PARMATOWN CENTER
West Ridgewood Drive and Ridge Road
Parma, Ohio

The second shopping mall in Greater Cleveland started out as an open-air strip complex in the mid-1950s. PARMATOWN CENTER, developed by the Ratner, Miller and Shafran familes (a.k.a. the RMS Investment Corporation) encompassed approximately 147,000 leasable square feet. The shopping hub occupied the eastern corner of a 65-acre parcel, located 11 miles southwest of downtown Cleveland's Public Square.

The first PARMATOWN CENTER stores opened their doors on September 27, 1956. An official dedication was held on November 8 of the same year. Charter PARMATOWN tenants included Nobil Shoes, D.O. Summers, Palevsky Hardware, Hudgeon's, Miller's Drug, Faflik Shoes, Fisher Foods and an F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10.   

An open-air mall was added to the west end of the complex, with its groundbreaking held on June 1, 1960. The 10 million dollar addition was designed by Seattle's John Graham, Junior and the Weinberg & Teare firm, of Cleveland. The new West Wing was anchored by a 4-level (299,200 square foot), Cleveland-based May Company of Ohio. 

"May's Parmatown" was inaugurated, as part of a mall-wide grand opening, on  August 21, 1960. The event was hosted by Sylvester Augustine (Mayor of Parma). Officials from May Company and several local city council members were also in attendance. Among thirty-three charter stores were Lerner Shops, Marshall Drug, Diamond men's wear, an S.S. Kresge 5 & 10 and Pick-N-Pay supermarket.

A second expansion was underway by 1966. This project would be anchored by a 2-level (188,000 square foot), Cleveland-based Higbee's and include an expanded -and fully-enclosed- West Wing. The circa-1960 open-air concourse was also roofed in. Higbee's Parmatown opened its doors on September 5, 1967. The General Cinema Corporation Parmatown Cinema I & II debuted on November 15 of the same year. A mall-wide dedication took place on April 1, 1968. New stores included Petrie's, Susan Ives, Winkelman's, Chess King, Franklin-Simon, Davidson's and a Hot Shoppes Cafeteria.

A third expansion was done in 1979-1980. This added a new South Wing and 10-bay Picnic Place Food Court. The refurbished complex, now officially promoted as PARMATOWN MALL, was formally dedicated on July 21, 1980. New inline tenants included Houlihan's restaurant and Shoe World. A 2-level (159,200 square foot) J.C. Penney welcomed first shoppers on November 26, 1980.

Major shopping venues in the vicinity of PARMATOWN MALL included SOUTHLAND PLAZA / CENTER (1950) {2 miles west, in Middleburg Heights}, WESTGATE CENTER (1954) {8 miles northwest, in Fairview Park} and, eventually, SOUTHPARK CENTER / WESTFIELD SOUTHPARK (1996) {6.2 miles southwest, in Strongsville}.

Anchor rebrandings commenced at PARMATOWN MALL in August 1992, when the Higbee's location became a Dillard's. It closed for good in the year 2000. May Company was rebranded as a Pittsburgh-based Kaufmann's in January 1993 and was "Macy-ated" on September 9, 2006.

Meanwhile, a fourth major mall renovation had commenced in late 2003. The vacant Higbee's / Dillard's was demolished. The cinema, which had closed on August 12, 2004, was also knocked down. A 1-level (152,200 square foot) Wal-Mart was built on the Higbee's spot. The store held its grand opening on January 28, 2004. Wal-Mart was joined by a (50,000 square foot) Dick's Sporting Goods, which was built on the old Cinema spot. The reconfigured shopping center, completed in the fall of 2005, encompassed approximately 991,600 leasable square feet and contained 150 stores and services.

The tanking of the US economy in 2008 was a harbinger of doom for PARMATOWN MALL. By June 2011, the proprietors (Cleveland's RMS Investment Corporation) were saddled with a partially vacant shopping center and upside down mall mortgage. 63 million dollars were owed on a shopping center valued at between 30 and 42 million.

RMS defaulted on the loan and a receiver was brought in to manage the property and prepare it for sale. In the meantime, 800,000 dollars were invested in repairs and improvements. Then came news that Macy's was closing their PARMATOWN store. This transpired on March 25, 2012.

The moribund mall had been placed on the open market in the previous January. Cincinnati-based Philips Edison & Company bought the delinquent mortgage on the property in October 2012. They started a massive renovation in the summer of 2013. This entailed demolition of the old May Company / Macy's and most of the enclosed mall.

Structures that had been retained were thoroughly renovated and reoriented into an open-air format. Several new buildings were added. WalMart expanded to a (178,600 square foot) SuperCenter and a new (50,000 square foot) Dick's Sporting Goods was built. It was dedicated April 14, 2015.

Inline stores in the new and improved THE SHOPPES AT PARMA included Ulta Beauty, Torrid, Rue 21, Fast Eddie's Kitchen & Bar, Panera Bread, Five Guys Burgers & Fries and Mattress Firm. As these were opening for business, the Phillips Edison & Company formed a new division. The PREP Property Group was created in May 2015 to redevelop and operate grocery-anchored shopping centers, power centers, lifestyle centers and enclosed malls.

Sources:

The Cleveland Plain Dealer
http://www.parmatown.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)

http://www.cleveland.com
Info, photos and drawings from "DaveBronx"

http://www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.rlba.com / Richard L. Bowen Associates
http://www.phillipsedison.com / Phillips Edison & Company
https://www.preppg.com / PREP Property Group

http://www.prnewswire.com

"Parmatown Mall" article on Wikipedia

FAIR USE OF PARMATOWN IMAGES:

The photos from The Cleveland Memory Project illustrate a key moment in the mall's history that is described in the article. The images are not replaceable with free-use or public-domain images. The use of the images does not limit the copyright owners' rights to distribute them in any way. The images are being used for non-profit, informational purposes only and their use is not believed to detract from the original images in any way.