This is our walkthrough of the Midway Mall in Elyria, OH from October 17, 2019. This is a dying mall in an overmalled area of greater Cleveland. Built in the 1960s, portions of the mall still are untouched, showing off old designs such as mirrored trim, interesting stone work, big globe lights, and liberal use of palm trees. It was a delight yet quite sad to walk around this mall.
Songs used in this video (in order):
Trevor Bastow - Soft Shades
Steve Gray - Eye Catcher
Irving Martin - Earthy
Jean Bouchéty - Hulot's Holiday
Simon Park - Waves
Steve Gray - Wonder Groove
Steve Gray - Reach Out
Here is a portion of an article written by Nicholas Eckhart on the Dead and Dying Retail blog:
www.deadanddyin...
The Midway Mall opened in 1966 with Three Department Store; Higbee's, Sears Roebuck, and JCPenny's as well as Woolworth. Higbee's Became Dillard's and then closed. Woolworth's was located in the store now used as Best Buy. The Majority of the smaller stores in the mall relocated from Downtown Elyria as well as the Major Stores; JCPenney, Sears Roebuck, and Woolworth's. The Downtown district was the main shopping district in town before the Mall opened. The Higbee's was a new store not previously open in Elyria.
The original Anchor Store in this wing was Higbee's. The Higbee's Became Dillard's in 1992. Dillard's briefly became a Dillard's Outlet store before closing due to poor sales in august 2007. Steve & Barry's closed in Late 2008 when the Company first declared Bankruptcy. I have Noticed that this Wing is becoming vacant at a very quick rate. Most stores in this wing left after Steve & Barry's and Dillard's left.
The Anchor Stores in this wing were originally Sears and Woolworth's. Woolworth's Closed during the chain's liquidation in 1994. Best Buy currently occupies the space formerly inhabited by Woolworth's. Sears does not appear to be doing well*.
In 1990 the South Wing (including a Food Court and May Company) was added. The Food Court includes space for ten Restaurants (I believe Eight or Nine of these are currently used). However, Auntie Ann's Pretzels is not located in the Food Court, but nearby*. May Company relocated from Sheffield Centre in nearby Sheffield, Ohio. The Sheffield Store is still mostly vacant. A section of it is used where the employee parking lot is fenced in; making pictures from that angle hard to get. I plan on taking pictures of the Former May Company. Back on topic, The Midway Mall May Company later became a Kaufman's. In late 2006 Macy's Acquired Kaufmann's and re-branded all stores to Macy's. In some places the Kaufmann's stores were closed. The Midway Mall store is one that was rebranded as Macy's*.
* Since this article was written, many of the businesses mentioned are closed today, including Sears, Macy's, and Auntie Ann's
** Here is an excellent blog documenting the history of the mall with scans of old flyers and advertisements relating to the mall:
danielebrady.bl...