Salem Mall

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Salem Mall was the first enclosed shopping center in the Dayton, Ohio area. It was located at the intersection of Shiloh Springs Road and Salem Avenue, in the northwest Dayton suburb of Trotwood. The center opened in 1966, and in its early stages had 60 retailers. The original mall was anchored by the Rike's and Sears department stores. There was also a Liberal supermarket and a multi-screen cinema.

A large-scale renovation was completed in the early 1980's, with the center atrium and supermarket being torn out. They were replaced by a large food court and a two-story concourse, with a new J.C. Penney anchor store at its end. The mall, which by that time featured over 110 retailers, was prosperous throughout the remainder of the 1980's. However, crime had been a long time problem, and it only escalated in the late 1980's.

The Salem Avenue corridor, and the City of Trotwood in general, had been in a state of suburban blight since the late 1970's. By the mid 1980's the blight was finally affecting the Salem Mall's ability to attract new tenants, renew existing leases, and most importantly, attract serious shoppers. The crime problem escalated to the point where residents of formerly affluent Butler, Harrison, and Randolph Townships would avoid the Salem Mall Corridor altogether. The rapid early 1990's exodus of affluent NW Dayton Suburban households to Miami County, SE Dayton, Boca Raton, and Scottsdale only worsened the ability of Salem Mall to attract serious shoppers.

By the mid-late 1990's, the Salem Mall was officially considered a dead mall. In 1997, anchor store Lazarus left the mall, and later that year J.C. Penney also closed. The restaurants and the Lowes Cinema also went out of business, leaving Sears and a newly-built Home Depot as the only anchors.

Demolition of The Salem Mall began on May 15, 2006. Sears is the only part of the original structure that remains. The area is being redeveloped as the Landmark Town Center, an upscale, open-air, "lifestyle" complex, begging to resemble the Easton Commons in Columbus. The new center, replacing the old Salem Mall, should be completed by 2008.