Originally owned by Urban Retail Properties Co., the 1,300,000-square-foot (120,000 m2) indoor shopping mall was designed by RTKL Associates, and built[4] by Graycor of Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois.

Just before its closing, Stratford Square had six vacant anchor spaces that were last occupied by JCPenney, Carson Pirie Scott, Sears, Round One, Century Theatres, and Burlington.

Stratford Square Mall opened on March 9, 1981 in response to the population and development boom then occurring in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.

The mall was initially anchored by four major department stores—Marshall Field's, Carson Pirie Scott, Montgomery Ward, and Wieboldt's.

[11] In October 2011, the computerized fountain in the central square next to the food court was replaced by a carousel, which was later relocated to the lower level of the Burlington Coat Factory wing in front of Round One and Finish Line, Inc., then finally removed in its entirety sometime between 2018 and 2019.

In late October 2014, Red Robin officials stated their plan to remodel their restaurant to introduce their new "Gourmet Burgers and Brews" concept, which would feature both indoor and outdoor seating.

[12] In 2015, Round One, an entertainment center that includes bowling, karaoke, arcade games, billiards, darts and ping pong, opened on the lower level of the Carson's wing.

StreetMac did a few improvements while trying to manage the departure of several of the original anchor stores, developing plans to renovate parts of the mall where some aspects were done and others were not.

[18] A 25 West Brewery opened later that year as part of a plan to change the tenant mix to 40% retail / 60% entertainment and dining.

In 2020, More stores inside the mall were closing including Victoria's Secret, The 25 West Brewery, Oriental Gifts, Express, Scooby's Hot Dogs and more.

[20] Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the Kohl's anchor became inaccessible from the interior of the mall, with access only via the lower level parking lot nearest to Woodman's Markets.

In February 2022, the Dick Wolf NBC/Peacock show Chicago Fire[25] filmed part of Episode 12 for Season 10 using the center court escalators in a scene where they were broken, and people got caught.

[28] The village is currently working on acquiring the former JCPenney anchor (which is currently owned by Namdar Realty Group) and the mall itself.

The court date set for The Village of Bloomingdale vs. Stratford Square Mall (Namdar Realty Group) is in January 2024.

[28] The village also is trying to acquire the Kohl's anchor and hopes that the department store would cooperate with their redevelopment efforts and standing against Namdar.

[29] On January 8, 2024, the Daily Herald announced that the Village of Bloomingdale settled the lawsuit against Namdar Realty Group.

In April 2024, Kids Town 2 closed their Stratford Square Mall location and relocated to Fox Valley Center in Aurora.

On August 13, 2024, Segovia Partners (a real estate firm based in Chicago, Dallas, and Florida East) released new redevelopment plans for Stratford Square Mall.

The village of Bloomingdale also announced that tenant owners would be able to access the mall for an extra week to move out until April 22, 2024.

The stores that remained open until April 15, 2024 are the following: Bull & Bear Axe Throwing, and Challenge Accepted Escape Rooms.

The priest made his way to Stratford Square Mall where he stole over 100 items inside of the Marshall Field's department store.

The chemical entered the mall's sewers and was picked up by a department store's (which was Marshall Field's) fresh air intake system.