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For years, Kokomo, Indiana, was home to two malls that eventually took divergent paths. Kokomo Mall was the first and evolved from a conventional strip center into an enclosed shopping destination. Its younger rival, Markland Mall, ultimately proved more successful and survived as an enclosed shopping center. About fifteen years ago, Kokomo Mall came full circle and reinvented itself as the open-air Kokomo Town Center. It’s an unusual tale of two malls in one small city, and I had to learn more.

Named after the Miami chief Ma-Ko-Ko-Mo¹ rather than the Beach Boys hit that followed, Kokomo was established in 1855. The Central Indiana gas boom resulted in an extraordinary number of innovations in town that prompted Kokomo to become known as the “City of Firsts.” The Haynes-Apperson Automobile Company started there¹, and the first stainless steel silverware came from Kokomo too². GM’s Delco division in town even invented the original pushbutton car radio³! Tons of other firsts followed, including pneumatic rubber tires, the howitzer shell, the first finned aerial bomb, and the first canned tomato juice.

Speaking of firsts, Youngstown, Ohio’s Edward J. DeBartolo Company was one of the earliest firms to build suburban shopping centers in these parts. It cooked up the open-air Kokomo Mall plaza in 1963, when the city was home to about 47,000 people. Montgomery Ward was the first store to open, but anchors J.C. Penney and Indianapolis-based H.P. Wasson came soon. Inline stores like Fetz Beauty Salon, First National Bank, G.C. Murphy, Kokomall Barber Shop, Kokomo Liquors, Mobil Shoes, Moore’s Auto Supply, Muir Drugs, National Food Stores, Nosser’s Shoes, Patterson-Sargent Paints, Paul Harris, United Finance Corporation, and Zales filled the spots between the anchors⁴.

Unfortunately, Kokomo Mall’s days of dominating the area’s retail were short-lived. In 1967, Melvin Simon and Associates announced plans for an enclosed center, Markland Mall, two minutes north of the Kokomo Mall. By the time ground was broken later that year, the prospective plaza was already 84% leased! Its impressive roster included Indy-based Danners 5 & 10, Goodman Jewelry, Kroger, Roselyn Bakery, Sears, SupeRX (a Kroger pharmacy), Swiss Colony, and Union Bank & Trust. Plans also called for an unnamed Indianapolis-based anchor, a twin-screen first-run cinema, more than thirty additional shops, and a “large restaurant⁵.”

Kokomo Mall suddenly had some competition on the horizon. In fact, the president of Kokomo’s Chamber of Commerce seemed to forget the extant mall completely at a luncheon just after Markland’s groundbreaking. “There is a spirit in this community of working together for progress, and we welcome you to it⁶,” he gushed to Mel Simon.

The unnamed Indy anchor turned out to be Ayr-Way⁷, the discount brand run by L.S. Ayres. With a combination of department stores, speciality shops, a supermarket, and options for entertainment, Markland set the scene! Kokomo Mall wasn’t about to surrender its place in the city’s retail landscape without a fight, though. The mall’s ownership history is difficult to untangle because of how frequently it changed hands, but they enclosed the shopping center in 1968. A peaked roof was built over the concourse to connect its twenty-one stores⁸, which transformed the mall into “a place to shop for all seasons⁹!”

Kokomo Mall’s next major shakeup came in 1980, when longtime anchor Montgomery Ward announced plans to convert its store to the Jefferson Ward discount concept¹⁰. Instead, Ward’s closed the following year¹¹! After briefly housing a “peddler’s alley,” the space reopened as Terre Haute-based Meis in 1987 following a $1.5 million renovation¹². Another $12 million in improvements around the mall attracted retailers like Gordon’s Jewelers, The Limited, Lane Bryant, and Sbarro¹³. Still, Elder-Beerman ultimately acquired Meis¹⁴ and rebranded its Kokomo store in 1989¹⁵.

The second anchor to leave was H.P. Wasson, the Indianapolis department store that opened its third suburban outpost in Anderson just after the chain’s “Kokomall¹⁶” store came online. Wasson’s sold to Goldblatt’s of Chicago in 1967, but the combination never quite found its footing. Unfortunately, Wassons’ stores in Kokomo, Anderson, Bloomington, Gary, Indianapolis, and South Bend all closed in 1981¹⁷. The space became home to Phar-Mor in 1987 or 1988. Remember that debacle? The discount chain touted its “Power Buying” strategy and rock-bottom prices, but a massive account fraud and embezzlement scandal that erupted in the early nineties lurked behind the bargains.

Another significant change came to Kokomo Mall when Goody’s took over several storefronts near J.C. Penney at the mall’s north end¹⁸. The 27,000-square-foot store carried familiar brands like Levi’s, Dockers, Bugle Boy, Nike, and Adidas, but that wasn’t enough to prevent the company from declaring bankruptcy and closing in 2009¹⁹.

Kokomo Mall’s death blow came two years later, when Elder-Beerman’s parent company, The Bon-Ton, announced plans to replace it with a new Carson’s at Markland Mall²⁰. The store’s departure left Kokomo Mall with two vacant anchors and appears to have been the final straw for its owners: rather than continue to operate a struggling enclosed mall, they opted to reinvent the property by taking the roof off and returning it to its open-air roots.

Kokomo Mall’s transformation into Kokomo Town Center unfolded in three phases, beginning with finding a new tenant for the former Elder-Beerman anchor. In 2012, Robert Miller & Son Furniture, family-owned and local since 1955²¹, moved into the space and gained 12,000 square feet over its previous location. The move was an encouraging first step, but finding new tenants was only part of the challenge. Kokomo Mall was still saddled with an aging enclosed layout designed for a kind of shopping experience that had steadily fallen out of favor. Filling empty storefronts might have kept the property afloat, but securing its future would require something much more ambitious.

One of those hurdles was establishing what a “Town Center” actually was outside of tony places like Noblesville. As the director of Indiana University’s Center for Education and Research in Retailing pointed out, the reinvented shopping center needed a clear identity to succeed. Would it become a convenience-oriented strip plaza focused on value, or an upscale lifestyle center like its new name suggested? Trying to be both, the expert warned, could leave Kokomo Town Center struggling to be either²².

Nevertheless, Kokomo Mall was de-malled. Interior corridors were demolished in a process that typically gives individual storefronts access from parking lots or walkways, but stores no longer face the old concourse in Kokomo. You can drive through it, though, and I couldn’t resist taking a spin! It was fun in the same sort of way my stepdad liked driving our big old Chevy conversion van down the airport runway during festivals at the airport. Have you ever driven through a mall? Probably not, unless you’re a Blues Brother.

At any rate, the return of Kokomo Mall as Kokomo Town Center continued as the long-vacant Wasson’s/Phar-Mor space began to fill in 2018. Hopebridge Autism Therapy Centers announced plans to open a 15,000-square-foot facility in part of the building²³ then, and today, the rest of the structure is also home to Right Path Physical Therapy & Performance Academy, CharLee’s Auto Glass, and Rotech Healthcare, a supplier of oxygen equipment. An AMC Classic 12 built by Kerasotes in 2006 sits just west.

Unfortunately, Kokomo Town Center lost its last surviving anchor from its enclosed-mall days when J.C. Penney closed in 2020²⁴. The vacancy didn’t last long, though, as discount department store Gabes opened just over a year later²⁵. The old J.C. Penney sign left behind a vivid label scar on the building’s north side, though, and it was clear enough for my phone to try and recognize it as text when I took a picture! Despite that lingering reminder of the past, though, Gabes seems to be doing well. It was the busiest place I saw during my visit to Kokomo Town Center!

Aside from Robert Miller & Son, Gabes, and the businesses in the old Wasson’s; Kokomo Town Center’s old mall footprint was home to Buffalo Wild Wings, Cosmo Prof, HOTWORX, and Taku Japanese Steakhouse when I visited. Several spaces facing Reed Road -US-931- were empty.

The outparcels were a different story, though, with businesses like the AMC cinema, Chuck E. Cheese, Discount Tire, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Panera, and Rally’s ringing the property, along with a couple of stores near its northern edge whose names escape me. At the southwest corner, Five Guys, Charleys Philly Steaks, and Security Federal Savings Bank occupy an intriguing strip of storefronts.

I know I’m late to the party when it comes to a mall de-malled nearly fifteen years ago, but I couldn’t but keep wondering why Kokomo Mall failed in its initial form while Markland Mall was still teeming with shoppers. After all, they were only minutes apart and served roughly the same customers. Kokomo Mall was even closer to the Chrysler plants that still keep the city humming! What gives?

I’m no Kokomologist, or KokoMALLogist for that matter, but I suspect the answer comes down to a combination of timing, tenants, and plain old staying power. Kokomo Mall started as a typical strip, but Markland was enclosed from the beginning. That distinction may have given Markland an advantage! Then came the steady erosion of Kokomo Mall’s original anchors. The Bon-Ton’s decision to close Elder-Beerman at Kokomo so a new Carson’s could emerge at Markland made that factor especially apparent.

Then again, Kokomo’s population trends probably didn’t help much either. 47,000 people in town when Kokomo Mall first opened drew down to 46,000 in 2010. Both malls drew customers from surrounding communities, but there were only so many to go around. As department stores consolidated, big-box stores joined the scene, and shopping habits changed, it was probably impossible for a city of Kokomo’s size to support two traditional malls just minutes apart. Markland Mall emerged victorious.

That said, I wouldn’t call Kokomo Mall’s story a complete failure, since both it and Markland adapted to changing times. Markland Mall tore down an empty Sears to build a strip of prominent retailers, while Kokomo Mall returned to its origins. I’m not sure it nails the balance between lifestyle center and discount strip, but Kokomo Town Center remains part of the city’s active retail landscape after more than sixty years.

Given how many shopping malls have disappeared entirely, perhaps that’s a success story in its own right.

Sources Cited
1 Poletika, N. (2014, May 26). The Problem with Firsts. Indian Historic Bureau [Indianapolis]. Web. Retriebed October 21, 2026.
2 “Stainless Steel” Worcester Polytechnic Institute [Worcester]. Web. Retrieved October 22, 2026.
3 Delphi Technologies is now part of BorgWarner (2006, January 4). BorgWarner [Auburn Hills]. Web. Retrieved October 22, 2026.
4 Other Stores for New Kokomo Mall Names (1963, October 2). The Kokomo Tribune. p. 17.
5 Markland Mall Groundbreaking Is Tuesday (1967, July 16). The Kokomo Tribune. Pp. 1-2.
6 City Extends Greetings to New Markland Mall (1967, July 19). The Kokomo Tribune. p. 18.
7 (See footnote 6).
8 Roofing and Paneling (1968, November 17). The Kokomo Tribune. p. 50.
9 A Place To Shop for All Seasons—(Enclosed) Kokomo Mall. (1968, November 17). The Kokomo Tribune. p. 46.
10 It will one day be Jefferson Ward (1980, December 17). The Kokomo Tribune. p. 33.
11 Montgomery Ward to close (1981, September 3). The Kokomo Tribune. p. 40.
12 Meis plans opening in October (1987, August 9). The Kokomo Tribune. p. 4.
13 Meis will make it official (1987, October 28). The Kokomo Tribune. p. 20.
14 Kitchell, D. (1988, March 27). The Kokomo Tribune. p. 105.
15 Thank You Kokomo (1989, October 8). The Kokomo Tribune. p. 5.
16 H.P. Wasson To Open Kokomo Store Thursday (1964, April 29). The Kokomo Tribune. p. 3.
17 Chain store closing Kokomo outlet (1981, February 27). The Kokomo Tribune. p. 7.
18 Slade, S. (1998, October 6). Kokomo Mall gets the ‘Goody’s.’ The Kokomo Tribune. p. 15.
19 Emerson, L. (2009, January 18). Goody’s is getting rid of clothing before end. The Augusta Chronicle [Georgia]. Web. Retrieved September 23, 2026.
20 Human, D. (2011, April 4). New mall, new name for Elder-Beerman. The Kokomo Tribune. Web. Retrieved October 22, 2026.
21 About Us (n.d.). Robert Miller & Son Furniture [Kokomo]. Web. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
22 Human, D. (2012, May 30). Kokomo Mall transforms into Kokomo Town Center. The Kokomo Tribune. Web. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
23 Hopebridge Opening New Therapy Center in Kokomo, Indiana (2018, September 27). Hopebridge Autism Therapy Centers. Web. Retrieved October 23, 2026.
24 Gerber, C. (2020, June 5). JCPenney store closing at Kokomo Mall. The Kokomo Tribune. Web. Retrieved October 23, 2026.
25 Juranovich, T. (2021, August 3). Gabe’s to open Aug. 15 in former JCPenney space. The Kokomo Tribune. Web. Retrieved September 19, 2026.