Circle Centre to restore mall access via closed Carson’s store

The department store is gone, but a small portion of the space that formerly housed Carson’s in downtown Indianapolis will soon be accessible once again to Circle Centre shoppers.

Workers are in the process of building a walkway through the first floor of the store, which closed April 29. Visible through store windows, wood framing creates a path that runs from the space’s Washington Street entrance to its mall entrance near PF Chang’s and Champps. The walkway is expected to provide an important access point on the northeast side of the mall.

Carson’s had ground-floor entrances on both Washington and Meridian streets, providing key access points to the mall. Both of those entrances have been closed since the store went out of business following a three-month liquidation sale.

Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group, which manages Circle Centre, did not provide much detail about the project.

Emily Nickels, who serves as spokesman for all of Simon’s Indianapolis-area malls, told IBJ via email that a completion date for the project has not yet been set. 

“The entrance is closed right now but will reopen to better serve the public soon," Nickels wrote.

Meanwhile, it appears that Carson’s Meridian Street entrance will remain closed. An “Entrance Closed” sign is posted at the building’s Meridian Street entrance, while the Washington Street sign says “Entrance Temporarily Closed.”

Carson’s, which occupied 145,000 square feet over three floors and was Circle Centre’s lone remaining anchor, launched a liquidation sale on Feb. 1.

Circle Centre's other ground-floor public exterior entrances are at Illinois and Washington streets, at Illinois and Maryland streets, and on Georgia Street. 

The Carson’s chain is part of Bon-Ton Stores, a 160-year-old retail company that itself is in the process of liquidation. Bon-Ton has dual headquarters in Milwaukee and York, Pennsylvania, and operated more than 250 stores under names including Carson’s, Younkers and Elder-Beerman.