Richmond Town Square

Richmond Town Square was a super regional shopping mall known locally as 'Richmond' or 'Richmond Mall,' located in Richmond Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, at the intersection of Richmond Road and Wilson Mills Road.[2] Opening September 22, 1966 as Richmond Mall, developed by famous mall developer Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr.[2] Original anchors were Sears and JCPenney, alongside a Loews Theater and Woolworths. The mall included in-line tenants such as Richman Brothers, and Winkelman's.

Richmond Town Square
The mall's food court in February 2013
LocationRichmond Heights, Ohio
Coordinates41°32′29.4″N 81°29′39.3″W
Address691 Richmond Road
Opening dateSeptember 22nd, 1966
Closing dateMay 6th, 2021
DeveloperEdward J. DeBartolo
OwnerDealPoint Merrill[1]
No. of stores and services75+ at peak
No. of anchor tenants3 at peak (2 vacant)
Total retail floor area1,017,000
No. of floors1 (2 in Anchors)
Public transit accessBus interchange RTA
Websiteshoprichmondtownsquare.com

Mall features

The Richmond Town Square Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library opened in the mall in 1988.[3] Originally housed in a freestanding boutique kiosk, the branch showed significant circulation growth. The kiosk was forced to close in August 1998 due to a major renovation of the mall, but the branch library reopened in September 1999 in a 1,200-square-foot (110 m2) location by the northeast mall entrance, next to Sears.[3]

History

In 1997, Woolworths closed their store at the mall. In 1998, Kaufmann's was added to the mall as an anchor, originally located at the Euclid Square Mall in Euclid, Ohio, the anchor changes included the expansion of the Loews Theater from a 10-screen theater to a 20-screen theater, and the addition a junior-anchor, Barnes & Noble.[4] Also in 1998, DeBartolo Realty Corp. merged with Simon Property Group, and in the same year Simon remodeled the mall, expanded it, and renamed it. This renovation took advantage of new and emerging technologies "in materials, as well as architectural and decorative innovations"[5] The total cost of the renovation was reported as US$100 million.[6]

In 2006, Kaufmann's was rebranded to Macy's as a part of the Federated–May merger. Also in 2006, the Loews Theater was rebranded to Regal Cinemas. In 2010, the Barnes & Noble store at the mall closed as a round of closures by the company. In 2012, Planet Fitness opened a fitness center in the building. On May 28, 2014, it was revealed that Richmond Town Square was one of two malls along with Great Lakes Mall in northeast Ohio that would have its ownership transferred from Simon Property Group to its spin-off Washington Prime Group (which is now known as WP Glimcher).[7] In January 2015, Macy's announced the store at the mall would be closing as part of a plan to close 14 of its stores nationwide.[8] As of mid March 2015, the Macy's store was shuttered, with all exterior signage removed. The mall was sold to the Kohan Retail Investment Group for $7.25 million in November 2016.[9]

On January 4, 2017, Sears announced that its store would be closing in March 2017.[10] On March 17, 2017, JCPenney announced they would close their location on July 31, 2017.[11] On August 31, 2020, Kohan Retail Investment Group announced that the mall would close permanently to allow for redevelopment to take place. The only remaining anchors at the mall are a 20-screen Regal Cinemas theater [12] LifeStorage, of which is in the former Macy's building (former Kaufmann's), and Planet Fitness of which occupies the former Barnes & Noble building, while the two other anchors spaces, Sears, and JCPenney remain vacant and have since their 2017 closures.

Revitalization

On July 2, 2018, DealPoint Merrill announced they would spend $69 million to bring apartments, a hotel, and a park to the north end of the mall where the vacant Sears building and parking lot are located.[13] On May 1, 2019, DealPoint Merrill revealed early site plans for their proposed luxury apartments. The development is named Belle Oaks at Richmond.[14] Richmond Town Square was planned to be demolished in fall 2020. However, the mall remained open throughout the rest of 2020 and until May 6, 2021 when it finally closed for good.[15] In June 2021, an event was held in the parking lot of the former Sears showing locals the plans of Belle Oaks. The mall was planned to be demolished in the fall of 2021.[16] The remaining portion of the mall was sold to DealPoint Merrill in July 2021.[1] Demolition began on September 18, 2023.[17]

References
  1. Piorkowski, Jeff (26 July 2021). "Belle Oaks developer acquires Richmond Town Square mall". cleveland.com. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  2. "Richmond plans don't affect Mall". The Mansfield News-Herald. 1963-11-02. DeBartolo Mall developer Leahy says the new store in Richmond Heights will be built at the northeast corner of Richmond and Wilson Mills roads. A 70-acre (280,000 m2) shopping center to be known as the Richmond Mall is planned for that corner.
  3. "About Richmond Town Square Branch". Cuyahoga County Public Library. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
  4. Dorn, Sara; clevel; .com (2015-06-15). "Magnificent to dead mall: Timeline of Richmond Town Square". cleveland. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
  5. "Innovations slash cost of renovations". Shopping Centers Today. Retrieved 2008-09-26.
  6. Hardin, Angela Y. (31 May 2005). "Randall Park revived, Optimism returns to mall now near full occupancy". Crain's Cleveland Business. Crain's Cleveland Business. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  7. Northeast Ohio Malls Transfer Ownership.
  8. Strauss, Gary (January 8, 2015). "J.C. Penney, Macy's to shut stores, lay off scores". USA Today. Gannett. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
  9. "New York firm buys Richmond Town Square for $7.25 million". Crain's Cleveland Business. November 20, 2016.
  10. "Sears to close Richmond Mall and Chapel Hill stores by April". WKYC.
  11. Cho, Janet H. (March 17, 2017). "JCPenney closing Richmond Town Square store, 137 more nationwide". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
  12. O'Connor, Clint (2008-01-24). "Regal Cinemas Mayfield Heights 10 is closing". Cleveland Plain Dealer.
  13. Piorkowski, Jeff (2018-07-02). "Developer proposes $69 million hotel, apartment, retail plan for Richmond Town Square". cleveland.com. Retrieved 2019-05-28.
  14. Piorkowski, Jeff (2019-05-01). "Early plans revealed for luxury apartments at Richmond Heights mall". cleveland.com. Retrieved 2019-05-28.
  15. Piorkowski, Jeff (2020-07-22). "Richmond Town Square expected to be demolished by late fall or winter". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  16. clevel, Jeff Piorkowski/special to; .com (2021-06-06). "Belle Oaks developers meet with residents at Richmond Town Square". cleveland. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
  17. Piorkowski, Jeff (18 September 2023). "The mall comes tumbling down to make way for Belle Oaks Marketplace". cleveland. Retrieved 19 September 2023.

41.54071°N 81.49572°W / 41.54071; -81.49572

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