Dayton Mall

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Dayton Mall is a shopping mall located in Dayton, Ohio. The Dayton Mall is one of the last remaining malls in Montgomery County. It is in the township of Miami near the suburbs of Centerville, West Carrollton, and Miamisburg.

Located ten miles from downtown Dayton in the city's south suburbs, the mall has attracted millions of visitors since its opening in 1970. The shopping center is the hub of the region.The mall is one mile from Interstate 75 and two miles from Interstate 675.

[edit] Development

Development for the mall began in 1969 and has gave way to many small stores during that time. The official grand opening was held in 1970, although some stores were already operating at the time. Glimcher Realty Trust, a Columbus-based firm are the current owners that owns the mall as well as the Mall Of Fairfield Commons. The shopping center has four anchor stores and planning on extending the mall in future development. Originally it was three anchor stores. Dayton-based Rike's (a traditional department store) was absorbed into Federated Stores in late 1970s. As is common with Federated, this store's brand name has evolved over the years including Shillito's, Lazarus, Lazarus-Macy's, and now Macy's. There were many local business installed in the mall until the late 1980s when the major retailers started investing in the mall. McCrory's, Liberal Supermarkets, McAlpin's were some of the anchor stores that previously anchor stores at the mall. The Dayton Mall also held a single-screen cinema until 1999. At the time of its inception in the late 1960's, such a sprawling complex was considered a mega mall. Dayton Mall is considered one of the state's largest malls. It competed with some of the malls that existed in Cincinnati's suburbs at the time.

The one million-plus square foot mall held the distinction of being the largest in southwestern Ohio for many years. Several more stores were added when Dayton Mall underwent two major renovations of its existing structure in the late 1980's and early 1990's. First, the interior of the east and west concourses was remodeled, as was the two level main entrance. The central atrium area was also improved, with a food court installed on its mezzanine. Later, a fourth anchor store was added, in front of what had been the main entrance. This was occupied by J.C. Penney. The former became the Elder-Beerman department store. With these renovations completed, Dayton Mall holds nearly 150 retailers under one roof.

The Greene, a retail and entertainment complex opened forcing the Dayton Mall and The Mall of Fairfield Commons to extend the properties to attract more visitors. The mall is building a 97,000-square-foot open-air,"lifestyle" center is being added in the north parking lot, along Ohio 725. The Village At Dayton Mall will add twenty-five tenants to the mall. It is slated for completion in early 2007, and will include shops, a bookstore and three full-service restaurants. In 2006 a tornado was spotted on Dayton Mall property causing minimal damage on and around the property.