Woodville Mall!

but is there a chick-fillet there????

Talk about a positive swing on a bad situation!

i was just there, and the place is completely empty other than the Andersons, a few dollar store type places, the movie theatre and a tax prep place.

Yep, the Mall that wouldn't die. When it opened it was the first mall in NW Ohio and the largest in the tri-state area. My eldest brother was part of the design team for the Penney's and we got to take a tour before the mall opened.

Having been raised in Oregon, and approaching driving age about the time it opened, my friends and I spent a lot of time hanging out at the "Shoe Store Mall". Glad to see it managed to hang in there and hope it once again prospers.

Wonder if they have a shoe store?

Man, having seen what a ghetto trap the Westfield has become, I think Ill start going here for when I want to visit a mall. An empty mall is a welcome change from Westfield.

it's a minute from my house now, I was there 4 times this weekend, and I'm like prairieson...I learned to drive going there from the OWE, so it's always been a destination, practically my whole adult life. took the kids there for a run after dinner many times, they used to walk up there from Starr and Wheeling as teenagers, just for something to do in the summer. I was hoping they could modernize it and survive, this area needs a place like this, especially with gas so expensive. haven't checked out the the new stores, I was in Andersons only every time, but I hope they aren't all Chinese goods outlets.

I applaud the efforts to get tenants at the Woodvile Mall, but take a look at the business types that are taking advantage of the ridiculously low rates. They are not the type to sustain a mall for profitability. I would love to see them get another anchor store in the Elder-Beerman spot, maybe a Target, JC Penney, or Kohl's. This might help land other local, regional or national retail outlets.

would love to see a Target go in there!!

NorthTowne next please! please!

Kimono, I'm curious about your comment about Westfield becoming a "ghetto trap." Didn't you participate in a fundraiser there recently, and post some great pictures? Or is there more to the story? I'm curious, because I don't shop there very often. When I do go, in off-hours, I see lots of women in the department stores, and not much else. Would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks.

Looks like a good opportunity for a Toledo-centric market.

Maybe a better place for farmer/food market than downtown due to access and parking?

it's pretty out of the way for a majority of toledo... and is in pretty piss-poor condition, from the parking lot, roads coming in and out, to the floors inside the mall. i love the idea of a toledo-centric market, but woodville mall is not going to do it.

also curious about the "ghetto trap" comments from ohiokimono. i go to westfield all the time and as someone who lives surrounded by ghetto, i don't see the connection.

Viola - I did in fact help at the fund raiser. Through the day I engaged in people watching there. I saw several occasions of behavior that was just outright the sort of thing that chases away more respectable shoppers away from the mall. I won't say much more, all you have to do is sit down and people watch through the span of an entire day or two. There's lots of little things that took place that pushed the families away as more unsavory types with matching behavior took hold. Yes there was visible security, all the same 1-2 police verses throngs of potential problems wont counter balance.

Come out of any movie at Westfield after 7:30 and you will hear cat calls, profanity laced "conversations", see people throwing things off the escalator at people walking below, and enough "gangsta" mean mugs to fill one of those Crimes of the Week rags you can get at 7-11.

I know I'm "old guy" and you are generally annoyed with "kids" at that point but it's almost become unsafe at Westfield after dark.

After around 4pm the mall and food court became a hang out for people who were not shopping or eating and treated the place like their personal drama 1010 hotline. I saw a good share of teens without parents who were hanging around without buying anything (teens without adults is always a bad idea), and more.

I'm 28, I'm not an old person scared of the new generation. However I am a parent who notices things that I wouldn't want my family around.

But OK they put up new BIGGER "NO GUNS" signs for our safety, that should be swell. Cause you know criminals are criminals in the first place and have little to no respect for laws (Psst it's why they are criminals).

I know I feel safer when I walk past one of their BIGGER signs rolls eyes and a pack of kids is throwing jelly beans from the second floor down at people on the first. Thank the Lord for that sign!

I saw a similar death take place to a popular mall down in Dayton. the bottom line is if people just hang out at the mall instead of shopping and eating...it drives down the appeal and increases the drama.

Southwyck. nuff said.

I guess this is why the outdoor "lifestyle center" shopping areas are being built. If you're not actively shopping, there's not much to do (= not a fun hangout for aimless youth). The same for big-ass stores like Kohl's and Wal-Mart: if you're not actively trying things on and making purchasing decisions, I bet security would find a way to hassle you until you leave. I guess it's no longer a good idea to maintain huge, climate-controlled play zones for the public. Especially if the public is increasingly ill-behaved!

^^I still miss that place. It will always be 1986 when I think about it. A shame what happened to it.

Southwyck Mall 2007

sad thing is, malls have become our town squares... it's where people come to congregate & not just make purchases. if you don't like the people coming to your malls, you probably should consider moving to another city.

viola is absolutely right. these weird outdoor malls that are opening up, are definitely discouraging people from just hanging out and i suspect that's why they are being built.

"viola is absolutely right. these weird outdoor malls that are opening up, are definitely discouraging people from just hanging out and i suspect that's why they are being built."

That is ABSOLUTELY why they are being built. Hasn't worked out very well for Fallen Timbers but appears to be working for Levis Commons.

And, neither place has a "gangsta" problem.

I work across from Westfield mall so I have the occassional reason to go there - like whenever Williams-Sonoma is having a sale - OhioKimono is right - it is not a place I feel comfortable being pretty much anytime besides early morning. Ever been there on a Saturday evening? Downright scary.

ok, went over to the WM tonight about 5:30 to check out what was happening, and that is exactly nothing. only 2 food places were open, OK Wok and CJ's (and no others look to be going in). We tried CJ's and waited 20 minutes for a burger and 3 pieces of broasted chicken. The burger was underdone and the chicken was $7.00! They also had a couple of home-style electric heaters going in the food court...classy. I could see no other new places open except a couple of dollar-type stores and the mixed martial arts gym. One dark place is going to be a bi-weekly auction house and another promises Amish furniture. hmmmmmmmm. They should have made everyone fill up the Andersons end first, then Sears, then block the rest of it off. It's really a shame. We walked around with our memories for a while, then they left and we left and we probably won't go back.

Nana, that is a shame. I think you are right, that they would have been better off pushing all the business into a central area.

surprise surprise http://www.toledoblade.com/business/2011/12/12/Woodville-Mall-faces-indefinite-closure.html

Too bad, but long overdue. Their best tenant (besides Andersons) was a skatepark and they finally got out of there in the beginning of the year.

I haven't been in it, in twenty years.

Just close the place except Andersons and Sears. Wallmart & Meijer nearby ended any chance of that outdated mall having any chance to return to life.

What the hell, the county may as well buy it and hire Larry Dillin as developer. While they're at it, sell Great Eastern to Dashing Pacific or send Team Bell back to China to find another group of Chinese suckers.

The other "Community Center" mall (Westfield) will eventually go the way of Woodville and Southwick. It is just a function of time, economic decline and ghetto invasion.

Westfield was packed this weekend.

wait till January. people are packing Westfield because they have to.

Anderson's knew something was up at Woodville a while ago. This summer, they blocked off their 'mall wall', put a regular double push/pull door there into the hallway and moved their entire alcohol area over to that side. The Door to Nowhere. Sears should remodel and expand into the old Foodtown and the small shop fronts at that end of the hall and they should tear down the rest of the building.

Now that's a good plan.

Personally I see Sears as closing up shop and moving into the "Sears Outlet" thing in Perrysburg/Rossford, and The Andersons taking over the old Food Town, assuming they want to keep a presence on the East Side. This is of course assuming the buildings are of an appropriate size for them and all that.

Actually if you want a stimulus plan for businesses, just get Toledo money to do the long-overdue tear-up and repave of Secor between Monroe and Central, and Central from Monroe to Secor, so Westgate takes it in the butt, and also hit Monroe in the Westfield of Borg area. That'll keep people away from the "big shopping" and they'll be happy to go elsewhere instead of fighting the construction and traffic.

When this story was shown on tv, I couldn't believe that the theater was showing movies in a place that had a leaking roof and no heat. Now that is for the hardcore movie fan.

AC - why would you want Westgate to "take it in the butt?" So more Toledoans can become unemployed?

...just get Toledo money to do the long-overdue tear-up and repave of Secor between Monroe and Central, and Central from Monroe to Secor...and also hit Monroe in the Westfield of Borg area.

Repaving roads is against the mayor's plans for a prettier Promenade Park. The citizens were none too pleased.

...Now that is for the hardcore movie fan...

Didn't know they showed those types of movies there... :)

What a shame to see the three mall properties become what they are. Southwyck , Northtowne, and now woodville. I know there is competition from the suburban sites such as Fallen Timbers, Levis Commons and Crossroads, but what can we really do with these large size propoeries that makes good sense ?

"What can we really do with these large size properties that makes good sense?"

Get the ashphalt and concrete off of them so the land can once again absorb rain water.

Hoops there isn't really much you can do, it's urban spraw and few cities have found a way to stop it.

Affluent people are just not going to drive into the "hood" (or perceived hood) to shop. With lower income neighborhoods come crime and violence, and if you can afford a 40k SUV you probley are not driving into lower income areas to shop on a regular basis.

Woodville mall is hardly in the hood.

Toledo Blade: Closure Plea Likely for Woodville Mall

A team of Northwood city and Wood County officials inspected the Woodville Mall on Monday, and the myriad problems they found in the 42-year-old nearly vacant shopping complex made it likely they will seek a court order this week to close its main section....After the inspection, a Northwood official handed out packets to the tenants listing vacant area sites where they could relocate.

A Northwood fire department official joined the group to examine the mall's fire sprinkler system, which is not functioning.

At the Fox Woodville Theater, Mr. Espen said they found fallen ceiling tiles, wet carpeting caused by the leaking roof, and no emergency lighting. The temperature inside the theater — and most of the mall — was 38 degrees. Employees had attempted to use space heaters to raise the temperature.

In the backroom of a former Lane Bryant store, inspectors found a three-foot-wide hole in the ceiling and what appeared to be loose stone on the floor. The stone turned out to be portions of the roof that had caved in.

Throughout the mall the group found water-stained carpeting, warped and stained ceiling tiles, mold and mildew, and strategically placed buckets and trash cans to catch water from the leaking roof.

I don't. But NOT repaving that stretch of Secor is killing cars... and of course every time they have to rip down a road to sub-bed and rebuild (like they did Secor north of Monroe), the business owners complain long and loud about how much they are losing because of the pains of getting in and out of their businesses.

It looks like the 'hood inside and out. Therefore it is the 'hood.

Hey I know. Get the remaining tenants to move into the ESM! TWO PROBLEMS SOLVED!

LOL AC - It would only be "problem solved" for the ESM if the city turned it over to a private entity too :)

Well at least with the city running it, the ESM shouldn't have a leaky roof and no heat.

"Well at least with the city running it, the ESM shouldn't have a leaky roof and no heat."

Thanks to millions of taxpayer dollars dumped into the Erie Street Sinkhole.

• April 2004 - "The Erie Street Market opened in the former Civic Auditorium in May, 1997, after the city allocated $2.7 million in federal Housing and Urban Development funds and $1.8 million in city funds to restore the deteriorating structure."

• January 2008 - "We have put $4 million into the market with no return on investments." - Councilman Frank Szollosi

The ESM peaked over 10 years ago.

If the farmer's market found a nicer place to set up ESM would have no choice but to shutter itself.

Isn't the Sears store still there?

flinty, yeah, Sears is still there, dunno if the auto shop out front is operating.

AC, I was talking about the old FT inside the mall at the same end as Andersons, but A-sons moving across the street into the newer old Foodtown would be better! or into the old Hills/Steve and Barrys! JUst get the hell away from the mall.

I agree with Upso that malls are the new town square. It's not a good thing. They've effectively replaced the traditional downtown. I believe that many people crave an urban experience when going out for shopping, a movie, or dinner...and mall developers are aware of it to. It's manifesting in the Lifestyle Centers Viola mentioned. Places like Levis Commons and Fallen Timbers. Fake downtowns.

Crazy extremist idea:
What about a real downtown that fulfills all the purposes of a mall. We already have the restaurants and apartments you find at a lifestyle center in downtown Toledo. We just need the stores. If downtown were the premier shopping and entertainment destination, all those kids loitering around that people complain about and even fear, wouldn't be out of place hanging out in an actual town square. Plus the actual Toledo Police can devote more of a presence to Downtown Toledo as its where the biggest concentration of people would be and it would be easy to efficiently keep people feeling safe.

I think the Woodville Malls seen its day. Might as well just tear down the majority of it and let the two viable anchor stores stand on their own.

Oh and in tying this and the ESM thread together....what if Andersons took over the Erie Street Market? Just a thought. Maybe with less focus on the hardware and more on the food, like the market in Sylvania. It would be a local/regional chain supporting downtown, and providing a very crucial element to downtowns revitalization being a quality grocery place for downtown/OWE/ etc residents.

The reason Andersons has stuck around that location this long is due to the minimal rent they pay. I've heard it's as low as $1 sf. Without that rent incentive, they would have closed up long ago. As I'm sure you already know, the Anderson's stores make very little profit for them. Regardless of their location.

Knock both (Northtowne, Woddville) of those tacky, late-20th century temples of misdirected consumer greed to the ground. C'mon Toledo, we must innovate, centralize, and evolve.

This has been one of the best years ever for farmers, let them work the land, preferably in an organic fashion.

I am totally for the Andersons at ESM. If their stores are already a low-profit entity, why not give them a .25 a SF lease and let them represent, even if they are and have always been Maumee based. One question: Would their product offerings overlap with the vendors in the farmers market? Maybe go heavy on the deli and prepared foods.

What products do you downtown dwellers need quick and easy easy access to product wise? Batteries; duct, masking and electrical tape; printer ink and paper; TP, PT, Beer, and Munchies? You tell us.

I find Levis Commons and Fallen Timbers hilariously short-sighted - if pleasant and convenient - concepts: Hey, it's city with stores! Just like that once thriving community located just a couple of miles N.E. of here. What did they call it? Tolidoo or something like that? Whatevs. Hey check me out-I'm walking down a "street" going to stores and stuff without having to deal with poor people!

I don't know how Levis Commons is fairing, but Fallen Timbers has pretty much been a ghost town since it opened - with the exception of the restaurants.

IMHO, the primary reason this type of mall is being constructed is not so people can make believe they're in the Town Square, it's to discourage the same element that brought Southwyck and North Towne to their knees from coming there. And, from what I've observed, it does accomplish that. Westfield is next - though, since it's the only semi viable enclosed mall left in the area, it may survive.

The Andersons at ESM......an interesting idea - though I wonder if it would have the Walmart affect on the few small stores that currently exist downtown.

We will NOT go to The Westfield Mall on Fri. night! The last time I was there I was in Spencers and stood there while a young women shoved tons of merchandise into her overly large, empty shoulder bag in plain sight of a store clerk.

Given slowsol's analysis of Anderson's rent situation at Woodville Mall, I'm having a hard time making a business case for Andersons to consider moving to ESM, unless heavily "tax incentived" by the landlord (City of Toledo).

Their current location may be a bit more out in the sticks, but they pull heavily from Northwood, Milbury, Walbrige, and Oregon...without the b.s. that goes with having a center-of-city location (i.e. more security needed, etc.). Maybe more customers in proximity (especially during the week), but enough to make up for other things? Dunno...

Don't get me wrong--it's a great "I wish..." idea. Andersons has an outstanding track record supporting the Toledo area. But between the dollars and cents issues and the fabulous, business-savvy ESM landlord (the city), something major would have to shift before its feasible.

A couple above ideas for the old mall properties:

"Get the ashphalt and concrete off of them so the land can once again absorb rain water."

"Knock both (Northtowne, Woddville) of those tacky, late-20th century temples of misdirected consumer greed to the ground."

Another idea is for the Andersons or someone to occupy the Erie Street Sinkhole. Again, from a 2004 news story:

Back in the 1990s if not a lot earlier, the city should have demolished the broken down ESM and turned that spot into green space, instead of wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on renovating it. If a business eventually came along and wanted to spend their own money building on that spot, that would be fine. But I don't understand this desire to use taxpayer dollars to save, preserve, and renovate old buildings. It's just bricks, steel, and wood. Who cares? What was so special about the old ESM building that it needed saved? A boxing match was held there a zillion yeas ago? That kind of history is unimportant. It's an impediment. Maybe if that space had been cleared of that old building long ago, then that land might be more desirable for someone to buy.

@jr: Good point on the ESM destruction. What if they just GAVE it to someone to use, with immediate reversal rights if the taxes or utilities go unpaid?

Would any sensible company even want it?

Bye-bye Woodville. A Wood County judge just ruled to close it down immediately and permanently.

Too bad for the small business folks still there.

"It looks like the 'hood inside and out. Therefore it is the 'hood."

Woodville Mall is definitely NOT the hood. It's in Northwood, which is not the hood. They even used to open it up early for seniors or anyone who wanted to walk and exercise in the mall. I don't think seniors would risk getting mugged or whatever going to the mall in the early hours of winter.