Where it all began
A look at Rolling Acres Mall in Akron, OH on a summer weekend in 2007. Before the dark times, before the social media Empire.
June 16th, 2007. That was when I would first pull into the parking lot of what would later become one of the most infamous abandoned malls in Akron, OH and beyond. Rolling Acres Mall. At the time, it was still a little over a year away from closing, a handful of smaller tenants remaining. Anchors Sears, Macy’s, and JCPenney, reduced to their outlet store format, still attracted shoppers who were still hanging on to the mall’s glory days. The elderly roamed the halls, getting in their daily exercise. A man in a blue button down shirt and jeans, sat and reminisced at the drained and now quiet stained metal fountain at the Court of the Twelve Trees, the trees long gone. The Court of the Twelve Plants, does not have the same ring to it. Another man, sleeping in a chair in the food court. These are the images that greeted me that day, and throughout the weekend I spent there. Rolling Acres was not my first time witnessing the final months of a shopping mall. However, it was the first in my official capacity as the third member of the deadmalls.com crew. Also, it was the first where I had free reign to document as I saw fit. We were basically given the keys to the castle, free to photograph whatever we wanted.
We were there in the capacity of filming a segment for the documentary, produced by Icarus Films, “Malls R Us”. We had paid visits to Randall Park as well that weekend, and a short stop at Euclid Square Mall on the way out of Cleveland. We were hassled by security at Randall Park almost immediately. Euclid Square was a little more lax, but it was a rushed experience overall due to needing to return home. The crown jewel however, was Rolling Acres. Here I was, fresh on a road trip to more than one state away (growing up, aside from a few times I can count on one hand, I never made it far out of New York’s Tri-State region), embarking on a trip that would be an unforgettable experience I still hold dear, today.
I was immediately taken by the salmon color throughout, and the red tile and bricked floor in the fountain area. The bubble elevator with its disco bulb lights running up and down both sides of the shaft. Stuck in time. The storefronts reminded me of many I had at my hometown malls growing up, all of which were still successful at the time, showing me that this place was once top dog in the area. Memories of my own childhood flooded back. That to me, is what makes this field of interest so spectacular. Here I was, at a mall I had never been to before, having never grown up there, being transported into my memory banks, as if I had. Whether it’s a color, a storefront, a logo, or the smell from a restaurant in the food court. These little snapshots of time converge and mold into a time that was innocent, and that we as humans constantly long for. As we know, nothing lasts. Rolling Acres was a victim of many things, but most of all, changing of the times.
Rolling Acres Mall opened at 2400 Romig Road in Akron, OH August 6th, 1975. Built on farmland once owned by Isaac Romig, the center was opened with Sears and around 20 stores intially. These grew to over 100 by the 1980s. JCPenney and Montgomery Ward would come aboard in 1976, as well as a three screen General Cinema. The shopping center was developed by Forest City Enterprises, and designed by architect Keeva J. Kekst, at the cost of $75 million. Akron based O’neil’s would round out the anchor lineup, on the bi-level section at the south end of the mall. Plans for a fifth anchor stagnated for years, before finally becoming a reality by 1994, when Target opened their doors.
The late 80s saw anchor changes. Montgomery Ward bailed and was replaced with Higbee’s. O’neil’s was switched over to May Company Ohio. Those nameplates did not last, for by 1992-93, they were switched to Dillard’s and Kaufmann’s respectively. The aformentioned Target add-on also attracted new customers. A refresh of the mall’s food court was also meant to boost foot traffic, but by this time Rolling Acres was quickly spiraling into the #3 position for Akron’s mall scene. Akron Police were switched out with security officers at the start of the decade, and an fight that broke out in 1992 sent people scrambling out of the mall after a sign falling to the ground was mistaken for a gunshot. General Cinema closed around this time, after having been focusing on discounted fare for the past few years. The expansions and improvements of the other two Akron malls; Edward J. DeBartolo’s Summit Mall, now under Simon Property Group and Forest City’s Chapel Hill Mall rendered Rolling Acres tired and worn. One by one, smaller stores would close up shop. Dillard’s and JCPenney downgraded to outlet stores after declining sales. Forest City Enterprises gave up the mall in 2000, selling to Bankers Trust of New York for $33.5 million. The mall’s sun over the hills logo came about at that time, along with all the quirky marketing that would be plastered over the walls covering long closed tenants. Heywood Wichard would purchase the mall in 2002 for $2.75 million. During their ownership, the only positive activity would be reopening the former theater into a discount movie house. Wichard would sell the mall to Invest Commercial, LLC in July of 2006 for $1.7 million, which included the responsibility of paying back Wichard’s unpaid taxes.
The first anchor to leave was the newest one. Target called it quits in May of 2006, and opened a new store in Wadsworth. Dillard’s would follow in August. Kaufmann’s switched to the Macy’s nameplate the following month, a result of Macy’s owner, Federated, purchasing the entirety of May Department Stores. By the time my visit came along in June 2007, the prognosis was grim, despite claims of the opposite. There had even been a homeless man living in one of the vacant storefronts. Macy’s would shut down February 2008.
To make matters worse, Invest Commercial was not paying their bills. FirstEnergy took them to court, and the owners had delinquent taxes owed to Summit County, to the tune of $305 thousand. The mall’s last day of operation was October 31st, 2008. FirstEnergy had ordered the mall’s electricity shut off due to lack of payment, and the mall’s remaining tenants were ordered to leave. JCPenney and Sears owned their respective buildings and utilities, and were not affected. An online auction was set for May of 2009, but there were no bids. Finally, the mall was sold to Premier Ventures, LLC of California. They had announced plans to utilize the vacant structure, but this never came to pass. They did not pay the back taxes, or current taxes on the property, and after Sears’ depature in 2010, the mall was essentially vacant. The City of Akron would eventually utilize foreclosure proceedings against Premier, but it would be a back and forth battle.
The JCPenney Outlet would be the last holdout. In January 2011, JCPenney exited the outlet store business, shutting them down. However, 9 months later, they would be reopened as JC’s 5 Star Outlet under the ownership of SB Capital Group. The Rolling Acres store would be included in that. They would last until 2013, before shutting down and leaving the entire site vacant.
In death, Rolling Acres took on a life of its own. Scrappers had pillaged the mall, removing copper, all of the railings, and stripping the metal clad fountain bare. In April of 2011, a man was electrocuted trying to steal copper out of a still live transformer on the property. In 2012, a man was found shot to death and buried in a shallow grave behind the mall. This would later be linked to the Craiglist Killer. Reportedly, gangs would roam the mall shooting out the skylights, allowing the elements to enter.
In 2016, Dan Bell posted a video of the mall, complete with him being escorted out by the police. Ultimately, this ushered in a newfound fascination with the property, and others like it. UrBex explorers, wannabes and others alike, descended on the property. Conditions of the building were abhorrent. Premier and the city of Akron were locked in a battle of wits for control of the property. Summit County had gone as far as to initiate Sherriff’s sales of the mall, to turn it over to city control. At the last minute, Premier would file for bankruptcy, staving off the inevitable.
Nine years after my visit to the mall, Akron won their victory. A final Sherriff’s sale saw no bidders, and control was handed over to the city. Demolition plans were immediately cooked up. JCPenney donated their piece of the property, while the vacant Sears, Dillard’s, Macy’s, and Target buildings were still being utilized, by a recycling center and storage facilities, respectively. The main common areas of the mall were demolished by the end of 2017. Akron was eventually able to wrestle control of the rest of the property, sans Sears and demolished those structures as well. Amazon was in talks to purchase the property to build a fulfullment center on the site. They opened the facility on November 1st, 2020. To date, the only buildings original to the mall remaining on the site are the former Sears operating as Pinnacle Recycling, and the former JCPenney auto center.
I made it back to Rolling Acres one last time, Labor Day weekend 2017. I had missed the chance to see the place when it was still intact, as destroyed as it became. By the time I arrived, 90% of the mall concourse was gone. I didn’t venture too far, for the police had a semi-constant watch on the property by this point. It provided closure, and I was glad I could say one last goodbye to a mall that shaped me. I will share those photos at a later date.
Looking back, I wish we had done more during our time there. That we saw more of the back areas, the mall offices, maybe catch a movie at the old General Cinema. You always want more, looking back. But I am thankful for what I got. Most people, aside from those who grew up with the place, only saw the death and destruction. I got to see a glimpse of what was. And I am always thankful for that. Ever since those three days spent there, I am always chasing the thrill. The thrill of having the kingdom of your childhood and teenage years handed to you, to mold your own story, and mark your own place in its history.
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