3. Hickory Point Mall

Just...no.
The Hickory Point mall as gone downhill over the years. Much like a lot of businesses in Decatur, nothing ever lasts in this mall for too long. Almost every new or popular store has closed down mysteriously for one reason or another, some of the biggest blows being Spencers, Hot Topic, and both "urban" clothing stores-all of these stores still exist in Champaign's Marketplace mall and Springfield's White Oaks mall. The one's still open are either too expensive to shop in, or very dull (for example, the new calender and cooking ware stores... Come on people.) The mall tries hard to bring in crowds by hosting several community events and adding smaller attractions, but it doesn't seem to be enough. Design wise, the mall hasn't seen any sort of "remodeling" in years. Same layout, slightly different stores. Not too many thrills. Since there's not as many clothing stores, many residents are forced to drive out of town to buy something unique to wear, which is a lot of gas, mind you. The mall also has a very pathetic excuse for a "food court"-only three resturants exist, with the edition of the pizza parlor closing. And as if things weren't bad enough, there's also a strict, "no cameras without permit" and "no groups larger than 3 people" rule, which is completely unfair. What's the point of coming to the mall if you can't shop with a few friends or family members? So unless you like "preppy" clothing, calenders, kitchen ware, and bland food, I wouldn't advise you to visit this mall. Your better of driving the extra 30 minutes to Springfield or Champaign.

I've been to several malls in my lifetime, and Decatur's Hickory Point Mall is a very average mall, pailing in comparison to a lot of other regional malls in Central Illinois, especially considering Marketplace Mall in Champaign-Urbana and White Oaks Mall in Springfield have made so much more progress as far as stores and such. There is no reason why Hickory Point shouldn't have more in the way of stores, but the selection they have is not bad. With stores such as American Eagle, Aeropostale, Journeys, Pacific Sunwear, Steve and Berrys, and Old Navy, not to mention a wide variety of athletic stores (Finish Line, Foot Locker, MC Sports, etc.). Long story short, the mall isn't by any means great, but it's not bad at all, if you're in town for a night or just visiting, you should take a visit to Hickory Point Mall.