Southern Park Mall

Southern Park Mall is a shopping mall in Boardman, Ohio, United States, serving the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area. It was developed by the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation in 1970, and is now owned by Washington Prime Group. The mall, which is the largest shopping destination in Mahoning County, has approximately 1,018,400 square feet (94,610 m2) of space. Its anchor stores are JCPenney and Macy's, with junior anchors H&M, Shoe Dept. Encore, and Planet Fitness.

Southern Park Mall
LocationBoardman, Ohio
Coordinates41°01′17″N 80°39′32″W
Address7401 Market Street
Opening date1970
DeveloperEdward J. DeBartolo Corporation
ManagementWashington Prime Group
OwnerWashington Prime Group
No. of stores and services75
No. of anchor tenants3 (2 open, 1 vacant)
Total retail floor area1,018,400 square feet (94,610 m2)
No. of floors1 (2 in anchors)
Public transit accessBus transport WRTA Available at mall: 7 Glenwood, 8 Market, 5 South, 26 Boardman East Loop
Websitesouthernparkmall.com
American Commodore Left, Ace's Break Away and Play Right. Southern Park Mall

History

The Southern Park Mall was named after the Southern Park Race Track; a historic horse racing facility that was located approximately 1.5 miles south of the mall's present position.[1][2] The horse track was bounded by Washington Boulevard, Southern Boulevard, and McClurg Road. One of the only remaining structures, the Southern Park Stable, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 10, 1986.[3]

Originally planned as a joint venture with fellow Youngstown-based developer William M. Cafaro, the DeBartolo Corporation bought out the Cafaro Company's interest in the project in 1968. The mall originally had three anchor stores and totaled 905,600 square feet (84,133 m2). Sears opened October 13, 1969 along with the Sears wing that included junior anchor Woolworth. JCPenney opened April 2, 1970 and the Youngstown-based Strouss opened April 8, 1970. JCPenney and Strouss relocated from DeBartolo's Greater Boardman Plaza, located approximately one mile west of Southern Park Mall. Other initial stores included Gray Drugs, Kroger, and Southern Park Theater.

The Pittsburgh-based Joseph Horne Company began construction on a fourth anchor unit on July 25, 1972, and opened July 30, 1973. The Strouss store was changed into Kaufmann's in 1986 when The May Department Stores Company merged its divisions. Dillard's acquired Joseph Horne Company with Horne's closing July 17, 1992 and Dillard's opening August 12, 1992. Dillard's bought their store and adjoining land on October 13, 1993. In 1997 the mall went under an extensive renovation, shortly after the DeBartolo Corporation merged with Simon Property Group. Simon spent $19 million making improvements to the interiors, adding a food court and a Cinemark Tinseltown USA 7 movie theater at the southeastern edge of the mall's property. It opened in 1997 and has 7 screens. Jillian's, which replaced Woolworth, was a tenant from 1999 to 2011.[4] In 2006, Kaufmann's was re-branded to Macy's following the latter's acquisition. In 2007, there was talk of demolishing,and expanding a portion of the Sears wing to bring outdoor shopping, dining, and entertainment to the mall. Simon instead filled the space with Shoe Dept. Encore in 2011. In October of the same year, Fox Head opened in center court.

On April 3, 2014, news was released of the sale of Southern Park Mall by Simon Property Group to its spinoff, Washington Prime Group.[5] On April 18, of that same year Gap, and Gap Kids, announced they would be closing.[6] Following Gap's closure, Coach New York announced they too would be shuttering at the mall, among 70 set to close.[7] On October 21, 2015, Bath & Body Works announced they would be expanding and remodeling their store at the mall.[8] In January 2016, Zumiez and Vanity announced they would be coming to the shopping center. Zumiez opened in February next to Crazy 8 in the former Coach New York space. In mid April, Vanity opened in the former Wet Seal space, next to American Eagle Outfitters.[9] As of May 4, 2016, Aeropostale filed for bankruptcy, announcing the location at Southern Park would be liquidated.[10] On April 5, 2018, Sears announced that they would be closing their location at the mall in July 2018 after nearly 49 years.[11] On February 13, 2019, it was announced that Dillard's would also be closing on May 14, 2019 which left JCPenney and Macy's as the only remaining anchors.[12] On this same day, the Dillard's building was sold to a Cafaro Company subsidiary, Boardman SC LLC.[13] The Cafaro Company owns the competing Eastwood Mall in nearby Niles, Ohio. In redevelopment efforts, Washington Prime Group tore down the Sears building in late 2019 and replaced it with the DeBartolo Commons, which added some smaller exterior storefronts whilst decreasing the overall square footage of the mall.[14] DeBartolo Commons opened in 2021, adding recreational spaces and restaurants to the complex. Earlier in 2021, a Planet Fitness relocated to the mall, combining former tenant locations and creating a new junior anchor space on the mall's east side.[15] On August 11, 2023, Windsor officially opened in the former Aeropostale space.[16] As of May 2, 2023 the mall has an occupancy rate of 76%.

Anchor stores

Former
  • Sears: Opened 1970, closed 2018
  • Horne's: Opened 1972, converted to Dillard's in 1992
  • Dillard's: Opened in 1992, closed 2019
  • Kaufmann's: Opened 1986, converted to Macy's in 2006
  • Strouss: Opened 1970, converted to Kaufmann's in 1986

Former stores

See also

References
  1. "Plan unveiled to preserve Boardman race track history". WFMJ. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  2. "Southern Park Stables". Boardman Park. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  3. "Southern Park Stable". NRHP. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  4. "Youngstown News, Jillian's closes in Boardman". www.vindy.com. Archived from the original on 2011-02-02.
  5. Southern Park Mall Spun Off to New Entity
  6. "The Gap and Gap Kids in the Southern Park Mall is closing". vindyarchives.com. April 18, 2014. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  7. "Coach benches 70 stores in North America". Fortune. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
  8. "Bath and Body Works at Southern Park Mall to remodel". WYTV. 2015-10-21. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  9. "Zumiez, Vanity stores coming to Southern Park Mall". WKBN.com. 2016-01-29. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  10. "Aeropostale closing sales begin Saturday in Boardman and Niles". www.wfmj.com. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
  11. Simeon, Chelsea (5 April 2018). "Sears closing store in Southern Park Mall". WKBN. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  12. https://www.wkbn.com/news/local-news/dillard-s-announces-closing-of-southern-park-mall-store/1778741485
  13. Koziol, Brandon (February 15, 2019). "Cafaro Co. subsidiary purchases Dillard's building at Southern Park Mall". 21 WFMJ. WFMJ. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  14. Medore, Josh (2019-09-07). "Southern Park Mall Rebuilds for Next 50 Years with DeBartolo Commons". Business Journal Daily. Retrieved 2019-09-10.
  15. "Planet Fitness Marks Newest Step in Southern Park's Redevelopment". Business Journal Daily | The Youngstown Publishing Company. 2021-04-15. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  16. "Grand Opening of Windsor Fashions LLC store at Southern Park Mall in Boardman, OH". Windsor. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
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