Quincy Town Center

Quincy Town Center is a shopping mall and office complex serving Quincy, Illinois, and the surrounding area. The property began in 1958 as the American Legion Miracle Mile Town and Country Shopping Center, an outdoor, approximately mile-long retail strip developed by the Don M. Casto Organization of Columbus, Ohio, on land acquired from the local American Legion. Its initial tenant mix included Kresge’s, W. T. Grant, National Supermarkets, Kroger food stores, and Shoppers Fair, reflecting the department-store, grocery, and general-merchandise format common to mid-century American shopping centers. The center was renamed Town & Country Shopping Center in 1968, when the Town & Country Cinema was added. As the original center approached its twentieth anniversary, a new enclosed mall was considered for a site roughly 1.5 miles west at Broadway and 48th Street. The plan was subsequently revised so that the existing property could be enclosed and modernized. The resulting indoor complex opened on November 14, 1978, under the name Quincy Mall. Its early anchor lineup included Bergner’s and Sears, with J. C. Penney joining in 1982. Ownership changed in 2006, when Cullinan Properties purchased the mall from the Casto organization. Cullinan later sought to expand a redevelopment agreement with the City of Quincy that had been established in connection with the 2006 ownership transition. The property experienced substantial anchor turnover during the 2010s. J. C. Penney closed in April 2015, and the former space was later occupied by Slumberland Furniture, which opened there in 2017. Sears closed on August 11, 2018. Bergner’s closed on August 28, 2018, following the bankruptcy and liquidation of its parent company, Bon-Ton. The complex subsequently shifted toward a more mixed-use model rather than relying exclusively on traditional department-store anchors. VIP Cinemas joined the property in 2019. In 2020, Quincy Medical Group converted the former Bergner’s building into a cancer institute and surgery center, adding a healthcare function to the center’s retail and entertainment uses. Cullinan Properties rebranded the property as Quincy Town Center in March 2021, signaling its repositioning beyond the older Quincy Mall identity. Dunham’s Sports opened in the former Sears space in December 2024, restoring a major retail anchor focused on sporting goods. The center’s current anchor and major-use tenants include Dunham’s Sports, Slumberland Furniture, Quincy Medical Group, and VIP Cinemas. Its identity is therefore based on a combination of retail, furniture, sporting goods, healthcare, cinema, and office-related uses. The property remains active, although its history reflects the broader transformation of American enclosed malls, including department-store departures, adaptive reuse, entertainment additions, and diversification into non-retail services.

Quincy Town Center traces its history to 1958, when the Don M. Casto Organization developed the American Legion Miracle Mile Town and Country Shopping Center in Quincy, Illinois. The outdoor center was established on land purchased from the local American Legion and was designed as a long retail strip. Its original anchors and major tenants included Kresge’s, W. T. Grant, National Supermarkets, Kroger food stores, and Shoppers Fair. The combination of department stores, supermarkets, and general merchandise made the center an important regional shopping destination. In 1968, the property’s name was shortened to Town & Country Shopping Center. The same year, the Town & Country Cinema was added, giving the center an entertainment component in addition to its retail uses. By the late 1970s, many leases were approaching expiration. Casto considered building a new enclosed mall west of the existing center at Broadway and 48th Street. Instead, the development plan was revised to enclose and substantially rework the existing shopping center. The enclosed property opened on November 14, 1978, as Quincy Mall. The new mall was anchored by Bergner’s and Sears, two department-store operators that were prominent in American regional retail at the time. J. C. Penney was added as another anchor in 1982. The enclosed format provided climate-controlled shopping and represented a major modernization of the original outdoor center. In 2006, Cullinan Properties acquired Quincy Mall from the Don M. Casto Organization. The new owner subsequently pursued changes to a redevelopment agreement with the City of Quincy that had been created around the 2006 transaction. During Cullinan’s ownership, the property faced the same structural pressures affecting many traditional shopping malls: department-store consolidation, store closures, changing consumer behavior, and the need to reuse large anchor spaces. J. C. Penney closed in April 2015. Its former space was later reused by Slumberland Furniture, which opened in 2017. Sears shut its Quincy location on August 11, 2018. Bergner’s closed on August 28, 2018, after the failure and liquidation of its parent company, Bon-Ton. These closures eliminated the mall’s principal traditional department-store anchors and encouraged a more diversified tenant strategy. The property added VIP Cinemas in 2019, strengthening its entertainment role. In 2020, Quincy Medical Group converted the former Bergner’s building into a cancer institute and surgery center. This adaptive reuse introduced a substantial healthcare presence and changed the center from a conventional enclosed mall into a more mixed-use complex. In March 2021, Cullinan Properties rebranded the property as Quincy Town Center. The new name reflected the center’s broader combination of retail, medical, entertainment, furniture, and office-related activities. Dunham’s Sports opened in the former Sears space in December 2024. Alongside Slumberland Furniture, Quincy Medical Group, and VIP Cinemas, it became one of the property’s principal anchor or major-use tenants. The center’s development history illustrates the evolution of a mid-century outdoor shopping strip into an enclosed regional mall and later into a diversified community-oriented town center.

• 2024

  Dunham’s Sports opens

  [1]Quincy Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  Dunham’s Sports opens in the former Sears anchor space in December.

• 2021

  Quincy Mall is renamed Quincy Town Center

  [1]Quincy Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  Cullinan Properties rebrands the complex as Quincy Town Center in March.

• 2020

  Former Bergner’s space becomes a medical center

  [1]Quincy Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  Quincy Medical Group converts the former Bergner’s building into a cancer institute and surgery center.

• 2019

  VIP Cinemas joins the property

  [1]Quincy Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  VIP Cinemas becomes a major entertainment tenant.

• 2018

  Sears and Bergner’s close

  [1]Quincy Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  Sears closes in August, followed later that month by Bergner’s after Bon-Ton’s liquidation.

• 2017

  Slumberland Furniture opens

  [1]Quincy Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  Slumberland Furniture occupies the former J. C. Penney space.

• 2015

  J. C. Penney closes

  [1]Quincy Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  J. C. Penney leaves the property in April 2015.

• 2006

  Cullinan Properties acquires the mall

  [1]Quincy Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  Cullinan Properties purchases the property from the Don M. Casto Organization.

• 1982

  J. C. Penney becomes an anchor

  [1]Quincy Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  J. C. Penney is added to the mall’s anchor lineup.

• 1978

  Enclosed Quincy Mall opens

  [1]Quincy Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  The redeveloped indoor shopping complex opens on November 14, 1978, anchored by Bergner’s and Sears.

• 1968

  Property becomes Town & Country Shopping Center

  [1]Quincy Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  The center adopts the shortened Town & Country Shopping Center name and adds the Town & Country Cinema.

• 1958

  Original outdoor shopping center opens

  [1]Quincy Town Centeren.wikipedia.org

  The American Legion Miracle Mile Town and Country Shopping Center opens in Quincy, Illinois, with a retail-strip format and several major grocery and general-merchandise tenants.

A community-oriented shopping and mixed-use center combining retail, furniture, sporting goods, cinema, healthcare, and office-related services.

• Retail center · 1958

  Retail shopping

  The property provides a range of conventional shopping-center services and merchandise. Its tenant mix has changed substantially over time, moving from department stores, supermarkets, and general-merchandise chains toward a combination of specialty retail, furniture, sporting goods, healthcare, and entertainment uses.

• Sporting goods · 2024

  Dunham’s Sports

  Dunham’s Sports occupies the former Sears anchor space and offers the center a large-format sporting-goods retail use. Its arrival in December 2024 restored a major tenant to one of the property’s previously vacant department-store locations.

• Furniture and mattresses · 2017

  Slumberland Furniture

  Slumberland Furniture operates from the former J. C. Penney space. The tenant represents the conversion of a traditional department-store anchor into a furniture-focused retail destination.

• Healthcare services · 2020

  Quincy Medical Group facilities

  Quincy Medical Group adapted the former Bergner’s anchor building into a cancer institute and surgery center. This use broadened the complex’s role from retail property to mixed-use community facility.

• Cinema and entertainment · 2019

  VIP Cinemas

  VIP Cinemas provides an entertainment anchor within Quincy Town Center. Its addition in 2019 continued the property’s long-standing connection with cinema, which dates back to the Town & Country Cinema added in 1968.

• 2021

  Rebrand as Quincy Town CenterStrategy

  Background

  The property had lost its traditional department-store anchors and had begun adding healthcare, entertainment, furniture, and other uses.

  Action taken

  Cullinan Properties changed the name from Quincy Mall to Quincy Town Center in March 2021.

  Aftermath

  The new identity positioned the complex as a broader mixed-use and community-oriented destination rather than solely as an enclosed retail mall.

  Source

• 2006

  Cullinan Properties acquires the propertyM&A

  Background

  The mall changed ownership after operating for decades under the Don M. Casto Organization.

  Action taken

  Cullinan Properties purchased Quincy Mall from Casto.

  Aftermath

  Cullinan later pursued an expansion of the redevelopment agreement established with the City of Quincy.

  Source

• 1978

  Enclose and redevelop the existing shopping centerStrategy

  Background

  As the original outdoor center approached its twentieth anniversary and leases were nearing expiration, Casto considered constructing a new enclosed mall at another Quincy location.

  Action taken

  The plan was revised so that the existing shopping center would be enclosed and relaunched as Quincy Mall.

  Aftermath

  The indoor Quincy Mall opened on November 14, 1978, with Bergner’s and Sears as anchors.

  Source

1. 1Quincy Town Centeren.wikipedia.org