Rolling Acres Mall

Rolling Acres Mall

Boarded front entrance to Rolling Acres Mall in March 2014.
Location Akron, Ohio, USA
Coordinates 41°02′56″N 81°35′02″W / 41.0488°N 81.5839°W / 41.0488; -81.5839Coordinates: 41°02′56″N 81°35′02″W / 41.0488°N 81.5839°W / 41.0488; -81.5839
Opening date August 6, 1975
Closing date October 31, 2008 (Last store closed December 31, 2013.)
Developer Forest City Enterprises and R.B. Buchholzer
Management Premier Ventures LLC
Owner Premier Ventures LLC
No. of stores and services 140 +/- (at maximum capacity)
No. of anchor tenants 5 (at maximum capacity)
Total retail floor area 1,300,000 ft² (approx.)
No. of floors 2
Parking 7,500[1]

Rolling Acres Mall was a retail mall located in the Rolling Acres area of Akron, Ohio, United States. Built in 1975 and expanded several times in its history, it once comprised more than 140 stores, including five anchor stores, a movie theater and a food court. The mall was closed off in 2008, save for the only two anchors still in operation, Sears and JCPenney Outlet. However, in January 2011, Sears Holdings announced the Sears store would close by April 2011. In January 2011, JCPenney announced they would close all outlet stores including the Rolling Acres store. In October 2011, an independent company purchased all of JCPenney's Outlet Stores with plans to rename them and continue to operate them. In October 2013, it was announced that JC's 5 Star Outlet would close, and on December 31, 2013, the mall's final retail store shuttered. The mall currently houses Storage of America and Pinnacle Recycling. One of the mall's dilapidated entrances appears as the cover art to The Black Keys' single "Gold on the Ceiling".

History

Rolling Acres Mall was developed by Forest City Enterprises. It opened in Akron, Ohio with Sears and 21 stores on August 6, 1975, and had more than 50 stores by year's end. JCPenney opened a year later as a second anchor. A new wing, called the Court of Aquarius, was added in 1977, including a large aquarium (which was later removed). and a third anchor store, Montgomery Ward. Further expansion in 1978 comprised a new, two-story wing called the Promenade, comprising a food court called "Prom-N-Eat" and local chain O'Neil's as a fourth anchor.

A mall-wide renovation was begun, replacing its original earth tones with pastel colors. Two of the anchors would change in the 1980s as well: Montgomery Ward closed in 1986 and was replaced with Higbee's (another local chain), and O'Neil's was merged to May Company Ohio in 1989.

1990s and 2000s

In a cost-cutting measure, Rolling Acres stopped using off-duty police officers and instead relied on cheaper security guards, starting in 1991.[2] During a showing of "New Jack City", two movie patrons got into a fight outside of the cinema. People in the area believed they heard a gunshot, and a panicked crowd ran through the mall.[3][4][5]

Two more anchor changes in the 1990s, both affecting the same two buildings (Higbee's and May Company Ohio) that had previously been converted in the 1980s. Higbee's was acquired and renamed by Dillard's in 1992, and May Company Ohio became Kaufmann's a year later. Also in 1993, the General Cinema was closed.

A fifth anchor, Target, was the final addition to the mall, opening in 1995. Shortly afterward, however, the mall began losing stores. In addition, the Dillard's and JCPenney anchors were downgraded to clearance centers in 1997 and 1999 respectively. The mall was sold to Bankers Trust in 2000,[6] who gave the mall a new logo as well as a website. Also, the cinema reopened under an independent group calling itself "Blind Squirrel Cinema", but closed again two years later.[5] In 2003, the cinema reopened again, this time as a discount theater.[5]

Rolling Acres Cinema building as it appeared in January 2014

Closure

The first anchor to leave the mall was Target, which relocated to nearby Wadsworth in February 2006. Dillard's Clearance Center was shuttered in August 2006, one month before Kaufmann's was re-branded as Macy's as the parent company of Kaufmann's was acquired. This Macy's, however, closed in February 2008.[7]

In April 2008, mall fixtures were auctioned off, and in August of the same year, the theaters closed for the third and final time.[8] The eight remaining tenants at the mall were notified in October 2008 that the mall would be closing as soon as possible, due to FirstEnergy disconnecting the mall's electricity for nonpayment.[9] On October 31, 2008, the mall's power was finally disconnected, not affecting Sears or the JCPenney outlet.

Auction

On April 23, 2009, it was announced that the mall had been placed on the internet auction block and that several people showed interest in buying it for various purposes. The mall was set to be auctioned off on May 1, 2009.[10] On May 1, 2009 nobody placed a bid for the mall.[11]

2010 sale

The mall was sold in 2010 to a California company, Premier Ventures. The company announced plans to use the existing structure.[12] Shortly afterwards, Sears announced it would be closing its location at the mall. It would close on or around April 3 (although the date may change) but must clear out by April 20.[13] On January 25, 2011, the JCPenney Outlet Store announced it would be closing due to the chain's nationwide pullout of the outlet store concept. The store announced it would close in 2011 or early 2012.[14] On October 19, 2011 SB Capital Group purchased all JCPenney Outlet Stores with plans to rename them and continue to operate them, including the Rolling Acres store, which was renamed JC's 5 Star Outlet. Pinnacle Recycling purchased the Sears building in June 2012.[15][16]

Former JCPenney Outlet building, January 2014

In October 2013, JCPenney announced that it would be closing all outlet stores, including the Rolling Acres Mall one. Then on December 31, 2013, the last store at the mall closed down.[17] No retail stores remain at the mall; the former Target is still in use as a Storage of America facility,[18] the former Sears hosts the Pinnacle Paper Recycling Company, and the Dillard's hosts Old Main Storage, a private storage company.[19]

Storage of America (former Target) at Rolling Acres Mall in March 2014

Currently most of the restaurants surrounding the property are abandoned and empty.

2014

In 2014, the deserted mall played a major role in the Youtube series "Rotor DR1" produced by Chad Kapper. The mall was the place that Kitch and Maya first met the Drone Hunter, played by David Windestal. A short FPV flying video was also shot by David Windestal, flying a self-designed Tricopter.

Ownership

After being sold by its developer, Forest City Enterprises of Cleveland, Rolling Acres Mall has since changed hands several times. It was in the hands of the Whichard family, known for buying malls and then flipping them for a profit. However, even Whichard had problems attracting major players. Invest Commercial LLC, a real estate developer from California bought the facility in July 2006.[20] A number of employees were immediately fired. The future of the site remains unknown. Although Invest Commercial now owns the enclosed mall, concourses, and the Dillards facility, they do not own the other four anchors' buildings. This could become a problem regarding the redevelopment of the site.

The building was sold to Premier Ventures LLC in November 2010. They have since ceased to pay taxes on the property, and as a result the city of Akron is attempting to foreclose on it.[21] A sheriff's sale was set to be held in October of 2014, but was called off because of a filed bankruptcy on the part of Premier. The city attempted another sheriff's sale in March of 2015 but it was again delayed to June 16, 2015 by an incorrect dismissal of the previous bankruptcy case.[22] On June 16 the mall was once again pulled from sheriff's sale at the last second by a second bankruptcy filing by the owner.[23] Subsequent Sheriff's Sales on August 6 and October 6 also failed at the last minute by bankruptcy filings.[24] An agreement was reached in November 2015 to force the sale of the mall while legally barring Premier from filing for bankruptcy until two months after sales proceedings ended.

Former anchors

Sears: 1975 - 2011

JCPenney: 1976 - 1999, JCPenney Outlet: 1999 - 2011, JC's 5 Star Outlet: 2011 - 2013

Montgomery Ward: 1977 - 1986, Higbee's: 1986 - 1992, Dillard's: 1992 - 1997, Dillard's Clearance Center: 1997 - 2006

O'Neil's: 1978 - 1989, May Company Ohio: 1989 - 1993, Kaufmann's: 1993 - 2006, Macy's: 2006 - 2008

Target: 1995 - 2006

References

  1. ↑ Byard, Katie. "Enjoy your mall while you shop 'til you drop." Akron Beacon Journal. 27 August 1987: E7.
  2. ↑ Hoiles, Robert. "Mall Balks at Pay Hike." Akron Beacon Journal. 1 February 1991: B1.
  3. ↑ McMahan, Kim; Katherine Spitz (1991-03-10). "' GUNSHOT' SOUND PANICS SCORES AT MALL". Akron Beacon Journal. p. E16.
  4. ↑ Ethridge, Mary (1996-03-31). "ROLLING ACRES PUTS SECURITY ON DISPLAY \ MALL PROMOTES SAFETY AS IT WORKS TO CHANGE ITS IMAGE". Akron Beacon Journal. p. E1.
  5. 1 2 3 "Rolling Acres Cinema in Akron, OH". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  6. ↑ Alacrastone.com
  7. ↑ Northeast Ohio. "Macy's to close three stores in Northeast Ohio". Blog.cleveland.com. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  8. ↑ http://www.rollingacrescinema.net/
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ Archived April 26, 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ Stan Bullard (2010-12-07). "Mostly vacant Rolling Acres Mall in Akron changes hands". Crainscleveland.com. Retrieved 2013-10-04.
  13. ↑ Archived January 10, 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ↑ Archived January 26, 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ↑ Tracy Turner (2011-10-18). "Akron’s Penney outlet is part of sale". Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  16. ↑ "News". Naicummins.com. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  17. ↑ Miller, Linda (2 October 2013). "JC Penney announces closing of outlet stores". NewsOK.com. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  18. ↑ Lin-Fisher, Betty (February 4, 2011). "Plans rolling along for ex-stores". Retrieved January 7, 2014.
  19. ↑ Warsmith, Stephanie (January 23, 2012). "Former Sears at Rolling Acres to become recycling center; new treatment facility for women to open". Retrieved January 7, 2014.
  20. ↑ Rolling Acres Mall sold for $1.7 million
  21. ↑ Lin-Fisher, Betty. "County forecloses against owner of former Rolling Acres Mall". Ohio.com. Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  22. ↑ Lin-Fisher, Betty. "Sheriff's sale of vacant Rolling Acres Mall postponed again". Ohio.com. Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  23. ↑ Armon, Rick. "Rolling Acres Avoids Summit County Sheriff's Sale Again". Ohio.com. Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  24. ↑ Lin-Fisher, Betty. "Former Rolling Acres Mall pulled from sheriff's sale for fourth time". Ohio.com. Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved 7 October 2015.

External links

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