In December 1968, 200 acres (0.81 km2) of farmland close to the Tri-State Tollway was purchased from Thomas E. Wilson/Edellyn Farms for $2 million, and annexed into Waukegan, Illinois.

The new 1.1 million square feet (102,000 m²) mall officially opened on August 19, 1971.

Original anchor stores of the mall were JCPenney, Carson Pirie Scott, and Wieboldt's.

Some of the mall stores included The Plum Tree, Orange Julius, Hallmark and Kinney Shoes.

These included the Gift Tree and Barbary Coast stores in the mall, as well as the Carson Pirie Scott anchor.