Jefferson Street Strip Mall Becomes Empty

JOLIET, IL — In 2017, Mayor Bob O'Dekirk and the Joliet City Council rejected a proposal to open a 12,000-square-foot liquor store called the Joliet Market inside the commercial strip mall at 2155 West Jefferson St. Nowadays, the entire strip mall is empty. There is not one viable business operating inside the strip mall, which is next to the dilapidated former Baker's Square that closed in 2019 and the large pile of rubble where Senor Tequila's once stood.

Last September, Joliet Patch reported that a business called World Vape & Tobacco Wholesale opened in the corner storefront at 2157 West Jefferson St. Window displays advertised cigar accessories, CBD White Owl, glass pipe hookahs and Swisher Sweets cigars.

Over the past two weeks, the World Vape storefront has gone dormant. Day after day, the entire parking lot remains empty.

In 2020, Patch reported that Check Into Cash was the only storefront at the Jefferson Street strip mall at the time of World Vape & Tobacco's arrival.

These days, even the Check Into Cash has left.

There's nothing left at the strip mall in the 2100 block of West Jefferson Street. The entire property is empty. Everything is gone.