The Galleria at Erieview

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The Galleria at Erieview is a two floor shopping mall that opened in 1987 in Cleveland, Ohio, on the east side of the city's downtown. It is adjacent to the Erieview Tower, a 40-story office building. The Galleria is also a few blocks away from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

[edit] History

The concept for the Galleria began in 1985, when Richard E. Jacobs, who had just bought the Cleveland Indians baseball team, also bought the Tower at Erieview, which had opened in 1964. Jacobs began planning to convert the plaza that lay in front of the tower into a shopping center to serve the Cleveland area. The result was the Galleria, a glass-enclosed 207,600 square foot mall, opened amid much fanfare in late 1987.

The Galleria, which helped spark Cleveland's downtown revitalization in the 1990s, has become very empty in recent years. As of 2005, the mall has only 36 tenants out of a possible 66.

In 2003, The Galleria and Tower at Erieview were purchased by Werner Minshall, who made a proposal to close the mall and convert it into a convention center [1]. This didn't materialize, however, and Minshall changed his approach to try to revive the mall by filling it with local tenants. So far, this plan has been very slow to develop, but it has seen success: a few area businesses have bought retail space, and several area vendors set up stands during the week and sell their goods [2]. Of late, there seem to be more art galleries and related stores moving in. There are also a few non-retail businesses and groups on the second floor.

Another strong point of the Galleria is its food court, which has remained very healthy throughout the mall's existence and attracts many downtown workers on weekdays.