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MALL DEVELOPMENT PIONEER LOUIS ZORENSKY DEAD AT 88

By Edmund Mander

Mall trailblazer Louis I. Zorensky, who introduced or developed many of the innovations that have become commonplace in today’s shopping centers, died July 9. He was 88.

In partnership with his brother Milton, Zorensky was among the first to build a shopping center with more than one department store when he persuaded Scruggs-Vandervoort-Barney and Sears, Roebuck to come into Crestwood Plaza, which the brothers opened in St. Louis in 1957. Crestwood Plaza was the area’s first regional mall.

“Back in the mid-’50s, it was a radical idea,” said Lee Wagman, former president and CEO of TrizecHahn, explaining that most developers then had no inkling that rival department stores would benefit rather than suffer by sharing a location. Wagman, who now heads Los Angeles-based AGC Realty Advisors, is married to Zorensky’s daughter, Barbara. Zorensky eventually brought five department stores into Northwest Plaza, which was the world’s largest shopping center when he opened it in 1965 in St. Ann, Mo., outside St. Louis.

This unconventional approach to anchoring malls was born of the Zorenskys’ background, Wagman says. The brothers were managers in menswear stores that their father, Hyme, a Russian immigrant, opened in St. Louis. “Louis approached shopping centers as a merchant,” Wagman said, and this set him off from most developers, who were primarily construction industry professionals.

In another innovation, Zorensky was the first developer to build a split-level parking area — at Crestwood Plaza — that provided direct access to the first and second stories of the anchors.

Zorensky did not develop many malls, but those he did build he nurtured and perfected, Wagman says. The brothers expanded Crestwood Plaza four times over the years. “He was one of a few who believed if you build a few centers and run them well, you can achieve a great many things,” said Wagman.

Zorensky served on ICSC’s Board of Trustees from 1963 to 1966, and he was an enthusiastic proponent of the organization’s mission to share and propagate industry best practices, Wagman recalls. This stemmed in part from his strong belief in the value of education. Zorensky held degrees in business and law from Washington University, St. Louis.

Zorensky was also very active in civic affairs, serving on the boards of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, and the Jewish Agency for Israel. He was a vigorous advocate for Jews persecuted in the former Soviet Union and a strong supporter of Israel. Washington University’s law and business schools honored him with their distinguished alumni award.

He is survived by his wife, Mary; daughters Barbara Wagman, Doris Cheng and Iris Fowle; sons David and Edward; and 12 grandchildren. His brother Milton, with whom he worked throughout his professional career, died Feb. 12. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to be made in his memory to ICSC’s Educational Foundation, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, 41st Floor, New York, NY 10020.