SouthPark Mall is an upscale bi-level shopping mall located in Strongsville, Ohio, a Greater Cleveland suburb. Its anchor stores are Dillard's, Macy's, JCPenney, Kohl's, Sears, and Dick's Sporting Goods. It also includes a 14-screen Cinemark Theater. At 1,654,292 square feet, SouthPark Mall is ranked 45th in the top 50 largest shopping malls in the United States. The mall features more than 180 specialty shops and restaurants, and is the largest retail destination in Greater Cleveland.
Video SouthPark Mall (Strongsville, Ohio)
History
As early as the 1960s, the intersection of Royalton Road (SR 82) and Howe Road in the rapidly expanding suburb was coveted for commercial use. A secret plan by former Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell to build a new stadium at the site was exposed by the media in the 1980s and subsequently scrapped. The land was eventually sold to the Richard E. Jacobs Group, which later unveiled its first plans for a major mall. The Higbee Company and May Company Ohio, Cleveland's two major department store companies, announced that they would join as anchors.
Ground was broken in 1995, with the $200 million SouthPark Center opening in October 1996. The completed center included not only Dillard's (the renamed Higbee's) and Kaufmann's (the renamed May Company) department stores, but also J. C. Penney's, Sears, over 100 retailers, an elegant food court, and a grand porte cochere -- a massive extended greeting canopy above its main entrance. Kohl's was also an anchor, though on the outlying perimeter road surrounding the mall. The project also made allowances for an eventual fifth mall anchor store location, later to become Dick's Sporting Goods, plus substantial peripheral development.
Situated about SouthPark's site perimeter is The Commons at SouthPark Shopping Center, OfficeMax, Kohl's, The Cleveland Clinic, KeyBank, Planet Fitness, & several restaurants. The shopping center is noteworthy for its coordinated upscale architectural treatment and lush landscaping. Its interior is roofed by grand barrel-vaulted truss-work and plentiful skylights over lush plantings. The center has proven a very strong draw and popular destination for local and regional residents alike.
Westfield Group acquired the shopping center in early 2002 from the Richard E. Jacobs Group, and renamed it "Westfield Shoppingtown SouthPark", dropping the "Shoppingtown" name in June 2005. In 2006 it commenced a 60 million expansion and reconfiguration of the center, thus adding 25 upscale shops and restaurants, a rear porte cochere entrance, and a 14-screen Cinemark Theater. Dick's Sporting Goods was also added at this time to become the mall's fifth anchor store.
On April 2012, the mall was sold to Starwood Capital Group, along with seven other Westfield properties. As a result, Starwood changed the name to SouthPark Mall.
On May 2016, Starwood Retail Partners announced the opening of The Commons At SouthPark Shopping Center, a 14 million redevelopment located on Rt. 82. New shops/restaurants include DSW, Michaels, Brown Aveda Institute, Orangetheory Fitness, The Vitamin Shoppe, The RAIL, & first to market CoreLife Eatery.
Other notable retailers include Williams Sonoma, ALDO, Chico's, J.Jill, Papyrus, Abercrombie & Fitch, Banana Republic, Brookstone, Sephora, H&M, Aveda, Godiva, PANDORA, Clarks, Swarovski, The Buckle, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Pink, Victoria's Secret, Lucky Shoes, Apricot Lane, Soma, Francesca's, Hollister Co., Learning Express Toys, Books-A-Million, & Trollbeads Flagship.
Maps SouthPark Mall (Strongsville, Ohio)
Anchors
- Dillard's (210,992 sq ft.)
- Macy's (178,173 sq ft.)
- Sears (167,400 sq ft.)
- J. C. Penney (145,330 sq ft.)
- Dick's Sporting Goods (50,000 sq ft.)
- Kohl's (87,000 sq ft.)
- Cinemark Theater (50,000 sq ft.)
Junior anchors
- OfficeMax
- Michaels (19,000 sq ft.)
- DSW (18,000 sq ft.)
- H&M (21,057 sq ft.)
- Forever 21 (16,307 sq ft.)
- The Shoe Dept. Encore (20,000 sq ft.)
- Planet Fitness (15,000 sq ft.)
See also
- Westfield Group
References
External links
- Southpark Mall Official Website
- Southpark Mall Official Facebook Fan Page
- Southpark Mall Official Twitter Page
Source of the article : Wikipedia