Summit Mall is a one-story, 850,000-square-foot (79,000 m2) [3] enclosed shopping mall located at 3265 W. Market Street in the Akron suburb of Fairlawn.,[4] and with the closing of both Chapel Hill Mall and Rolling Acres Mall, is the only remaining mall in Summit County.
 The mall's center court. | |
 | |
| Location | Fairlawn, Ohio, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°07′56″N 81°37′06″W / 41.13216°N 81.61830°W |
| Opening date | October 28, 1965 [1] |
| Developer | Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. (DeBartolo Corporation) |
| Management | Simon Property Group |
| Owner | Simon Property Group |
| No. of stores and services | 110 total (104 occupied)[2] |
| No. of anchor tenants | 3 |
| Total retail floor area | 850,000 sq ft (79,000 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 (2 in Macy's and Dillard's) |
| Parking | 7,500 |
| Public transit access |  METRO |
| Website | www |
Edward J. DeBartolo Sr.'s DeBartolo Corporation built the mall,[3] which opened on October 28, 1965.[1] Today, it is owned by Simon Property Group. Currently, Summit Mall contains 110 stores (of which 104 are currently occupied)[2] and a food court. The anchor stores are Macy's and two Dillard's locations (Dillard's and Dillard's Men's and Children's).
History
editDeBartolo Corporation developed Summit Mall. First announced in 1963, the mall opened to the public in 1965. The original anchor stores were Cleveland, Ohio-based Halle Brothers Co. and two other department stores both based in Akron: O'Neil's and Polsky's. Other major tenants included Woolworth, Kroger, and Acme Markets.[5]
After Halle's 1982 shutdown, their location was transferred to Higbee's, which operated the store until it was taken over by Dillard's in late 1992. It was a full-line location (without housewares) until 1998 when the men's department relocated to the top floor of the former Polsky's / Jewel Mart space (see below). When Dillard's took possession of the North store, the men's department and housewares relocated back to the south store which was renovated in 2005–2006.
O'Neil's became May Company Ohio in 1989, Kaufmann's in 1993, and Macy's in 2006.
After Polsky's closed, Jewel Mart occupied the main floor level. In July 1986, a Dallas businessman proposed opening a laser tag facility in the basement of the former Polksy's.[6] By July 1990, Rizzi's Ristorante and Pizzeria and Charlotte's West occupied the space on the half-vacant lower level.[7] Jewel Mart was gone by 1991 and the top floor remained vacant until Dillard's moved their men's store and started a housewares department on the upper level in 1998. Rizzi's and Charlotte's West were both gone by 2004, giving Dillard's the opportunity to renovate both floors as a Dillard's Women's store.
Summit Mall used to include a small movie theater. In July 1989, National Theatre Corporation (now Regal Entertainment Group) closed the two-screen theater at the mall when General Cinemas opened up a new theater at West Market Plaza. National Theater Corp. later opened a new theater in Montrose.[8] In January 2013, Williams Sonoma announced it would close its location in the mall.[9] Four years later, Ann Taylor announced that it will close at the mall.[10] In 2021, the mall announced that the new stores will have plans.
References
edit- ^ a b "Akron Ohio Historical Timeline 1950 - 1999". Archived from the original on 2009-03-29. Retrieved 2009-01-02. Akron Ohio Historical Timeline 1950-1999. Retrieved August 16, 2006.
- ^ a b "Center Directory". Summit Mall. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
- ^ a b "East Side Malls" The Plain Dealer February 22, 2004. Retrieved July 31, 2006.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-08-25. Retrieved 2006-08-20.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) City of Fairlawn Zoning Map. Retrieved August 21, 2006. - ^ "An old friend: area residents watched and shared in mall project". Akron Beacon Journal. October 27, 1965. pp. E3. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
- ^ Geiger, Peter. "Laser Game Proposed at Summit Mall." Akron Beacon Journal. July 9, 1986: D3.
- ^ Murphey, Frances B. "Summit Mall Rizzi's has Jazz On its Menu 3 Nights a Week." Akron Beacon Journal. February 1, 1991: D18.
- ^ Rhoden, Yalinda. "Malls Mean More Than Shopping To Attract Customers, Managers Must Provide Them Plenty of Amenities." Akron Beacon Journal. October 7, 1991: D1.
- ^ "Williams-Sonoma Closing Summit Mall Store Jan. 20 - Fairlawn-Bath, OH Patch". Archived from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
- ^ "Ann Taylor closing at Fairlawn's Summit Mall". cleveland.com. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
Further reading
edit- Mills, Emily (January 19, 2020). "As other shopping malls decline, Summit Mall thrives". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved January 20, 2020.