redevelopment, the amendment specified that office space would not be permitted on the ground-floors of buildings.

However, in 1993, Joseph Freed & Associates Inc. (a developer which today owns the 108 North State Street project) partnered with Antonia Investments to purchase Edens Plaza.

[31] Chuck Fioritowas, the vice president of development at Joseph Freed, had determined there was no viable way to reformat the layout of existing retail structures.

[1][50][18][31] However, Carson’s leased a two-story 35,000 square foot retail space in the structure on the northern end of the property to house a stand-alone furniture gallery.

[31] Joseph Freed & Associates had believed that Edens Plaza's past shortcomings had stemmed from their inability to land tenants that would act as sub-anchors.

Thus, in redeveloping the mall, they attracted big-box stores and category killers such as Bed Bath & Beyond, Borders, Pet Care Superstore, United Audio Center and the aforementioned Carsons Furniture Gallery to serve that function.

[54] In 2005 Edens Plaza failed to receive approval from the village of Wilmette to construct a new two-story retail building and a parking structure.

[60] In March 2019, Newport Capital Partners purchased the former Carson's space for $14 million,[64] placing the entire Edens Plaza under single ownership for the first time in decades.