Randall Park Mall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Randall Park Mall | |
| Mall facts and statistics | |
|---|---|
| Location | North Randall, Ohio, USA |
| Opening date | 1976 |
| Developer | Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr. (DeBartolo Corporation) |
| Management | Whichard Real Estate |
| Owner | Whichard Real Estate [1] |
| No. of anchor tenants | 3 department stores remaining (2 vacant). 1 muilti-screen cinema |
| Total retail floor area | 2.0 million ft² |
| No. of floors | 2 |
| Website | http://www.randallparkmall.net/ |
Randall Park Mall was at the time of its construction the largest shopping mall in the world, with 2.0 million square feet of retail space on two levels. It is still the largest mall in Greater Cleveland, though much of it is now vacant. It is located in the small village of North Randall, Ohio at 20801 Miles Road [2]. The mall's importance to the town is reflected in the two shopping bags appearing in the municipal seal.
Contents |
[edit] Beginnings
The site of the mall was once Randall Race Track, a horse racing park immediately south of Thistledown Race Track. It was opened in 1976 by the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation. At the time of its opening, it was the "world's largest shopping center," although it was a short-lived title. The mall's architect Frank DeBartolo, younger brother to Edward, opened the mall with actress Dina Merrill. The original department stores anchoring the mall were Sears, JC Penney, May Company, Higbee's, and Horne's. Halle's maintained an option to build a store, but went out of business in 1982 and never exercised that option. At the time of its opening, North Randall's population was 1,500 and the mall's employee population was 5,000.[3]
Westfield Great Northern (formerly Great Northern Mall), on the west side suburb of North Olmsted, opened at about the same time as Randall Park. Euclid Square Mall is also a product of the mid-1970s.
[edit] Decline
The JC Penney, when open, was a 207,000-square-foot, two-story store [4]. JC Penney converted to an outlet store format in October 1998, but closed in January 2001 [4]. Similar to Akron's Rolling Acres Mall, the gigantic Randall Park Mall has not remained as successful as originally hoped. About half the mall is vacant, including the former Dillard's and JC Penney.
[edit] Current anchors
- Burlington Coat Factory (163,486 sq. ft.)
- Macy's (176,327 sq. ft.)
- Magic Johnson Theaters (? sq. ft.)
- Ohio Furniture Mart.com (74,483 sq. ft.)
- Sears (285,702 sq. ft.)
[edit] External links
- Deadmalls.com entry on Randall Park Mall
- A short Letter to the Editor of the New York Times concerning Randall Park Mall, December 29, 2003.
- Village of North Randall, Master Plan. Prepared by the Cuyahoga County planning commission, January 1999.
- "Magic Makeover" by Andrew Putz. Cleveland Scene. December 16, 1999.
- A page about Randall Park Cinema
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- Satellite image from WikiMapia, Google Maps or Windows Live Local
- Street map from MapQuest or Google Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image from TerraServer-USA
[edit] References
- ^ Thomas, Corwin. "Randall Park Mall’s new owner seeks to sell attached Loews movie theater." The Plain Dealer. 7 November, 2004: G4.
- ^ http://www.randallparkmall.net/ Randall Park Mall official site. Retrieved August 4, 2006.
- ^ "Randall Park: Is It Savior Of The Super-Regional Idea?" Chain Store Age. May 1976. p. 25-6.
- ^ a b Lubinger, Bill and Patrick O'Donnell. "On Heels of Revival, Randall Park Mall to Lose J.C. Penney." The Plain Dealer. 16 March, 2000: A1.
