Cherryvale Mall is a shopping mall

Shopping mall

A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...

 in Cherry Valley, Illinois

Cherry Valley, Illinois

The village of Cherry Valley, Illinois is a community of located in the Kishwaukee River valley, which lies primarily in Winnebago County, but approximately ten percent of the Village is located in Boone County. The village is within the Rockford, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area, and...

, serving nearby Rockford, Illinois

Rockford, Illinois

Rockford is a mid-sized city located on both banks of the Rock River in far northern Illinois. Often referred to as "The Forest City", Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County, Illinois, USA. As reported in the 2010 U.S. census, the city was home to 152,871 people, the third most populated...

. Its four anchor stores are Bergner's

Bergner's

Bergner's is a major department store in central and northern Illinois, established in 1889 in Peoria, Illinois, and offering mid-line to higher end merchandise in their largest stores. The current flagship store is located in Peoria at The Shoppes at Grande Prairie.-Beginnings:Bergner's was...

, J. C. Penney

J. C. Penney

-External links:*...

, Macy's and Sears

Sears, Roebuck and Company

Sears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century...

. CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.

CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.

CBL & Associates Properties, Inc., , is a real estate investment trust based in Chattanooga, Tennessee.CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. The fourth largest shopping mall REIT in the United States, it owns, holds interests in or manages 130 properties including 79 market-dominant enclosed malls...

 acquired the shopping center in 2002. Cherryvale mall has 134 stores consisting of a gross leasing area of 783167 sq ft (72,758.6 m²). Cherryvale has 3,892 parking spaces. Outlot stores include Bachrodt Auto Mall, DQ Grill & Chill

Dairy Queen

Dairy Queen, often abbreviated DQ, is a chain of soft serve and fast food restaurants owned by International Dairy Queen, Inc, who also owns Orange Julius and Karmelkorn. The name "Dairy Queen" is taken from the name of their soft serve product, which the company refers to as "Dairy Queen" or...

, T.G.I. Friday's

T.G.I. Friday's

T.G.I. Friday's is an American restaurant chain focusing on casual dining. The company is a unit of the Carlson Companies. Its name is taken from the expression TGIF...

, Hilander Foods and Petland.

History

Although not the first enclosed mall in the Rockford area (that honor goes to the now-defunct Meadowmart in Loves Park), the Cherryvale Mall was the first large, modern mall in the area. Marshall Field's

Marshall Field's

Marshall Field & Company was a department store in Chicago, Illinois that grew to become a major chain before being acquired by Macy's Inc...

 was one of the original anchor department store at the mall and was there for many years, until it was taken over by Macy's

Macy's

Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...

.

Today

Cherryvale Mall is currently the most visited attraction in the Rockford area and the most popular by teenagers living there. The mall has recently opened its outdoor mall called "The District at CherryVale" which has about 10 new stores and shops. Brands such as Coldwater Creek

Coldwater Creek

Coldwater Creek is a women's apparel and accessories retailer based in Sandpoint, Idaho, United States. The company was founded in 1984 by Dennis and Ann Pence. Coldwater Creek sells its products in stores, through catalogs and online. The online outlet carries apparel that was featured during...

, a woman's apparel and accessory store, and Granite City Food & Brewery have opened. Other stores include Talbots

Talbots

Talbots is a specialty retailer and direct marketer of women’s classic clothing, shoes and accessories. Established in 1947, the company sells items such as the blazer, trench, white shirt, ballet flats and pearls....

, JoS.A.Bank

JoS. A. Bank Clothiers

Joseph A. Bank Clothiers, Inc., also known by the abbreviated name JoS. A. Bank Clothiers, is an American manufacturer-retailers of men's classically-styled tailored and casual clothing, sportswear, footwear and accessories...

, Portrait Innovations, Barnes & Noble

Barnes & Noble

Barnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered at 122 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District in Manhattan in New York City. Barnes & Noble also operated the chain of small B. Dalton...

, Lane Bryant

Lane Bryant

Lane Bryant is a United States retail women's clothing store chain focusing on plus-size clothing. It began in the early 1900s with the innovative maternity designs created by Lena Himmelstein Bryant Malsin. -Beginning:...

/Cacique and Chico's

Chico's (retail chain)

Chico's is a retail women's clothing chain founded in 1983 on Sanibel Island, Florida.The Company currently operates 1,084 women's clothing stores, including stores in 48 states, Washington D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico operating under the Chico's, White House | Black Market and...

 as well as a few yet unnamed stores. In August 2007 Cherryvale and the Rockford Park District opened the "Come Play With Us" children's indoor soft play area, with play pieces made of foam.

Terror plot thwarted

On December 6, 2006, 22-year-old Derrick Shareef

Derrick Shareef

Derrick Shareef, also known as Talib Abu Salam Ibn Shareef, is an accused Islamic terrorist who is charged with trying to trade stereo speakers for handgrenades and a handgun as part of plan to terrorize shoppers at CherryVale Mall in Rockford, Illinois. Last known to reside in Genoa, Illinois,...

, also known as Talib Abu Salam Ibn Shareef, of Rockford, was arrested for plotting a terror attack on Cherryvale Mall. According to federal authorities, Shareef planned to toss hand grenades among holiday shoppers. He met with an undercover agent in a Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...

 parking lot to trade a set of stereo speakers for four hand grenades and a pistol.

December 8, 2006, Shareef was charged with one count of attempting to damage or destroy a building by fire or explosion and one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald

Patrick Fitzgerald

Patrick J. Fitzgerald is the current United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and a member of the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel...

 assures citizens that "while these are very serious charges, at no time was the public in any imminent peril."

Man sets himself ablaze

In November 2001, Richard Lewis of Rockford, Illinois handcuffed himself to the railing of the second-floor mezzanine

Mezzanine (architecture)

In architecture, a mezzanine or entresol is an intermediate floor between main floors of a building, and therefore typically not counted among the overall floors of a building. Often, a mezzanine is low-ceilinged and projects in the form of a balcony. The term is also used for the lowest balcony in...

 at Cherryvale Mall, doused himself with gasoline

Gasoline

Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...

 shouted, "freedom and liberty for all" and lit himself on fire. Two shoppers prevented the man from jumping over the second story mezzanine and in the process received second-degree burns. Lewis was flown to Loyola University Medical Center

Loyola University Medical Center

The Loyola University Medical Center is a quaternary care system with a main medical center campus in the western suburbs of Chicago. The medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, west of the Chicago Loop and east of Oak Brook, Illinois. The heart of the medical center campus,...

suffering burns over 40 percent of his body.