1. All the Columbus ones, Forest Fair, Salem Mall, and one in Cincy they left out: Swifton Center (see Wiki article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swifton_Shopping_Center for details). First mall in Cincy, and it was a seriously scary ghost town by the mid 80's. Guess it's back open now, sort of.

And Forest Fair was just a BAD idea to begin with. Turns out all the suburban growth happened many miles to the northeast, in West Chester and Mason. Oops.

What do you think Tom, does Graceland count as a dead/reborn mall?

Posted at 7:56AM on Dec 28th 2006 by CG

2. I was surprised Graceland avoided the axe when the city was considering putting in a Morse Rd.- Bethel Road connector. You've got to love a mall that shares the name of Elvis' home! Now it's a pretty cool mall. I hope it lasts.
I was surprised Northland isn't on the list of dead and gone malls.
Lane Avenue made a nice comeback, too, one I didn't expect. They too went from outdoor mall to enclosed and back to outdoor again.

Posted at 8:15AM on Dec 28th 2006 by CMHguy

3. I worked in retailing for two now dead department stores after college....so I checked for malls in 4 states on Deadmalls.com thanks.

Since moving to Ohio I have been to Columbus City Center Mall, Columbus New Market Mall, Columbus, Westland Mall, Columbus and Northland Mall, Columbus... I know there used to be a way from Media Play into the mall at New Market... Last time I was there I tried to go to the mall just to see if there was anything there. I don't know if I have ever been to Salem Mall, Dayton, because I lived so close to Dayton Mall, I am not sure I ever would have gone to Salem Mall.

Not an enclosed mall but before I moved to Columbus everyone raved about the Continent. I was unimpressed with it, but I loved City Center in the early 90's. Pre Polaris and Easton.

Posted at 4:40PM on Dec 28th 2006 by Maureen

4. Although it's never discussed, because it is a sensitive issue, I think racism had a lot to do with the death of City Center and Northland. When white middle-class customers encountered groups of black youths in the mall, my sense is that they felt intimidated and quit shopping there. The decline in both seemed to coincide with publicized incidents of teen violence.
I suspect this was in part due to the gangster image of black youth that television keeps serving to us, and part a hangover of our heritage of prejudice.
Makes me wonder what strategies are used at swanky malls like Easton to discourage groups of youths of color.

Posted at 4:57PM on Dec 28th 2006 by CMHguy

5. Maureen: When New Market was built, it was entirely open at both ends, i.e. Media Play and CompUSA had interior doors that went into the mall. CompUSA was the first to close those off, since it probably created an 'inventory control nightmare' for the store. When Media Play closed theirs, it pretty much killed the mall.

There was a mini mall just like it called Cassinelli Square, in Cinci, ACROSS from the much bigger Tri-County Mall. And another small one in Westerville; is that still there?

I think Easton's decentralized design doesn't lend itself to 'hanging out' at the mall, which I know I did as a very white kid in the Cinci burbs way back when. Don't ever remember race being a problem, and Cinci is hardly an all-white area. City Center: no one lives down there, and the anchors all left. No great mystery there.

Posted at 10:23AM on Dec 31st 2006 by CG

6. I remember when the site of Randall Park Mall was the late 19th century wooden race track called Randall Park. The mall was the largest one in the world for a brief while after it was built. In no time it was losing tenants and has been mostly empty for some time now. There's frequent talk of its being revived, but it ought to be torn down. It's blighted.

Posted at 3:13PM on Jan 10th 2007 by David D.