North Towne Square

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Facts and statistics
North Towne Square


Location	Toledo, Ohio, United States
Opening date	1980
Closing date	2005
Developer	Simon Property Group
No. of stores and services	50+
No. of anchor tenants	3 (all vacant)
Total retail floor area	758,000 square feet (70,420.5 m²)^[1]
No. of floors	1 (2 in anchors)

North Towne Square Mall was a shopping mall in Toledo, Ohio, United States. It opened in 1980 on the north side of Toledo, about one mile from the Michigan state border. Originally, the mall featured thre major anchor stores, as well as several shops and restaurants, plus a movie theater. Changes in demographics and consolidations of anchor stores over time caused the mall to decline;^[1] by 2005, it was closed off except for a fitness center operating out of one of the former anchor stores; it, too, has since closed, and the mall is currently vacant.

1 History
2 Downfall
3 Redevelopment and closure
4 References

[edit] History

North Towne Square was developed in 1980 by Simon Property Group of Indianapolis, Indiana. The mall was located on the north side of Toledo, on Telegraph Road (US-24) less than a mile from the Michigan/Ohio state line.^[2] Originally, its anchor stores included local chains LaSalle's and the Lion Store, as well as Montgomery Ward.^[2] Notable tenants included an AMC movie theater, the first Gap store in Toledo, and the highest-grossing RadioShack in the state of Ohio at the time.^[2] After only two years in business at North Towne Square, LaSalle's was acquired and converted by Macy's, who then sold all of its Ohio operations to Elder-Beerman in 1984.^[2]

[edit] Downfall

Because of its proximinty to the Michigan border, the mall drew customers from southeastern Michigan as well.^[2] The 1988 opening of Frenchtown Square Mall in Monroe, Michigan, however, significantly reduced the amount of traffic coming from Michigan to North Towne.^[2] Expansions at Franklin Park Mall (now Westfield Franklin Park), and a declining economy in Toledo, both factored into North Towne Square's demise as well.^[1]^[2] Many of North Towne Square's chain tenants moved to Franklin Park or Frenchtown Square, being replaced by local stores.

Elder-Beerman filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1995. As a condition of emerging from bankruptcy, Elder Beerman reduced its operations at its North Towne store. first closing off the restaurant, and then converting the upper level to a clearance center before the store was shuttered entirely in 1997. Two years later, Dillard's acquired all of The Lion Store's locations in Toledo and converted them to the Dillard's name. The mall's movie theater complex was also closed by the late 1990s.^[2]

Montgomery Ward closed its store at North Towne Square in 2000 as part of bankruptcy procedures. Two years later, Dillard's closed as well, leaving the mall without an anchor store, and causing it to lose even more of its inline tenants.

[edit] Redevelopment and closure

In 2003, the mall was renamed Lakeside Centre as part of a redevelopment plan. Although new stores such as Bath & Body Works and MC Sports had opened, these were short-lived, and closed within a year. The remaining tenants' leases were terminated in early 2005; by February of that year, the entire complex was closed, as its owners decided that electrical costs were too high to keep the largely vacant complex open.^[3] After the mall's closure, a portion of the parking lot was used to store the excess inventory at a nearby Chrysler dealership.

Wal-Mart proposed building a store on the site of the vacant mall in 2007; these plans were opposed by David Ball, candidate for City Council.^[4]