Great Lakes Mall is a one-level shopping mall 22.3 miles (35.9 km) northeast of downtown Cleveland, Ohio, between Mentor Avenue, Johnnycake Ridge Road, Plaza Boulevard and Interstate 90 in Mentor, a suburb of Cleveland. The mall has four open anchors which are Dick's Sporting Goods, Dillard's, JCPenney and Round One Entertainment.
Mall History[]
On January 17, 1961, Great Lakes Mall opened to the public, originally as an open-air shopping center. The complex was the first shopping mall developed by Edward J. DeBartolo. The shopping center originally had 275,000 leaseable square feet with the first store opening which was Kroger. On July 13, 1961, the first anchor was added to the shopping complex which was a one-level JCPenney store. During this time, the complex had two open-air concourses that extended from a small enclosed center section. A month later, another anchor was added which was a one-level J.J. Newberry, making the complex have a total of two anchor stores. By September 28th, the complex had multiple stores such as Firestone, Fisher Foods, Bond Clothes, Gray Drug, Nobil Shoes, Sherwin Williams, Richard's & Lewell's Jewelry, The Curiosity Shoppes, Trio Shoppes Ladies' Wear, Kinney Shoes, Record Carnival and Associated Hardware. On May 17, 1963, the first mall expansion got underway and the north concourse was enclosed. On April 22, 1964, a third anchor was added which was a two-level May Company. In 1966, JCPenney was expanded into a two-level store, a free standing JCPenney Auto Center was also constructed. In 1969, the mall was expanded once again and the south concourse was enclosed. On March 26, 1969, Associate Theatres opened the Great Lakes Mall Cinema on an eastern outparcel. On October 13, 1969, a fourth anchor was added which was a two-level Higbee's. On April 14, 1971, a fifth anchor was added which was a two-level Sears. During this time, the mall had a total of 1,114,600 square feet of leaseable space after the expansions and enclosures were completed, In 1973, the Great Lakes Mall Cinema had been expanded into two-screens. In 1975, May Company expanded their store to 189,100 square feet. On August 9, 1977, a sixth anchor was added which was a two-level Horne's, this brought the mall to have a total of 1,258,000 leaseable square feet. In 1978, Great Lakes Mall Cinema was expanded into five-screens. During the 1970s, Great Lakes Mall began to have major competition with other malls in the suburban Cleveland area, those malls were Richmond Mall in Richmond Heights and Euclid Square Mall in Euclid. In November 1989, a 20 million dollar renovation to Great Lakes Mall was completed adding a 13-bay Food Court, new skylights and new flooring. In 1990, J.J. Newberry closed and the space was split into seven store spaces, making the mall have a total of five anchor spaces. Also in 1990, Great Lakes Mall Cinema was expanded into nine-screens. In August 1992, Higbee's was converted into Dillard's. In May 1993, May Company was converted into Kaufmann's. In August 1994, Horne's closed and the spaces became two Dillard's stores, the former Higbee's store became Dillard's South and the former Horne's became Dillard's North. In 1996, as a result of the merger between DeBartolo Realty Corporation and Simon Property Group, the mall was handed over to Simon Property Group. In January 2004, Great Lakes Cinemas 9 closed permanently. In September 2006, Kaufmann's was converted into Macy's. In September 2007, the former Great Lakes Cinemas was remodeled into a sixteen-screen cinema under the name of Atlas Cinemas Great Lakes Stadium 16, after being vacant for three years. In March 2011, Great Lakes Mall went through another renovation which added new soft seating areas, new lighting, new flooring and landscaping were installed. The Food Court was upgraded and all of the mall hallways and entrances were rebuilt, the project was completed in November 2011. In May 2014, Simon Property Group handed the mall over to Washington Prime Group. Also in May 2014, Dick's Sporting Goods opened as a sixth anchor to the mall. In May 2017, the Dillard's North store closed and was consolidated into the Dillard's South store becoming one whole store. In April 2018, Round One Entertainment opened on the first floor of the former Dillard's North space. In April 2021, Macy's closed down.