I was also thinking that Randall Mall was supposed to herald the decline of Southgate, but the latter seems to be doing reasonably well.  Both were the largest of their type (allegedly in the world) when built. 

 

I lived in Maple Heights when RPM opened.  It was of course a big deal, but even early on race was an issue.  It almost had to be.  North Randall sat between predominantly black Warrensville Heights and then racially charged Maple Heights.  A year or two earlier Maple High was shut down for three days because of a race riot and the aggressively all-white west side still had its own junior high.  The parking lots had a reputation for car theft, and the joke was the North Randall police didn't patrol them since the stolen cars weren't speeding.

 

By the late 80s, culture had reinforced racial stereotypes and a major gang fight on a Saturday closed the mall early and permanently established the various politically incorrect nicknames the place had.  It was pretty much downhill from there. 

 

I'd still go to the arcades (they had one on each floor) to play Battlezone and later NBA Jam.  I basically owned Battlezone, the top ten scores always seemed to say EMS. 

 

Meanwhile, Parmatown hardly seems to have changed since the 70s.  There’s a sociology thesis waiting to happen: a comparison between the history of the two malls.

Before I moved to Cleveland, when my sister still lived here and I was in college, I came up for a visit and she took me out there to go shopping, I forget why.  I think there was a particular shoe store that had crazy shoes that wasn't located anywhere else.

 

We could.not.get.service. in any store we went to.  Everyone ignored us.  When we finally were shopping in the shoe store she had to wait in line at the checkout to actually get to a person who would address her and then hand them the shoe and ask if they would please get her that in a size 9.  The clerk paused and glared at her, went back and got the box and threw it down on a chair.  this is how we were received in all the stores we went to.

 

We never went back.  And that's my memory of Randall Park.

I don't have too many memories of Randal Park, but I always connect it with Crystal Clear Pepsi, because as a kid they had a big in-mall promotion where they handed out free Crystal Clear Pepsi, and I was really thirsty that day.. and then I found $5.

sprinting down those red carpeted ramps.

 

I was wondering when somebody would bring that up.  That is my prevailing childhood memory of Randall Park Mall.

 

Speaking of which, does anybody have interior pics of the mall?

Those big steps ramps that led you to the middle.  Oh I totally forgot about those.

Oh Gosh.  I just remember my brother and cousins would ask me my opinion of clothes from Davy Jones Locker, Jeans West, Chess King & County Seat!

 

I swear my brother and several of my cousins have never had an once of fashion sense!

 

Oh and how could I forget about Merry Go Round stores.  ugh!

These were taken from a crappy camera phone in fall '05

 

 

 

wowwww they are closing it foreal? damn this is sad.......i actually still went there occasionally mainly cuz it still had good shoe stores. even today it still has the best shoe stores out of any mall around. anyone know if the finishline there is still open? didnt seem to be closing anytime soon a month ago.

 

 

i remember even in the 90s it still got traffic and most of the stores were open. arcade was still open, food court was full, all the department stores were still there. when macy's closed i think that was the final nail in the coffin.

 

damn even severance was still a mall with a bunch of stores then too. i remember dunham sporting goods

 

old navy closed at richmond? thats surprsing to me considerin richmond seemed to be in good health (pretty much full with stores) and the makeover they gave it seemed to be pretty successful

 

as for the "crime" at randall..........thats just racist people that dont like being outnumbered by black folk when they do their shopping. ive never felt "unsafe" in randall mall lol

 

i blame the owner, i was readin about who owned it but i forget what the name was .....they are also responsible for the doom of some other dead malls across the country.

A sad day, indeed.  Such a big deal when it opened, and many a youthful day running the ramps, scarfing in the food court and playing the arcade... It's still an architectural marvel -- oh those ramps.  I've never seen anything like it.  (you can always tell the old regulars, to which this place is "Randall Mall" or simply "Randall" as opposed to the 'outsiders' who call it the formalized "Randall Park Mall" which we never called it)

 

^I agree CTownsFinest, the crime issue was way overblown and used by some to justify not shopping where there were many (overwhelmingly law abiding, mostly middle class) blacks.  It's another sad chapter in the depths to where Cleveland's racial schism can take us... The loss of Randall Mall is a terrible waste. 

 

damn even severance was still a mall with a bunch of stores then too. i remember dunham sporting goods

 

I don't know if the chain was shut down, but the outbuilding store near Southgate closed a couple years ago.  Too bad, they always had the best prices on a lot of stuff.  They were spacious and never crowded if you went at the right times, which may be why they closed LOL.

 

as for the "crime" at randall..........thats just racist people that dont like being outnumbered by black folk when they do their shopping. ive never felt "unsafe" in randall mall lol

 

Maybe some, like I said it was built right on what was then the "border" between black and white Cuyahoga county, but there was a lot more to it than that.  Not so much violence and major theft (other than cars) but a lot of petty crap like vandalism of cars, spitting on people from the upper level, groups blocking doors and aisles and try to thug-stare people, etc. 

 

Yeah, white teens did some of this too but even some of my black co-workers at the time agreed it was mostly black kids.  This infuriated them, btw.  Perception can become the equivalent of reality and when there was a major gang fight (in 1985 or 86) that made the news, perception was hardened.  They then tried to do some things like break up groups of teens, but that was decried as "racist" by some because there's no doubt that they were more likely to target black teens that clearly weren't spending money than whites who may or may not have been because they occasionally browsed in a store and some were carrying bags.

I remember the huge fountain in the middle of the mall the best.  Euclid Square Mall also had some pretty amazing fountains (some are still working).

as for the "crime" at randall..........thats just racist people that dont like being outnumbered by black folk when they do their shopping. ive never felt "unsafe" in randall mall lol

 

Crime at Randall was a HUGE problem and the primary (if not sole) reason it went downhill.  My mother and I went there to shop almost exclusively when I was a kid, right up until we were mugged in the parking lot on our way out (I was 10).  Later in high school, I went there with some friends.  My friend bought a bookshelf stereo and he (I was with him) was mugged, at gun point, leaving Circuit City.  I used to go to the Toys R Us across the street to buy Nintendo games and it had developed into a mini Ft Knox by the time the new gaming system came out.

 

Finally, I happen to know both of the Bedford Municipal Court Judges quite well...the scheduled day for the city of Randall is often the busiest, with most of the docket coming from issues at the mall.

Yeah, white teens did some of this too but even some of my black co-workers at the time agreed it was mostly black kids.  This infuriated them, btw.   Perception can become the equivalent of reality and when there was a major gang fight (in 1985 or 86) that made the news, perception was hardened.  They then tried to do some things like break up groups of teens, but that was decried as "racist" by some because there's no doubt that they were more likely to target black teens that clearly weren't spending money than whites who may or may not have been because they occasionally browsed in a store and some were carrying bags.

 

Do you remember when Magic Johnson was opening movie theaters around the country in volatile inner city neighborhoods (like Compton).  He opened one in Randall Mall and it closed within a few months due to crime.

 

That sums up the collapse of Randall Mall right there.

I remember the huge fountain in the middle of the mall the best.  Euclid Square Mall also had some pretty amazing fountains (some are still working).

 

I think that was a DeBartolo mall "thing" - Southern Park in Boardman had a fountain in the main concourse that was three stories tall.

I agree CTownsFinest, the crime issue was way overblown and used by some to justify not shopping where there were many (overwhelmingly law abiding, mostly middle class) blacks.

 

I seem to remember a shooting, gang problems, and lots of retail and auto thefts during the 80's. 'Overblown' I'm not so sure.

Yeah, white teens did some of this too but even some of my black co-workers at the time agreed it was mostly black kids.  This infuriated them, btw.  Perception can become the equivalent of reality and when there was a major gang fight (in 1985 or 86) that made the news, perception was hardened.  They then tried to do some things like break up groups of teens, but that was decried as "racist" by some because there's no doubt that they were more likely to target black teens that clearly weren't spending money than whites who may or may not have been because they occasionally browsed in a store and some were carrying bags.

 

Do you remember when Magic Johnson was opening movie theaters around the country in volatile inner city neighborhoods (like Compton).  He opened one in Randall Mall and it closed within a few months due to crime. That sums up the collapse of Randall Mall right there.

 

Check your facts!!! What you just typed is almost entirely made up!!!

 

The theatre opened in 1998 and closed a few months ago as Magic theatres. Its still open, just not Magics

 

Check out this link: http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-0/1210424118235510.xml&coll=2

 

 

 

  this is how we were received in all the stores we went to.

 

 

Had you not bathed that day?

I've never been there. I've already lost my childhood Mall--Westgate.

  this is how we were received in all the stores we went to.

 

 

Had you not bathed that day?

 

LOL :)

I agree CTownsFinest, the crime issue was way overblown and used by some to justify not shopping where there were many (overwhelmingly law abiding, mostly middle class) blacks.

 

I seem to remember a shooting, gang problems, and lots of retail and auto thefts during the 80's. 'Overblown' I'm not so sure.

 

I was there at lunchtime on a weekday (which would have meant the early 90s) and I saw that one of the stores had a Starter Brooklyn Dodgers jersey on the discount rack.  I had been looking for one so I snapped it up.

 

The clerk told me he had just put it on the rack and pointed out a small hole in the collar stitching.  It seems a perpetrator had removed the screamer tag in an attempt to shoplift it.  He was busted and the jersey had spent the last six months or so in evidence storage at NRPD. 

 

He commented that the (small) hole would be easy to stitch, to which I said "no way, with that story behind it"

^I am LOL at them putting damaged merchandise back on the rack, especially after getting it back from the police.  This sounds like something we'd do at my retail store.

Yeah, white teens did some of this too but even some of my black co-workers at the time agreed it was mostly black kids.  This infuriated them, btw.  Perception can become the equivalent of reality and when there was a major gang fight (in 1985 or 86) that made the news, perception was hardened.  They then tried to do some things like break up groups of teens, but that was decried as "racist" by some because there's no doubt that they were more likely to target black teens that clearly weren't spending money than whites who may or may not have been because they occasionally browsed in a store and some were carrying bags.

 

Do you remember when Magic Johnson was opening movie theaters around the country in volatile inner city neighborhoods (like Compton).  He opened one in Randall Mall and it closed within a few months due to crime. That sums up the collapse of Randall Mall right there.

 

Check your facts!!! What you just typed is almost entirely made up!!!

 

The theatre opened in 1998 and closed a few months ago as Magic theatres. Its still open, just not Magics

 

Check out this link: http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-0/1210424118235510.xml&coll=2

 

 

OK, so maybe it didnt close within a few months, but:

 

A) you tell me to check my facts, indicating the theater opened in 1998 then provide a link where in the first two sentences the article says it opened in 1999 and

 

B) The article is discussing how poor (the underlying premise of my post - that those theaters have done well in other areas but not at Randall and Magic is no longer associated with it) the theater is doing

 

So thanks for clearing that up.

^I am LOL at them putting damaged merchandise back on the rack, especially after getting it back from the police.  This sounds like something we'd do at my retail store.

 

It was on the half-off rack by the front door and the clerk told me precisely what was up.  It was all good.  8-)

^Sounds like when one of my h/s friends almost bought an A's jersey at Gabriel Brothers b/c it was 80% off, only to realize at the checkout counter it actually said WcGuire.

^Sounds like when one of my h/s friends almost bought an A's jersey at Gabriel Brothers b/c it was 80% off, only to realize at the checkout counter it actually said WcGuire.

 

lord!

^I thought it was spelt 'lawd!'.

^I thought it was spelt 'lawd!'.

 

Thats for the black folks! :wink: :-D :lol:

Scenes from a mall

A glimmer of hope at Randall Park

 

[...]

 

Three years later, in August 1976, DeBartolo stood at the entrance to his 2.2 million-square-foot mall. Crowds waited. Cameras flashed. Dina Merrill cut the ribbon.

 

[...]

 

So, indeed, did DeBartolo (though he was definitely not a socialist). When he announced his plans for Randall Park, he laid out five phases. Phase 1: the Holiday Inn. Phase 2: the mall. Phase 3: a 4,500-seat theater-inthe- round for "the performing arts." Phase 4: four 14-story office towers. Phase 5: high-rise apartment buildings.

 

Was all five phases realized? And if not, if it were to actually occur, could it have saved the mall?

 

An excellent article, BTW.

http://www.deadmalls.com/malls/randall_park_mall.html

 

And the deadest of the dead malls....

 

http://www.deadmalls.com/?/malls/dixie_square_mall.html

I worked at RPM for many years while in college in the early to mid 90's, first at The Athlete's Foot and later at Dillard's.  This was the period that it really started it's decline. 

 

The first blow I think was Horne's closing and Burlington Coat factory moving in.  From that point it just went downhill.  Stores like Gap closed, and it soon seemed like all that was left were athletic stores, fast food, jewelry  and record stores.  Middle and upper class black families started shopping elsewhere because the merchandise became very stereotypical urban, catering to only teenagers.  Dubious bottom feeder "local" stores started filling in the vacancies with crappy fake merchandise, no customer service and non-existant return policies.  Dillard's was the return center for Beachwood and Downtown.  Buy something you can't afford to show off in front of your friends or the salesperson at Beachwood....then slink into RPM and return it later.

 

I honestly don't think crime was any worse than any other mall that I had worked at.  The thing I actually liked about working at RPM is that black folks actually come in...know what they want.... and buy it.  The item was usually expensive too.  The other stores in the district would get pissed at us because a lot of times they were forced to send us the new hot merchandise because we would sell out of it in a matter of hours while we sent the crappy sale junk to them....no black folks are going the club or school in last season's merchandise.

 

The folks I worked with there were great and became good friends of mine.  I also remember a big obvious tranny that used to shop there all the time, and nobody even cared or gave her/him trouble.

 

I used to dread working at Parmatown where white folks tried on 20 different pairs of crappy sale shoes only to have you "hold" it for them.

 

RPM was too big anyway, and these type of malls are going the way of the Dodo.  I can't believe it held out this long, It's about time it was put out of it's misery.

A nice collection of photos:

 

http://www.labelscar.com/ohio/randall-park-mall

Oh Gosh.  I just remember my brother and cousins would ask me my opinion of clothes from Davy Jones Locker, Jeans West, Chess King & County Seat!

 

I swear my brother and several of my cousins have never had an once of fashion sense!

 

Oh and how could I forget about Merry Go Round stores.  ugh!

 

There really were a lot of those kinds of stores then...DeJaiz, Attivo, Cignal, Silverman's, Oak Tree, Bottom Half....and I faintly remember a jeans store with a frog as the logo called "Rivet".  Those were just the men's stores...women had a ton!  Maybe that's why so many malls are dying, there just aren't that many different companies left to fill a mall, and the ones that are left narrow down their focus to super high volume stores only.

Rivet was a Levi's brand store; don't forget Chess King and Merry-Go-Round. Merry-Go-Round used to pump up the tunes!

Forgot about this case, which was chilling to any attempt to rebuild security there.  Wills had an influential family and Talley went to prison.

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/1783091/detail.html

 

 

Rivet was a Levi's brand store; don't forget Chess King and Merry-Go-Round. Merry-Go-Round used to pump up the tunes!

 

Don't forget?!  Honey we should all try to forget those horrible stores as I mentioned earlier.  My cousins from the westside thought chess king was the ultimate store.

And with that:

 

There really were a lot of those kinds of stores then...DeJaiz, Attivo, Cignal, Silverman's, Oak Tree, Bottom Half....and I faintly remember a jeans store with a frog as the logo called "Rivet".  Those were just the men's stores...women had a ton!  Maybe that's why so many malls are dying, there just aren't that many different companies left to fill a mall, and the ones that are left narrow down their focus to super high volume stores only.

 

I'm not sure when "then" was, but it sounds like the 1970s. 

 

I recall a jeans store in a mall in Louisville called "Penny Pants Arcade", done up like some sort of ragtime nickolodeon.  You entered under the crotch of the jeans.  I have no idea if this was a chain or just a local operation.

 

...another was "J Riggings", but that was a chain from somewhere else.  They had this "glam meets Gatsby" style going.  Wierd things we wore back then, huh?

 

 

 

I'm not sure when "then" was, but it sounds like the 1970s. 

 

I think it was the 80s.  Those were the glory days for Randall Park.

^Yes 80's, and the glory days of malls in general...and the endless chains that kept springing up to fill the space.  These days you have a few big players (Limited Brands, Gap Inc, Macy's...etc) with multiple branded stores controlling the market and picking and choosing what power centers they locate in... leaving the weak and less desirable with few options for tenents.

Sad to see it go, had some great memories there in my mall working days.

I remember working for Susie's Casuals and JC Penneys moved from Ohio in 91

The mall had it problems then, but still have some great memories.

Did Debartolo have any other malls in the Cleveland area besides Randall Park?

I believe that Richmond Mall was his at one time.

Debartolo developed 4 malls in NEO: RPM, Great Lakes in Mentor, Summit Mall in Akron, and Southern Park in Youngstown. They also managed Great Northern and Richmond at one point.

Buyer signs contract for Randall Park Mall

 

Posted by Michelle Jarboe June 05, 2008 08:27AM

Categories: Breaking News, Real estate

 

A Cincinnati company has signed a contract to buy Randall Park Mall and keep the blighted shopping center from closing later this month.

 

http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/06/buyer_emerges_for_randall_park.html

 

better than nothing

It's possible the mall could become a church or other faith-based center, but Geis said his company is considering a variety of uses for the property.

 

That would be one BIG church!

I did read of a mall somewhere that used part of it as a mall and the rest was a church.

 

It could work (but why should it?)

There's also a mall in Florida (north of Orlando) in which a part of it was redeveloped with housing. I believe at least one of the department stores was converted to condos.

 

I like that concept. And I say extend the Blue Line south on Northfield and INTO the mall.

There's also a mall in Florida (north of Orlando) in which a part of it was redeveloped with housing. I believe at least one of the department stores was converted to condos.

 

I like that concept. And I say extend the Blue Line south on Northfield and INTO the mall.

 

A Blue Line extension like that would be AWESOME.  However, the timetable for that vs. making a potential project like condos in Randal Park Mall successful, seems to be far apart.

Probably would be. But does that necessarily reduce its potential value?