Youngstown's Southern Park Mall



The original trademark of the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation's hometown shopping mall. Sears, the first operational anchor store, opened its doors in October 1969.   

Graphic from the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation

A Kroger grocery was one of the first operational inline stores at SOUTHERN PARK MALL. It welcomed first shoppers on March 3, 1970.

Advert from The Kroger Company

Youngstown-based Strouss' became the second operational SOUTHERN PARK anchor in March 1970. Some features of the store included The Terrace Room Restaurant & Coffee Shop, a Beauty Salon and Budget Store.

Advert from May Department Stores 

The third -and final- original anchor at SOUTHERN PARK MALL was a full-line "Penneys." This store, officially dedicated in April 1970, included a Coffee Shop, Beauty Salon, Patio Shop and freestanding Auto Center.

Drawing from the J.C. Penney Company

The Southern Park Cinema, an in-mall motion picture venue, opened in April 1970. On the bill was Elliott Gould and Donald Sutherland starring in "M*A*S*H." 

Graphic from National Drive-In Theatres

Above and below, two snapshots show the mall's fountained and festooned Center Court.

Photo from http://www.flickr.com / SPM History 

These images were taken in July 1970.

Photo from http://www.flickr.com / SPM History 

"The shopping city of the '70s" is depicted in a circa-1973 site plan. This diagram shows the original configuration of the mall in black and new fourth anchor (Joseph Horne Company) in dark gray. With this addition, the complex enveloped approximately 1,001,500 leasable square feet, housed 101 stores and services, and provided free parking for over 6,000 autos. 

Horne's Court, in the original SOUTHERN PARK MALL.

Photo from https://www.reddit.com / "r/youngstown"

The Strouss' store was rebranded as a Kauffman's in 1986. Horne's was converted into a Dillard's in 1992, with the SOUTHERN PARK location being expanded. In 1996, the Simon Property Group and DeBartolo Corporation merged. Following this, the Simon-DeBartolo Group gave the mall a face lift. As part of the project, a Food Court was added and freestanding megaplex built.

An early 2000s view of the north end of SOUTHERN PARK MALL. J.C. Penney is seen on the left.

Photo from Wikipedia / "Nyttend"

Another early 2000s snapshot shows the mall's Main Entrance. This leads into a 9-bay Food Court, added to the complex in the late 1990s.

Photo from Wikipedia / Larry Hachucka

A 2010s view of the mall's expansive Center Court. Visible stores include Journeys Shoes, Build-A-Bear Workshop and Home Spa. The east entrance of the aforementioned Food Court is seen in the distance.  

Photo from Wikipedia / Larry Hachucka

A 2010s aerial view includes two soon-to-be-shuttered anchor stores. Sears closed down in July 2018, after anchoring the south end of the mall for over forty-eight years. Dillard's pulled up stakes in May 2019. They had maintained a SOUTHERN PARK store for over twenty-six years.  
Photo from https://www.globest.com / ALM Globest 

Our most recent SOUTHERN PARK plan dates to the year 2022. At this time, the mall houses approximately 1,018,400 leasable square feet and contains eighty-nine stores and services. The abandoned Sears has been demolished and replaced by DeBartolo Commons.

SOUTHERN PARK MALL TENANTS 2022:

J.C. PENNEY (with Styling Salon, Optical Department, Portrait Studio and Sephora store) / MACY'S (with Salon and Backstage store) / Ace's Break Away & Play Arcade / All Smiles Aboard mall train / American Commodore Tuxedo / American Eagle Outfitters / Art Cafe Studio / Ashcroft & Oak Jewelers / Auntie Anne's Pretzels (kiosk) / Bath & Body Works / BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse (outparcel) / Buffalo Wild Wings / Build-A-Bear Workshop / Caricatures by Paris (kiosk) / Champs Sports / Chick-fil-A / Chili's Grill & Bar (outparcel) / Cinemark Tinseltown (outparcel) / Claire's Boutique / Cru Monroe Boutique / Double Bogey's Bar & Grill / EcoATM / Escape Boardman 2 / Excalibur Barber Grooming Lounge / Express apparel / Finish Line / Firestone Tire & Auto (outparcel) / Foot Locker / FVDE barbers / Gamer Lounge / Gloria Jean's Coffee / Gold Rush / H & M apparel / Hair & Beauty Bar (kiosk) / Hibbett Sports / Hollister Company apparel / Home Spa / Hot Topic apparel / Jared the Galleria of Jewelry (outparcel) / Journeys shoes / Kay Jewelers / Lids / Lundon ladies' wear / Mask Meadow / Maurices ladies' wear / Mia Emilia gifts / Miracle Ear / New York & Company ladies' wear / Ocean Nails / One Step Forward shoes / Party Pals (kiosk) / Perfume Collection / Piercing Pagoda 1 (kiosk) / Piercing Pagoda 2 (kiosk) / Pink ladies' wear / Planet Fitness / PNC Bank (outparcel) / Royal Renees-The Venue / Rose & Remington ladies' wear / rue21 ladies' wear / Sawa Japanese Steakhouse / Shail Jewelers (kiosk) / Shelby's Sugar Shop / Shoe Department Encore / Sleep Number / Smoothie Land / Spencer Gifts / Steel Valley Brew Works coffee house / Sunglass Hut / Superbrow Salon & Spa / T-Shirt Corner / T-Mobile / The Buckle shoes / The Bunker golf / The Children's Place / The Selfie Space / The Watch Box (kiosk) / Things Remembered / Tilly's apparel / Totally Pagoda / Touchdown Gifts / Tri-Health / Victoria's Secret / White Barn Candle Company / Yankee Candle / Youngstown Clothing Company / Zales Jewelers / Zumiez apparel

IN THE FOOD COURT:

Asian Chao / Bobba Tea / Charley's Philly Steaks / Coney Island Hot Dogs / Frullati Cafe / Sarku Japan / Sbarro Italian Eatery / Vitamin World

DeBartolo Commons incorporates restaurant, athletic and entertainment components. The greenspace area was officially dedicated in the fall of 2021, with new restaurants and entertainment venues opening in early 2022. The Bunker is an indoor golf entertainment center. It includes the Ben Curtis Golf Academy and Double Bogey's Bar & Grill.

Drawing from https://wpgus.com / The Washington Prime Group 

SOUTHERN PARK MALL

Boardman-Poland Road / US 224 and Market Street

Mahoning County (Boardman Township), Ohio

 

The  Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation's hometown shopping mall was built on a 92.3-acre parcel, located 4.8 miles south of Youngstown's urban core. The site was in an unincorporated section of Mahoning County known as Boardman Township (or "Boardman").

SOUTHERN PARK MALL was named as a homage to Southern Park, a horse racing venue in operation between 1911 and 1925. This facility occupied land located near the future mall site. Originally planned as a joint venture with Youngstown developer William M. Cafaro, the mall project became solely a DeBartolo endeavor when his company bought out the Cafaro Company in 1968. Cafaro went on to develop EASTWOOD MALL (1969) {13.7 miles northwest of Southern Park Mall, in Trumbull County}.

Enveloping approximately 905,600 leasable square feet, SOUTHERN PARK MALL opened in stages. Its 2-level (175,600 square foot) Sears became the first operational store, on October 13, 1969. A 2-level (167,000 square foot), Youngstown-based Strouss' was dedicated in March 1970. J.C. Penney's 2-level (135,000 square foot) unit opened its doors on April 2, 1970.

Among 101 charter tenants were Donuts Galore, House of Nine, National City Bank, Mode O' Day Frock Shop, National Record Mart, Bond Clothes, Mother-to-Be Maternity, Hughes & Hatcher men's wear, Baker's Shoes, Gray Drug, The Razor's Edge hairstyling salon, Leroy's Keepsake Diamonds, The Limited and De Bay Sports Center. 

Junior anchors were a 1-level (43,500 square foot) F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10 and (20,800 square foot) Kroger supermarket. Across the mallway from Kroger was the National Drive-In Theatres Southern Park Cinema. This single-screen venue showed a first feature on April 10, 1970. It was twinned in 1977 and shuttered in 1989.

Plans for a fourth SOUTHERN PARK anchor were announced in November 1971. The Pittsburgh-based Joseph Horne Company built a 2-level (95,900 square foot) branch, the chain's eleventh, which opened for business on August 1, 1973.

Anchor rebrandings commenced at the Strouss' store. In January 1986, Strouss' merged with another May Department Stores division, Pittsburgh-based Kaufmann's. Strouss' stores operated under a joint Strouss-Kaufmann's banner between January and August of 1986, when they received Kaufmann's nameplates. Soon after, the SOUTHERN PARK branch was expanded to 186,900 square feet.

In 1988, a DeBartolo-Dillard's joint venture sought to acquire stores owned by the Joseph Horne Company. However, the deal was abruptly terminated when Horne's filed a lawsuit. The issue was settled in February 1992, with Dillard's agreeing to buy five Horne's locations, including the SOUTHERN PARK store. It was shuttered on July 12, 1992 and re-opened, as a Dillard's, on August 12 of the same year. The building was eventually expanded to 187,500 square feet.

A 1996 merger between the mall's developer, now known as the DeBartolo Realty Corporation, and Simon Property Group brought SOUTHERN PARK MALL under the Simon-DeBartolo Group heading. The official name of the company reverted to "Simon Property Group" in 1998. Immediately after the conclusion of the DeBartolo-Simon merger, a 19 million dollar expansion and renovation was done to SOUTHERN PARK MALL. A 9-bay Food Court was installed as part of a reconfigured Main Entrance and courts and concourses were refurbished.

A 7-screen megaplex was also built in the southeast parking area. The Cinemark Tinseltown USA 7 opened for business on December 13, 1996. With these improvements, SOUTHERN PARK MALL enveloped around 1,030,000 leasable square feet and housed 117 stores and services.

The Simon Property Group created a spin-off Real Estate Investment Trust in May 2014. Known as the Washington Prime Group, it assumed ownership of forty-four of Simon's "Grade B" malls, including SOUTHERN PARK MALL. In early 2015, the newly-formed Washington Prime Group merged with Columbus, Ohio's Glimcher Realty Trust.

Sears shuttered their SOUTHERN PARK store in July 2018. Dillard's followed suit in May 2019. Demolition of the abandoned Sears, and its Auto Center, commenced in September 2019. These were replaced by an open-air plaza, named in honor of the developer of the mall. DeBartolo Commons, which included restaurant, entertainment and athletic components, was officially dedicated on October 23, 2021.

A 4-acre green space included a soccer field, live performance venue, seating areas and wintertime ice rink. New business opened in a reconfigured South Wing. These included a (12,000 square foot) Steel Valley Brew Works and (38,000 square foot) The Bunker. This featured golf simulators, a golf academy and Double Bogey's Bar & Grill. 

As the Commons was nearing completion, it was revealed that the Washington Prime Group was having financial problems. The Real Estate Investment Trust filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2021 and exited the proceeding in October 2021. In December 2024, an entity known as Southern Park Mall Realty Holdings, Limited Liability Company acquired the shopping complex. The LLC had been set up by Great Neck, New York's Kohan Retail Investment Group.

Sources:

The Youngstown Vindicator

https://www.farmanddairy.com 

https://www.simon.com / Simon Property Group

https://movie-theatre.org / Mike Rivest

http://www.debartolocommons.com

https://www.cnbc.com

https://businessjournaldaily.com

https://www.kohanretail.com

"Southern Park Mall" article on Wikipedia

Canton's Mellett Mall

This sign, which stood along "Tusk" (Tuscarawas Street), promoted the Hall of Fame City's MELLETT MALL. Back in the day, the complex was promoted as East-Central Ohio's Great Regional Center.  

MELLETT MALL was originally an open-air shopping center with a single anchor; J.C. Penney. The 7 million dollar complex also housed Gray Drug, an F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10 and Kroger and A & P supermarkets. It spanned approximately 442,000 leasable square feet, contained thirty-two stores, and provided free parking for over 2,000 autos.

MELLETT MALL was less than 3 years old before an expansion started. Performed between 1967 and 1969, the renovation added an Akron-based O'Neil's, fully-enclosed East Wing and Montgomery Ward. A roof was also installed over the original shopping concourse. The complex now encompassed around 750,000 leasable square feet and contained sixty-two tenant spaces.

MELLETT MALL TENANTS 1970:

MONTGOMERY WARD (with Buffeteria Snack Bar, Garden Center, Optical & Hearing Center and freestanding Auto Center) / J.C. PENNEY (with Coffee Shop, Beauty Salon and freestanding Auto Center) / F.W. WOOLWORTH (with luncheonette) /  O'NEILS (with beauty salon and basement level parking garage) / A & P supermarket / KROGER supermarket / Americana Shops / Andre Duval Beauty Salon / Beneficial Finance / Betty's Beauty Salon / Bond Clothes / Bretean's Restaurant / Camelot Music / C & J Shoe Service / Carousel Snack Bar / Charazzo's / Cleveland Fabrics / Docktor Pet Center / Faflik Shoes / Fanny Farmer Candies / Father & Son Shoes / First National Bank / Goodyear Service Store / Gray Drug (with luncheonette) / Griffin Home Decorating / Harvard Clothing / Holiday Shoes / Hot Sam Pretzels / Juniors Limited / Lamplighter Men's Shop / Little East in the West / London's Candies / Mall Trip & Travel Center / Malvern Book Store / Martin's Pastries / Mellett Homes / Mellett Mall Barber Shop / Mellett Mall Cinema (single-screen) / Thrift Wash Coin Laundry / Mother-to-be-Shops / National Shirt Shops / Norman's Shoes / Ohio Tux Shop / Orange Julius / Paris Boutique ladies' wear / Parklane Hosiery / Petries' ladies' wear / Radio Shack / Rapport's ladies' wear / Religious Goods Center / Schorsten-Nationwide Insurance Agency / Sherwin-Williams Paints / Singer Sewing Center / Spencer Gifts / Stone-Wagoner Shoes / Toys by Rizzi / John Todd Optical / New Troy Laundry / Village Store / Winkelman's ladies' wear / Zales Jewelers / Zwick's Department Store

A vintage ad from 1972 promotes East-Central Ohio's Great Regional Center. At this time, the complex featured seventy stores and services.

Advert from Mellett Homes, Incorporated

Another major renovation was done between 1987 and 1988, with the mall re-emerging as CANTON CENTRE. The Picnic Place Food Court had been built at the Main Entrance and other smaller access halls were filled-in with additional stores. By 1990, a new 8-plex cinema was also in operation.

A third large-scale renovation was actually a first-stage demalling. The East (Wards) Wing was razed and replaced by a "shadow anchor" Wal-Mart SuperCenter (in medium gray).

In this aerial view, we see the original 1965 complex and its J.C. Penney anchor store. The building in the foreground was a Penneys Auto Center. After J.C. Penney got out of the auto repair business in 1983, it was leased to Firestone.
Photo from www.nassimirealty.com / Nassimi Realty

In a second aerial view, O'Neil's-Macy's can be seen on the right. Wal-Mart, a part of the mall that is not connected to it, looms in the background.
Photo from www.nassimirealty.com / Nassimi Realty

The first of my October 2007 CANTON CENTRE pics. Here we see the Northeast Entrance, created during the 2005 demalling. At one time, the mall corridor extended past this point into an East Wing and Montgomery Ward. These were demolished, with the aforementioned Wal-Mart SuperCenter taking their place.

This photo -and the five that follow- were taken inside CANTON CENTRE (nee' MELLETT MALL) by yours truly. Here we see the vacant Picnic Place Food Court, which had been installed in 1988. Most of its area had originally been an A & P supermarket.

What was -in 1965- a "New Generation" Penneys, on an open-air shopping concourse.

A northward view of the J.C. Penney mall entrance.

The abandoned site of the MELLETT MALL F.W. Woolworth 5 & dime. The store opened, along with the original open-air mall, in 1965. Woolworth's was shuttered in 1994.

The mallway entrance of the center's south anchor store. It closed for good in February 2008, soon after these pictures were taken.

The interior of the Mall Level floor of the CANTON CENTRE Macy's. The store had a long and varied rebranding history during its 40 years in business. It started out as an Akron-based O'Neil's and morphed into a Cleveland-based May Company, Pittsburgh-based Kaufmann's and, finally, the Macy's seen here.

The front section of the mall (the old Food Court) has been sectioned into several outward-facing inline stores, creating a mini-power center along "Tusk."
Photo from http://www.namdarrealtygroup.com / Namdar Realty Group

In the end, this plan for CANTON CENTRE -drawn up in the 2010s- will not be implemented. Abandoned sections of the mall were knocked down in late 2024, leaving the two anchors -and mini-power center- standing.

MELLETT MALL
Tuscarawas Street West and Whipple Avenue Southwest
Canton, Ohio

Greater Canton's first shopping mall was developed by Mellett Homes, Incorporated, a joint venture of residents of a World War II-era housing development. This plat had been named in honor of Canton's gang-busting newspaperman, Donald Ring Mellett, who was gunned-down by the mob in 1926. 

In the early 1960s, Mellett Homes property owners pooled their assets and formed a corporation. A single-level, open-air mall would be built on 38 acres of the former residential project. The site was located  2.5 miles west of Canton's Central Business District, in the southwest quadrant of the city.

The first operational MELLETT MALL store, a 2-level (158,200 square foot) J.C. Penney, was dedicated on May 26, 1965. A mall-wide grand opening, with thirty-two operational stores, was held on August 18th. When fully leased, the complex housed forty-eight tenant spaces.

Charter stores and services included Gray Drug, Fanny Farmer Candies, Holiday Shoes, National Shirt Shops, Richman Brothers men's wear, Kroger and A & P supermarkets and an F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10. North Canton-based Camelot Music opened their second store at MELLET MALL, in 1966. Montgomery Ward dedicated a (3,100 square foot) Neighborhood Store in July of the same year.

Expansions were announced in October 1965 and February 1966. These would extend the shopping complex onto an adjacent 14-acre tract. A 3 million dollar project would add a 2-level (116,000 square foot), Akron-based O'Neil's and enclose existing mall courts and concourses. The second project, with a 15 million dollar price tag, would bring a 2-level (150,000 square foot) Montgomery Ward and fully-enclosed East Wing. 

The new O'Neil's opened for business on February 15, 1968. Montgomery Ward debuted on August 22, 1968. When all construction dust settled, MELLETT MALL covered approximately 750,000 leasable square feet and contained sixty-one stores and services. The General Cinema Corporation Mellett Mall Cinema showed a first feature on December 20, 1968. The theater re-opened, as the Mellett Mall Cinemas I & II,  on November 2, 1973.

Meanwhile, MELLETT MALL was presented with a major competitor. BELDEN VILLAGE MALL {4.1 miles north, in Stark County} was dedicated in October 1970. In March 1981, MELLETT MALL changed hands. The complex was acquired by Greater Cleveland's Forest City Development Company.

By 1985, Forest City was planning a major mall renovation. The project was officially announced in October 1987. As part of the 16 million dollar remodeling, mall entrances would be updated, a 10-bay Food Court created, multiplex cinema built and new flooring, lighting, skylights and restrooms installed. Moreover, J.C. Penney would add 30,000 square feet to their second floor. 

In February 1988, a contest was held to rename the mall, with a $500 grand prize awarded. CANTON CENTRE was announced as the new moniker on March 16th. An official mall re-dedication was held on November 16th, which included marching bands, strolling musicians, fashion shows and a Food Court ribbon cutting. The revitalized shopping hub now housed eighty-seven stores and services. 

As a final facet of the renovation, the General Cinema Corporation Canton Centre 8 was constructed in the southeast parking area. This new in-mall venue replaced the existing twin cinema and opened for business on January 26, 1990. 

Meanwhile, O'Neil's had been rebranded, as a Cleveland-based May Company of Ohio, on January 27, 1989. This store morphed into a Pittsburgh-based Kaufmann's on January 31, 1993. Soon after, a second retail rival was completed. THE STRIP power center {5.1 miles northwest, in Stark County} opened in November 1996. Intense competition was also being provided by BELDEN VILLAGE MALL. By the turn of the 21th century, CANTON CENTRE was in a downward spiral. 

Eventually, things hit rock bottom. CANTON CENTRE was auctioned off in September 2001 and sold again in October 2004. The new owners, the New York City-based Nassimi Realty Corporation, started a demalling.

The Ward's store and East Wing were torn down, along with the multiplex cinema.  A 1-level (200,000 square foot) Wal-Mart SuperCenter was built, which welcomed first shoppers on April 13, 2005. Wal-Mart was a freestanding "shadow anchor," that did not physically connect with the adjacent shopping center. Kaufmann's morphed into a Macy's on September 9, 2006. The store was shuttered In February 2008.

By the 2010s, the 433,500 square foot CANTON CENTRE was being promoted as a power center. The interior shopping concourse was closed to the public. The complex has been in the throes of a protracted (second) demalling for several years. In 2010, a "Phase One" reworking converted the vacant Food Court at the front of the mall into a block of outward-facing stores. 

In June 2011, it was announced that the vacant O'Neil's-Kaufmann's-Macy's was to become an VXI Global Solutions Call Center. This plan was eventually abandoned. Another proposal to repurpose the vacant store as a self-storage facility fell through in 2021. Demolition of abandoned sections of the mall commenced in December 2024. WalMart, J.C. Penney and the mini-power strip along Tuscarawas Street were left standing.

Sources:

The Canton Repository (Canton, Ohio)

The Akron Beacon-Journal

The Evening Independent (Massillon, Ohio)
https://www.cinematreasures.org
https://www.cinematour.com
http://www.nassimirealty.com / Nassimi Realty Corporation
https://www.teepublic.com
https://realestate.starkcountyohio.gov / Stark County, Ohio 

"Don Mellett" and "O'Neil's" articles on Wikipedia

Canton's Belden Village Mall

Greater Canton's second shopping mall was built in the city's northwestern outskirts and opened for business in 1970. It was a major rival of the 8-year-old MELLETT MALL. BELDEN VILLAGE MALL eventually triumphed, leaving MELLETT to go through several renovations, a name change and demalling.

Graphic from the Jacobs, Visconsi & Jacobs Company

A high-end '70s Mod O'Neil's was an original anchor at BELDEN VILLAGE MALL. The store, which was the eighth shopping center branch of the Akron-based chain, featured The Terrace, an upscale restaurant.

In addition to O'Neil's, BELDEN VILLAGE was anchored by Sears and Cleveland-based Higbee's. There were also a Halle's fashion store and Fazio's supermarket. In its original state, the complex spanned approximately 850,000 leasable square feet and contained sixty-three stores and services. Free parking was provided for 4,500 autos.

BELDEN VILLAGE MALL TENANTS 1973:

SEARS (with Coffee House, Garden Shop and freestanding Auto Center) / HIGBEE'S (with restaurant, snack bar, cocktail lounge, beauty salon, Budget Store and public auditorium) / O'NEIL'S (with The Terrace restaurant, beauty salon and fur salon) / HALLE'S fashion store (with beauty salon) / FAZIO'S supermarket / Bakers Shoes / Belden Village Twin Cinema 1 & 2 (outparcel) / Bentley Ties / Brijette Fashions / C.N. Vicary Company men's wear / Camelot Music / Carousel Snack Bar / Casual Corner ladies' wear / Chess King men's wear / Cleveland Fabric Shop / Cleveland Tuxedo Shop / Deuble's Jewelers / Diamond Men's Store / Docktor Pet Center / Fanny Farmer Candies / First Federal Savings & Loan Association of Canton / Fleischer Shoes / Florsheim Shoes / Foxmoor Casuals ladies' wear / Frenchy's & La Bistro / GNC / Gray Drug (with luncheonette) / Hallmark Cards & Gifts / Hanover Shoes / Harter Bank & Trust Company / Hoffritz Cutlery / Hough Bakeries / Hughes & Hatcher men's wear / Jean Nicole ladies' wear / Kinney Shoes / Lott / Marianne's ladies' wear / McKelvey's Loft apparel / Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio / Mother-To-Be Maternity / Norman Shoes / Parklane Hosiery / Petrie's ladies' wear / Red Cros Shoes / Richman Brothers men's wear / Roger's Jewelers / Singer Sewing Center / Stern & Mann Company (with beauty salon) / Studer's Sporting Goods / Susan Ives ladies' wear / The Limited ladies' wear / The Parisian Company / The Peoples Merchants Trust Company / The Shoe Lace / Thom McAn Shoes / Tobaccoland / Toy Mart / Waldenbooks

We begin a color pic tour of the shiny new BELDEN VILLAGE MALL. In this image, we see the center's grand Main Entrance.

Photo from Esco Advertising Specialties Company 

An extended view of the mall's stunning Center Court shows a carpeted seating area and Deuble's Jewelers on the left, with a large fountain, Hallmark Cards and Tom McAn Shoes far in the background.

Photo from Lusterchrome / Tichnor Brothers, Incorporated

A close-in view of the Center Court fountain and sculpture. These were created by Charles E. Van Duser, of Cleveland, and Canton's Joan F. Robinson. The storefront in the upper center belongs to Brijette Fashions.

Photo from Lusterchrome / Tichnor Brothers, Incorporated

In this image, we peer down the East Mall concourse. On the left is a Fleischer Shoes store. Across the mallway is the C.N. Vicary Company, a men's wear emporium.

Photo from Lusterchrome / Tichnor Brothers, Incorporated

Proceeding farther down the East Mall, we come to another seating area.

Photo from Lusterchrome / Tichnor Brothers, Incorporated

The Cleveland-based Halle Brothers Company (a.k.a. Halle's) opened a BELDEN VILLAGE store in October 1970. The retail chain had just been acquired by Chicago's Marshall Field's.

Photo from Marshall Field & Company Annual Report 1970 

By the time of  a 1996 plan, several changes have been made. Halle's closed in 1982. The in-mall supermarket also pulled up stakes. It was rebuilt as a Food Court in 1987. Higbee's received a Dillard's nameplate in 1992, with the center anchor becoming a Kaufmann's in 1993. Sears added a second level in 1995, which increased the mall's gross leasable area to around 948,000 square feet.