Forest Fair Village (formerly Cincinnati Mall, Cincinnati Mills, and Forest Fair Mall) is a shopping mall in the northern suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, situated on the border between Forest Park and Fairfield at the junction of Interstate 275 and Winton Road (Exit 39). Opened in phases between 1988 and 1989 as Forest Fair Mall, the property is noted for its troubled history; despite being the second-biggest mall in the state and bringing many new retailers to the market, it lost three anchor stores (B. Altman and Company, Bonwit Teller, and Sakowitz) and its original owner LJ Hooker to bankruptcy less than a year after opening. The mall underwent renovations throughout the mid 1990s, attracting new stores such as Kohl's, Burlington Coat Factory, and Bass Pro Shops; another renovation ensued in the first decade of the 21st century when Mills Corporation renamed the property to Cincinnati Mills. Following the sale of Mills's portfolio to Simon Property Group, the mall was sold several times afterward, while continuing to lose many of its key tenants. Renamed to Cincinnati Mall and again to Forest Fair Village in the 2010s, the property has dwindled to fewer than five tenants as of 2017, and plans of redevelopment have largely been stalled. Remaining stores at the mall include Kohl's, Bass Pro Shops, and Babies "R" Us.
Video Forest Fair Village
History
LJ Hooker announced Forest Fair Mall's development in 1986. Initially, the site at the northeast corner of the Interstate 275 beltway's interchange with Winton Road was to consist only of Bigg's, a local hypermarket chain, but LJ Hooker decided instead to make Bigg's an anchor store to a large enclosed shopping mall, which would be named Forest Fair Mall. According to these plans, the mall would consist of 1,500,000 square feet (140,000 m2) of retail space, with 70 percent of the building in Forest Park and 30 percent in Fairfield. By July 1987, mall developers had also stated that two other department stores had committed to the project: Cleveland-based Higbee's and New York City-based Bonwit Teller. Overall, it would be the second-biggest mall in the state of Ohio, behind only Randall Park Mall. Also in 1987, Hooker bought controlling interest in both Bonwit Teller and three other department stores: B. Altman and Company, which was confirmed as a tenant of the mall that November, Parisian, which was confirmed in March 1988, and Sakowitz, which underwent negotations with Hooker in October 1988 to open a store at the mall.
1988-1990: Opening and early years
The first phase of the mall, featuring Bigg's and approximately 20 other stores, opened on July 11, 1988. The rest of the mall's opening was delayed due to Higbee's withdrawing from the project after being purchased by a joint venture of Dillard's and Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. As a result, B. Altman was moved from its original location to the space originally intended for Higbee's, leaving one of the anchor spaces vacant and creating further delays in mall opening. Immediately after the Bigg's wing of the mall opened, Elder-Beerman was confirmed for the vacated anchor left behind by B. Altman's relocation. Due to the withdrawal of Higbee's, the rest of the mall's opening was delayed to October 1988, and again to March 1, 1989. At opening day, only about one-third of the mall stores were ready for opening, including Bonwit Teller, B. Altman, and Parisian, along with several smaller shops and the food court. Opening by mid-year were Elder-Beerman, Sakowitz, an Australian restaurant called Wallaby Bob's, a 1950s-styled cafe, and an Oshman's Sporting Goods. An eight-screen movie theater called Super Saver opened in June 1989. Many of the tenants were unique at the time: Wallaby Bob's was "the first brewery-restaurant in the nation that operates in a suburban shopping mall", while another tenant, Koala Klubhouse, was the first licensed day care to be located in an American shopping mall. Another major tenant present at opening day was a 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m2) entertainment complex, featuring a carousel and miniature golf course. A 1989 article in The Cincinnati Enquirer described the mall as "entering uncharted waters" due to Sakowitz, B. Altman, Parisian, and Bonwit Teller all being not only new to the Cincinnati market, but also due to the higher-priced merchandise available at those stores, in comparison to the area's more blue collar demographics.
LJ Hooker filed for bankruptcy soon after the mall opened, due to debt accrued by the company's expansion in the United States. The company put Forest Fair up for sale in June 1989, with Forest Fair having an asking price of $200 million. At this point, only 65 percent of the inline mall space was occupied, and the mall was described as "struggling" due to the large number of vacancies, primarily in the B. Altman wing. The proximity to both Northgate Mall and Tri-County Mall was also shown as a factor in the mall's struggles, particularly due to the latter undergoing an expansion not long after Forest Fair opened. Despite the mall's troubles, the owners of Parisian noted that the store's sales were strong enough for the company to consider expansion in the Cincinnati market. The bankruptcy filing resulted in the liquidation of Bonwit Teller, B. Altman and Company, and Sakowitz, while Parisian reverted to its previous ownership. Liquidation sales at all three stores began in August 1990. In October of the same year, the mall was sold to a partnership called FFM Limited, headed by a group of banks which had loaned to LJ Hooker most of the $250 million in construction costs. Madison Marquette became the mall's leasing agent.
1990s: The Shops at Forest Fair and redvelopment
In 1992, the mall owners announced a new concept for the mall, known as The Shops at Forest Fair. Under this concept, each wing would focus on a different theme of shopping. The southwestern wing anchored by Parisian and Elder-Beerman was "The Fashions at Forest Fair", featuring apparel and traditional department stores; the northwestern wing, formerly home to B. Altman, became "The Lifestyles at Forest Fair", with stores focused on home decor, entertainment, and sporting goods; the eastern wing anchored by Bigg's became "The Markets at Forest Fair", which featured tenants centerd on "value, services, and convenience"; and the former Bonwit Teller became "The Festival at Forest Fair", focused on entertainment. Also, Dawahares opened its first Ohio store in the vacated Sakowitz space, Subway and Hot Dog on a Stick joined the food court, and an existing arcade called Time Out was expanded. By June 1993, further new tenants had opened, including a Sam Goody/Suncoast Motion Picture Company superstore in the Lifestyle wing and a CompUSA in the Markets wing. At the time, each of the other wings was about 90 percent leased except for the former B. Altman wing, which was only 25 percent leased. Due to the increased traffic brought on by the new stores, many new retail developments were constructed at the I-275 interchange, while increasing jobs and tax revenues in Forest Park. Although a home furnishings store called HOME had been proposed for the former B. Altman store as part of the 1992 renovations, the space ultimately remained vacant until late 1994, when Kohl's moved into the space. This was the first of three stores opened by Kohl's upon its expansion into Cincinnati.
The mall was put up for sale again in 1995, with FFM noting that the partnership did not intend to maintain ownership for over five years. Gator Invesetments bought the mall in January 1996. Several anchor stores changed under Gator's ownership: Dawahares closed in late 1996 due to poor sales, Berean Christian Stores signed a 10-year lease for a 21,250 square feet (1,974 m2) Christian bookstore at the mall in late 1997, while Parisian closed in June 1998 and Guitar Center replaced CompUSA, which moved to a larger store across from Tri-County Mall. A gym called Moore's Fitness also opened during this timespan.
In late 1999 and early 2000, Gator Investments began a second renovation plan which attracted several new tenants. Under these plans, they worked with Glimcher Realty Trust as leasing agent. The mall underwent a myriad of changes soon afterward, including three anchor stores that all opened in October 2000: Bass Pro Shops opened in the former Parisian, Burlington Coat Factory (now known as just Burlington) replaced the former "Festival" wing, and Stein Mart opened a temporary outlet store (its first overall store in Ohio) in the former Dawahares space. Further changes between 2000 and 2001 included a nightclub called Metropolis, a new Showcase Cinemas theater complex with stadium seating, relocations of the food court and Moore's Fitness, a Media Play music and electronics store next to Kohl's, Off Fifth (an outlet division of Saks Fifth Avenue), the first Steve & Barry's sports clothing store in Ohio, a children's entertainment complex called Wonderpark, plus new inline tenants such as Casual Corner and Dress Barn. In addition to all of these, Ryan's Steakhouse and The Old Spaghetti Factory opened on outparcels.
2000s: Cincinnati Mills
Mills Corporation bought the mall from Gator Investments in September 2002 and announced that the mall would undergo further redevelopment, along with a name change to Cincinnati Mills. As part of the redevelopment, Mills forced many small independent businesses out of the property. Renovations began in January, which included new paint, floors, and signage throughout, along with differently-themed decor for each wing of the mall.
Elder-Beerman announced the closure of its store in 2003, due to the chain's owners wanting to focus on smaller stores in smaller markets. After a $70 million renovation project, the mall reopened officially as Cincinnati Mills in August 2004. Babies "R" Us replaced Stein Mart, and Johnny's Toys had opened in the upper level of the former Elder-Beerman, while the older Super Saver theater was converted to Danbarry Dollar Saver, a discounted second-run theater. Inline tenants at this point were focused mainly on discount stores and amenities suitable for families, as was typical of other properties developed by Mills. By January 2005, the mall had a 90 percent occupancy, and was drawing shoppers from Louisville, Kentucky and Indianapolis.
Despite these renovations, the mall was beginning to lose tenants again by 2006, including both Media Play (which filed for bankruptcy and closed all its stores) and Johnny's Toys, the latter of which was eliminated so that Steve & Barry's could take over the entirety of the former Elder-Beerman building. In addition, the president of Bigg's reported that their store in the mall had constantly struggled in sales due to it being located at the back of the property. At the time of Mills' ownership, the mall's continued struggles with tenancy and foot traffic were due to increased retailing competition in the market, combined with lower-class demographics surrounding the mall and shopper unfamiliarity with the specialty tenants within. Simon Property Group acquired the Mills portfolio in 2007.
2009-present: Cincinnati Mall, Forest Fair Village
Bigg's closed in June 2008, shortly after both Berean Christian Stores and Wonderpark closed. North Star Realty acquired the mall from Simon in January 2009. North Star proposed to begin converting portions of the mall to office space, call centers, or other non-retail uses, also renaming the property to Cincinnati Mall in March 2009. Under North Star's ownership, Steve & Barry's vacated due to the chain going out of business, while Off 5th, Guess, Lane Bryant, and Dress Barn relocated to a newly built outlet mall in Monroe. Despite the loss of these stores and other inline tenants such as MasterCuts and GNC, Totes Isotoner operated a temporary 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) warehouse store in a vacated retail slot near the food court. In addition, the property owners had fallen delinquent on property taxes. Cincinnati Holding Company purchased the mall in 2010, right as Showcase Cinemas closed.
In 2011, three local businessmen announced plans to open ice rinks in the vacated Bigg's. Meanwhile, Guitar Center had also closed, and a studio was proposed for its space, while a hotel was slated for the former Elder-Beerman/Steve & Barry's space. Bass Pro Shops announced plans to relocate to West Chester Township in 2013. By this point, the mall was once again renamed, to Forest Fair Village. In addition, a new arcade and gymnasium had opened. Also, Burlington Coat Factory moved out of the mall in 2013, and Danbarry Dollar Saver closed in 2014. The proposed relocation of Bass Pro Shops, combined with the continued delinquent taxes, created delays in any further attempts at redevelopment.Further redevelopment plans through association with Prudential Commercial Real Estate fell through in 2014 when that company's listing agreement expired. By 2017, only Kohl's, Babies "R" Us, Bass Pro Shops, and a children's entertainment complex remained in operation. A brokerage team put the mall up for sale in 2017. In mid-2017, a Christian media company had expressed interest in using part of the mall property for a studio.
Maps Forest Fair Village
References
External links
- Forest Fair Mall at DeadMalls.com
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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