Northwoods Mall taking in more small businesses, just 3 shops are vacant

PEORIA (25News Now) – Northwoods Mall is bringing in more small businesses to fill empty spaces, and General Manager Julie Revallo believes this will help the mall long-term.

Currently, local shops outnumber national retailers. Revallo said there are 46 local shops and 40 franchises. In May, she told 25News there were 39 local shops and 32 franchises open.

“I want to keep it affordable for them so that they actually make it,” Revallo said. “If they start out with too high of rent, and they don’t have a customer base, they’re not going to make it. So I think they’re willing to come and give that a chance.”

Prospective tenants can make an offer to Revallo on what they can afford for monthly rent.

In the past two years, several big and small businesses have closed at the mall. The third anchor store to leave the mall was The RoomPlace in April 2024. Round1 Bowling and Arcade closed in May 2023 after 4 and 1/2 years of business and was later replaced by another entertainment business in Oct. 2024.

Other shops like Jane’s Sweet Addictions also left.

Revallo said 12 spaces sat vacant in 2022. She said it’s now down to three. She added that seven new stores have opened since May.

“Years ago, of course, we had all nationals and maybe two locals. It’s very unusual that we have that many locals, but I like it that way,” Revallo said.

But it begs the question: “Why would a small business want to take a chance at a mall when thousands have closed across the country?”

Hit List Collectibles co-owner Nathan Barker, who admitted he previously didn’t consider Northwoods Mall as an option, said the answer is simple.

“Heavy retail stores have left, and that’s created vacancy and availability for local business owners like ourselves to be able to have that opportunity to come into a place like this,” Barker said.

Revallo said the long-term vision is to bring more options to the food court.

One shop undergoing renovations now is Chicago-based Exotic Snack Guys, which has about a dozen locations in Chicago and the Midwest.

“With the advent of social media and online, you have to channel that energy into your store,” the company’s owner Shoeb Nagman said. “I would say that the mall is a better place because you have a lot more foot traffic, as opposed to any other brick and mortar store.”

As for finding a replacement for Sears, Revallo told 25News that Northwoods Mall’s property owners, Summit Properties USA, do not own the parts where Sears and JCPenney are.

She said this means Summit can’t put a new business there.

Revallo said she’s working to fill the space that previously occupied The RoomPlace.

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