| Location | Columbus, Ohio |
|---|---|
| Opening date | 1964 (Enclosed 1979) |
| Closing date | 2002 (Demolished 2004) |
| Developer | Richard E. Jacobs Group |
| Owner | Richard E. Jacobs Group Cigna Investments |
| No. of anchor tenants | 3 |
| No. of floors | 1 (2 in Sears and JCPenney, 3 in Macy's) |
| [1] | |
Northland Mall was a shopping mall located on the north side of Columbus, Ohio, at the intersection of Morse Road and Karl Road. It opened in 1964 as an open-air shopping center and the first shopping mall in Columbus. Northland was the first of the four directionally-named shopping hubs in Columbus, along with Eastland (1967), Westland (1969) and Southland (1975) [a small strip center, now closed]. Though popular through the 1990s, three new shopping centers were completed in the late 1990s and early 2000s that took businesses and shoppers away from Northland. It closed in 2002 and was demolished in 2004.
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Northland was the first mall to open in the Columbus Metropolitan area. It was also the only mall in the area from 1964-1967, when Eastland Mall was constructed near the suburb of Whitehall. Its original two anchors were Lazarus (now Macy's) and Sears. A JCPenney was added in 1979, when the mall was expanded and enclosed.
Throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s it was one of the most popular shopping destinations in Columbus. A food court was added in a further expansion in around 1990, and the main mall's facade was updated. During the 1990s, however, the mall saw a steady demise caused by the introduction of new shopping malls in the area. The first new mall in Columbus in 20 years, the downtown City Center included several tenants that were unique to Columbus, including anchors Marshall Field's and Jacobson's, which took some business from Northland. However, it remained popular with shoppers in the northern half of Columbus.
The opening of The Mall at Tuttle Crossing in 1997 was the first major hit to Northland. It could not match the capacity of Tuttle, which was larger and had more anchors. The opening of Tuttle was more devastating to Westland Mall, but nonetheless took shoppers away from the suburbs of Powell and Dublin, who had previously gone to Northland.
In late 2001, all three anchors (Lazarus, Sears, and JCPenney) closed their stores at Northland, relocating to new stores in Polaris Fashion Place.[2] Finally, on October 31, 2002, after 38 years of service to Columbus, Northland Mall closed. In February 2004, it was demolished. The only parts that remain are the former anchor stores of Lazarus, which was converted to offices for the Ohio Department of Taxation, and the former JCPenney store, which will house a local theater group (Vaud-Villites) after renovation.[3] A Menards home improvement store now lies on the site of the former Sears and the Franklin County Dog Shelter moved to part of the area in October 2011.