The Hillcrest Shopping Center was designed by architect Scott S. Bigelow and constructed in 1959. The shopping center was a destination for customers to complete all their usual weekly shopping, as well as their leisure shopping, all in one location. The mall was to be an outdoor mall (en vogue at the time) and anchored by an 88,000-square-foot Goldblatt's at the south end, and a two-level, 50,000-square-foot branch of a local department store, the Boston Store (no relation to the current one based in Milwaukee). Altogether, the mall was to have 250,000 SF of retail space and cost $4.8 million. On November 18, 1959, the mall was officially opened to the public. The mall also included Jewel, Walgreens, Richman Bros., SS Kresge, and about 30 other stores for 37 stores total. The popularity of Hillcrest declined after the opening of the Jefferson Square Mall in 1975, followed by the Louis Joliet Mall in 1978. The former mall continues to serve the Hill Crest community as a prominent commercial center.