Randall Park Mall

infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Randall Park Mall

---

caption =
location = North Randall, Ohio, USA
opening_date = 1976
developer = Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr. (DeBartolo Corporation)
manager = Whichard Real Estate
owner = Whichard Real Estate [ Thomas, Corwin. "Randall Park Mall’s new owner seeks to sell attached Loews movie theater." The Plain Dealer. 7 November, 2004: G4. ]
number_of_stores =
number_of_anchors = 1
floor_area = 2.0 million ft²
floors = 2
website = closed
parking = ground lot

Randall Park Mall is an enclosed shopping mall. It is located in the small village of North Randall, Ohio at 20801 Miles Road. The mall's importance to the town is reflected in the two shopping bags appearing in the municipal seal. It is still the largest mall in Greater Cleveland, though much of it is now vacant. North Randall Mayor David Smith announced on May 21st that the mall would close its doors on June 12th, 2008.

Beginnings

In 1966, Dominic Visconsi decided to build a mall in nearby Garfield Heights. This mall was going to be named Garfield Mall. In 1968, the voters gave the blessings for Garfield Mall. In 1969, the Mall proposal was revealed to the citizens of Garfield Heights, Garfield Mall was to have heated underground parking and elevator and escalator access to the stores. The store lists were JcPenney, Sears, Higbees, and Halles. In 1971, though there were rumblings that Youngstown developer Edward J. DeBartolo was to buy the Randall Park Race Track and build a shopping/arts/apartments/and office complex on the site, so the Garfield Mall plan was scaled down and the proposed department stores signed with Randall Park.

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. DeBartolo during construction was very flamboyant, he would arrive at the mall construction site in a helicopter. During a tour of under constructed mall, DeBartolo entertained the media with lavish Italian dinners of pasta, pizza and even had the best chefs at these events. DeBartolo envisioned Randall Park a "City within a City". He proposed the Mall, three fourteen story apartments, 2-Twenty Story office buildings, a performing arts center, which during this would given the then Front Row Theater competition. 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. ["Randall Park: Is It Savior Of The Super-Regional Idea?" Chain Store Age. May 1976. p. 25-6.]

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.

Decline

Randall Mall's first stage of a small decline was in 1978, when Beachwood Place, an upscale mall opened in Beachwood, Ohio. This took away Randall Park's more upscale shoppers who lived in Shaker Heights, Beachwood, Orange, and Hunting Valley. The stores still remained. When the 1980s came, Randall Mall started to have problems with truants and gangs from Cleveland. Auto thefts increased and with the gang problem, many middle to upper-middle class shoppers from Brecksville, Independence, Garfield Heights, and Maple Heights stayed away.

Malls like nearby Southgate which when Randall Park opened threatened, reinvented themselves. Southgate Shopping Center tore down the old department stores and built newer stores like a Giant Eagle and Home Depot. In nearby Bedford, Ohio came the Meadowbrook Market Square in 1995 with a new Target. In Garfield Heights, Ohio voters approved zoning issues to build City View and Bridgeview Shopping Centers. Down Northfield Road or Ohio State Route 8, Macedonia, Ohio built Macedonia Commons and the Plaza at Golden Link Crossings at the Intersections of Ohio 8 and 82. In 1996, Strongsville, Ohio opened SouthPark Center, which as of January 2008 is undergoing an expansion. Beachwood Place as also expanded with the addition of North East Ohio's first Nordstrom (1999). In nearby Warrensville Heights, Ohio Harvard Square has opened for business.

With new shopping venues mentioned above and creation of lifestyle centers like Legacy Village, Randall Park Mall was a dinosaur an anachronism of old thinking.POV-statement|date=March 2008

Randall Park's ownership changed so many hands. After the death of Edward DeBartolo, his children fought for the family fortune and the malls were sold to the Simon Property Group. Simon spent some money on Randall Park Mall, but they lost money on the mall. Simon sold the mortgage to banks and they too sold other banks. In 2003, a North Carolina property developer named Heywood Whichard bought the mall for 2.5 million dollars and he has not attracted any new life in the mall.

In 1992, there was a fire at the old Holiday Inn at the corners of Emery and Northfield Roads. The Holiday Inn was built in 1975 and this where Edward DeBartolo had the formal black-tie ball opening ceremony of the Randall Mall. The hotel was sold to the Days Inn chain. There were problems here too. In 1988, there was a shooting during a rap music concert. Then the fire. In the 1990s, the India based Marashei Vedic University wanted to put a "yoga lifestyle" center, but the deal fell through. The Village of North Randall has cited and has threatened razing the eyesore. The Village of North Randall can't find the owner's addresses and legal documents.

The JC Penney, when open, was a convert|207000|sqft|m2|sing=on, two-story store. 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. ] JC Penney converted to an outlet store format in October 1998, but closed in January 2001 due to falling sales. 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. Dillard's closed its Randall Park Mall Store in 2002, in part due to an off duty police officer who was moonlighting as a security guard shot and killed a man who was shoplifting. In June 2007, it was announced that Cleveland-based trade school Ohio Technical College would acquire more than convert|200000|sqft|m2 of space at the mall. The school's Power Sports Institute will occupy the former JC Penney and Firestone Complete Auto Care areas.Gomez, Henry J. "Ohio Technical buys Randall Park property." The Plain Dealer. 19 June, 2007: http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2007/06/ohio_technical_buys_randall_pa.html]
Macy's shuttered its Randall Park Mall in February 2008 due to poor sales. [ [http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/stories/2007/12/24/daily23.html?ana=from_rss Macy's closing nine stores - Business First of Louisville: ] ]

The Village of North Randall would like Randall Mall to be razed or even demolished and let new development take place.Fact|date=March 2008

On May 21, 2008, North Randall mayor David Smith announced that Wichard Real Estate has decided to close the mall by June 12, 2008. The few dozen small stores inside the sprawling, mostly empty mall have until June 12 to close or move into empty storefronts on nearby roads. Burlington Coat Factory and Sears, which can be accessed from outside the mall, will stay open, as will the movie theater and Ohio Technical College's PowerSport Institute. [ [http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/05/cars_packed_the_parking_lot.html Randall Park Mall to close by June 12 - Cleveland Business News – The Latest Breaking News, Earnings Reports and Stories from The Plain Dealer ] ]

County records show the company owes more than $200,000 in unpaid property taxes and has taken out multiple mortgages on the mall. The property's future remains uncertain, but Smith hopes it will be purchased or foreclosed upon and then redeveloped.

On June 5, 2008 it was announced that the Randall Park Mall is being sold for an undisclosed sum to United Church Builders. The deal is expected to be finalized in the next 30 to 90 days.

Ken Geis CEO of UCB feels it could be best suited for housing, education, research and medical operations. A portion of the mall could host a faith-based organization, but Geis says retail stores could also play a part in their plans.

United Church Builders is a division of Cincinnati United Contractors Inc., and is primarily involved in constructing faith-based structures for a variety of denominations.

Former anchors

*Horne's (201,000 sq ft.) closed in 1992
*JCPenney (207,000 sq ft.) closed in 2001
*Dillard's (170,000 sq ft.) closed in 2003
*Macy's (176,327 sq ft.) closed in 2008

Current anchors

* Burlington Coat Factory (163,486 sq ft.)
* O Theater (? sq. ft.)
* Ohio Furniture Mart (74,483 sq ft.)
* Sears (285,702 sq ft.)

External links

* [http://www.deadmalls.com/malls/randall_park_mall.html Deadmalls.com entry on Randall Park Mall]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9503E0D7173EF93AA15751C1A9659C8B63 A short Letter to the Editor of the New York Times] concerning Randall Park Mall, December 29, 2003.
* [http://planning.co.cuyahoga.oh.us/documents/pdf/masterplans/northrandall.pdf Village of North Randall, Master Plan.] Prepared by the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission, January 1999.
* [http://www.clevescene.com/Issues/1999-12-16/news/news.html "Magic Makeover" by Andrew Putz.] "Cleveland Scene". December 16, 1999.
* [http://cinematreasures.org/theater/7390/| A page about Randall Park Cinema]

References