Northwest Plaza's highest grossing sales year was 2001. The early 2000s recession caused a small decline in the number of stores occupying Northwest Plaza. A rapid decline began in 2004, due to the increased competition from St. Louis Mills mall, which opened only away from Northwest Plaza. At the same time, the mall was suffering from lack of upkeep by then current owner Westfield. The mall's roof was examined under their ownership, and determined it needed to be replaced, among other things. Rather than the expensive rehabilitation of the mall, Westfield concluded it would not be cost effective, and decided to sell the mall entirely. When it was sold in 2006, Northwest Plaza had an occupancy rate of just 64%. Business continued to decline and when the late 2000s recession hit, most of the remaining stores vacated the mall. It was considered a dead mall by 2009.