University Park Mall — Attraction in Mishawaka

This is probably the only mall in the area that's still functioning nicely. Close enough to a university, and decent mix of shops makes it worthwhile for my hubby and me to visit this place atleast twice in a month. The big anchor stores are jcpenney, barnes&noble, and macys which are still open. You have alot of mid and small size stores, and some high end stores.

During the pandemic, most of the stores are following the social distance guidelines, however there is alot of young population, so sometimes it's tricky and there are long wait lines for stores like apple, footlocker, champs, american eagle, aeropostale.. places where you would expect a young crowd to go. There are alot of clothes shopping stores, from express, j crew, mens warehouse, jos.a.bank (that maybe closed), banana republic (may be closed as well), rue 21, hollister, and ofcourse, aeropostale and american eagle... There are also couple of boutique stores in there... Your high end stores would be michael kors and coach.

A range of smaller stores would include oriental store, pet store, couple of jewellery stores (Taj and Pandora), massage parlor, cookie store, buckle, build a bear, and more. There are also small kiosks or stalls sprinkled in the main corridor, which includes starbucks, boba tea, mobile repair, perfumes, fudge chocolates, nitrogen ice cream and more. Some places do change from time to time. There's plenty of sitting options in the public area as well. The restrooms are harder to find as they are close to the center of the mall, yankee candle is my landmark. But nevertheless, they are ok to use during less traffic times and long lines when it's crowded.

There are some eateries as well, like flattop grill (flatbread I believe, I haven't tried it as yet), five guys (not accessible from the mall, you have to exit and re enter this store from outside), gloria's beans, bens pretzels, and a good range of food court options- the most popular I believe is Chick-fil-A. You also have subway, pizza di roma (lucas pizza- there meat lovers pizza is revered by my hubby; I tried the cheese pizza and for me it was too cheesy and bland, and buttery/oily), and some asian cuisine, and a philly cheesteak place. Plenty of place to sit and is regularly cleaned. Automatic garbage disposal bins. There is, I believe bar louie as well, but it hasn't opened for a while.

When you visit, it's better to park close to a store you are likely to remember And easy for you to enter and exit from. The mall has about 5-6 entrances (maybe more) and tons of parking space. They also have tesla charging stations for your tesla if you'd like to use. I have never seen them empty. The mall may have wifi, though once inside, I have never used it. Also note that store you see from outside may not be accessible from inside, (like mens warehouse) ... So couple of times I ve entered thinking I can access from inside but have forgotten to look for once I've entered. And remembered upon exiting, where was this place?? Lol. Anyhow, good family time space, and ofcourse good location. Checkout the mall site for more store names. And you can also look up individual stores (reviews for pet store, etc) on net to know more about them. I've given it three stars because the corridors get squished during lining up and then you are dodging people. I have seen one security guy only only a segway, I believe you don't have much of theft but the security seems flimsy. I don't think the food court has good enough range of options and is small for the foot traffic they expect. However, there are limited spaces to enjoy overall especially when the weather is terrible... so don't worry,...

Just went there today. My last time coming was the day after Christmas. My teenaged kids were sad and disappointed to see that the Game Stop was gone and in its place was a crappy, ghetto hoodie store. Also no Jorneys. So we went there to buy some new shoes for my 16 year old daughter and 15 year old son. Next to where Jorneys used to be was another ghetto shoe store thay pretty much only sold Nikes and other crappy brands. All of my kids were disappointed. So, then they wanted to get Starbucks, but they were gonna and another crappy coffee store in its place and so we went to a few of the shoe stores. They didn't have what we wanted. The kids were looking for some of the good addidas. Not one store there had the artsy Addidas we were looking for or the BAPE shoes we were looking for.in the end the kids, disappointed asked if we could go get something to eat in the food court. I agreed and took them, but of course, it is Sunday so no Chick-fil A. So my youngest got Pizza di Roma. He ordered a hand and cheese canzone. My other two kids got Philly cheesteak pizzas and i got the Tako place. My tacos were good. But when we all sat down at the table and started opening up our food, a smell of rotten egg started to become apparent. Each of us thinking it was from someplace else. It wasn't. My youngest took a bite out of his ham and cheese calzone and we trying to chew it... he said it tasted bad. I thought maybe he just didn't like their calzones. Nope... he didn't eat anymore but he said it left a terrible taste in his mouth. He was complaining about it, which I was a bit surprised at but really didn't think it was the Pizza di Romas fault. When we got up, I went to throw away his food and saw the inside of the calzone. It was all rotten and the cheese had separated from the curds. It was obvious that this was a very, very old calzone that they had made. Realizing what had happened, I took the food back up to the pizza place and told them off for giving my son bad food. No wonder he vomited! I didn't ask for anything to replace it. He had already thrown up and why would I ever trust them to give non rotten fold to my kids ever again. As I walked out, disgusted by the events of the day. Disgusted by the food. Disappointed by the the closed stores that we have frequented throughout the years and seeing all of the kiosks through the middle of the isle way, I realized that this is no longer a good mall. My kids were complaining that they don't want to come back. And I realized that University Park Mall had become the dirt mall! You guys ran out Scottsdale several years ago and it became all too apparent that this would be the fate of UP mall. RIP UP Mall. You suck now. I guess you will all just.go quietly into.that dark night. Sad for sephora as that is one of the few stores I go there for. But I can't imagine that they can keep a decent business now. They have no Jorneys, no Game Stop, no decent restaurants in the food court without Chick-fil-A. All of their big stores have closed up and now the other good ones are leaving as well. But I guess the bright side is, I won't have to listen to my kids beg me to take then to the...

Located in South Bend, Indiana, University Park Mall is a large shopping center with both indoor and outdoor accessibility. The parking is abundant, but because it’s always busy, there never seem to be enough spaces, and I’m sure they could benefit from more handicapped/pregnant mother/families with young children type of spots. The sidewalks around the perimeter are raised so that wheelchairs need to find a ramp to access the main level. The ramps I saw were easily managed with no obvious gaps to catch wheels. The main mall entrances are hands-free, but some of the side doors and department stores have long handles on the doors which are easy to grasp but very heavy to pull open. The accessible entrances are marked. There is an abundance of clear floor space allowing for easy mobility even when crowded. Signage is good, offering direction to major stores, food and restroom access. The service accessibility is good with all tables open underneath for plenty of knee/toe clearance. When it is crowded, however, the chairs and tables don’t leave a lot of room to maneuver. Each of the vendors has an accessible height counter to pay and receive food at. The mall itself is well-maintained and welcoming for all. While a pleasant experience for most, a shopping mall could be a stressful experience for some, so a Quality of Life space could be a beneficial reprieve for those who struggle with...