Southridge Mall spent years in foreclosure proceedings, lost three of its five original anchors, and still drew 7.6 million visitors a year. Those facts sit next to each other without resolving into a single story.
The mall opened in Greendale in 1970 and became the main enclosed shopping center for Milwaukee’s south side and southwest suburbs. The department stores that originally defined the visit are mostly gone.
What replaced them in the old anchor boxes was a bowling alley, sporting goods, and off-price retail. Nearby, a cinema with restaurant seating joined the property…