Tri-County Mall
Total retail floor area 1,300,000 square feet (120,000 m2) | | |
No. of floors | 2 (3 in former Dillard's, 4 in former Macy's) | |
---|---|---|
Public transit access | Metro | |
Website | tricountymall.com |
Tri-County Mall was a
History
The mall officially opened to the public on July 21, 1960. Opening ceremonies included performances by the Princeton High School band and a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by Meyerhoff and the mayor of Springdale. At the time of opening, it consisted of 51 stores in 500,000 square feet (46,000 m2) of shop space, with parking for up to 4,000 cars. A 1960 article in The Cincinnati Enquirer described the mall as "landscaped to give the appearance of a park", while also noting that it was the largest center built by Meyerhoff at the time.[4] Shillito's added a fourth level to its store in 1962, allowing for the store's lowest level to be dedicated to discounted merchandise; this concept, called the "basement store", also existed at their location in downtown Cincinnati.[5]
Sears opened as the mall's third anchor store in May 1967.[6] The 142,300-square-foot (13,220 m2), two-story store was a prototype for the chain, featuring a larger variety of merchandise and services than its typical stores of the era, including automotive repair and a restaurant.[7] The new Sears was built to the east, and was connected to the rest of the mall by a wing of stores. Unlike the rest of the mall at the time, the expansion wing was enclosed, featuring palm trees, tropical plants, and fountains, along with antique lights and skylights. Tenants in this section of the mall included Casual Corner, Lane Bryant, Spencer Gifts, Hickory Farms, and Waldenbooks.[8] In 1968, the rest of the formerly open-air mall was enclosed as well, featuring décor similar to the 1967 expansion. The firm of Baxter, Hodell, Donnelly, and Preston served as architects on the enclosure project.[9]
1970s and 1980s
Throughout the first several years of the mall's existence, the common mall space was used to host many annual events. This included the Outdoor Living Show, which allowed mall patrons to view
In 1974, the Pogue's store was expanded and remodeled, featuring circular patterns on the ceilings, and different color schemes in each department. The store also gained a third story in this remodel, creating space for home furnishings and a beauty salon.
Federated Department Stores (now
Late 1980s and 1990s
In 1987, shopping mall developers Shopco Advisory Group submitted plans to the city of Springdale to develop another mall called Springdale Town Center directly across Interstate 275, at the southwest corner of Princeton Pike and Crescentville Road. Under these plans, Springdale Town Center would include 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2) of mall space, with JCPenney and McAlpin's as proposed anchors. Shopco had also undergone negotiations with Elder-Beerman, Marshall Field's, and Jacobson's as prospective anchors; Shopco also agreed to a stipulation that Springdale Town Center could not have Lazarus, Sears, or L. S. Ayres as an anchor until 1999.[23] City council rejected the plans for this mall due to concerns over heavy traffic and market saturation, but JCPenney was able to enter the Springdale area only one year later when it purchased the L. S. Ayres store at Tri-County, along with two others at Kenwood Towne Centre and Northgate Mall.[24] The May Department Stores Company, which had acquired Associated Dry Goods in 1986, chose to close these three L. S. Ayres stores along with one in downtown Cincinnati and all locations in Kentucky due to unprofitability.[25] JCPenney had previously conducted market research which determined the need for more shopping mall-based stores in the Cincinnati market, and analysts concluded that the acquisition of the former L. S. Ayres stores at the three malls would be strategic to the chain's expansion there.[26] The Tri-County Mall location of JCPenney opened in mid-1988, resulting in the closure of an existing store in Hamilton.[27]
The mall underwent an expansion in 1990, which doubled the number of shops by adding a second level atop the existing portion of the mall. The second level was connected to the existing mall by three staircases and a glass elevator. Also, a fountain was added to center court, and the food court was relocated to a larger location on the newly built upper level by Sears. The new food court was the first part of this expansion to open, doing so in May 1990. In order to attract business from nearby office workers, Tri-County's food court became the first in the United States to accept food orders by fax. Original food court tenants Pizza Hut, Great Steak, and Spinning Fork relocated to the newer food court, which also included Arby's and several local restaurants.[28] Also as part of the expansion and renovation projects, Lazarus remodeled their store in mid-1991, creating a more open floor plan with wider aisles and less division between departments, as opposed to the previous trend of using different décor in each department. The wider floor plan was achieved by eliminating several stockrooms and nearly all of the furniture department. Following these renovations, the store's manager noted that the store was the most profitable in the chain for August and September 1991.[29] The final part of the expansion, a two-story, 240,000-square-foot (22,000 m2) McAlpin's department store, opened as the mall's fourth anchor store one year later. It was the 100th department store to be opened by parent company Mercantile Stores Company, Inc., and it was designed by the same architectural firm that handled the mall's enclosure in the late 1960s.[30] To add McAlpin's, mall developers had to seek approval from the Lazarus chain, which under the terms of its lease had to approve the addition of any anchor stores to the mall.[31]
Late 1990s and onward
Equitable Life Insurance put Tri-County and several other mall properties up for sale in December 1996,[32] due to concerns over saturation in the American retail market.[33] It was sold to the O'Connor Group in July 1997 for $147 million. At the time of sale, the mall was 90 percent leased.[33][34] In 1998, Dillard's acquired the Mercantile Stores Company, which resulted in all of the McAlpin's stores being rebranded as Dillard's.[35] Blackstone Group, a real estate company based out of New York City, announced negotiations to buy the mall from O'Connor Group in 2002.[36] Blackstone then sold the mall to Thor Equities in 2005. At the time of the sale, the mall faced increased competition from a then-recent renovations at Cincinnati Mills (later Forest Fair Village), and had not received exterior renovations since the early-1990s expansion was completed, two factors which had a negative impact on the mall's value and tenancy.[37]
Two further anchor changes occurred under Thor Equities' ownership. Lazarus, which had been dual-branded by Federated Department Stores as Lazarus-
2010s-2020s: Decline and possible redevelopment
After losing JCPenney, the Tri-County Mall and surrounding retail developments continued to suffer a decline in tenancy. One factor was the
In July 2013, the mall was purchased by SingHaiyi Group, a real estate company based in
On June 4, 2018, Sears announced that its Tri-County store would close in September 2018. all in 2019.
On January 5, 2021, it was announced that Macy's would be closing on March 21, 2021, as part of a plan to close 46 stores nationwide which left the mall with no remaining anchor stores.[54] The city of Springdale approved a redevelopment plan in December 2021, which will call for the demolition and reconfiguration of the mall into a series of ten-story buildings featuring retail, offices, and residences. The plan is estimated to cost $1,000,000,000 and require re-zoning of the land.[55] The mall was sold in March 2022 to MarketSpace Capital and Park Harbor Capital, a pair of developers from Texas.[56] As part of their re-development plans, the mall owners announced that the building would close permanently on May 15, 2022.[57]
References
- ^ Dick Havlin (February 1, 1959). "Center is a 'giant' with 50 stores". The Cincinnati Enquirer. pp. 8A. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
- ^ "The Tri-County Center". The Cincinnati Enquirer. February 1, 1959. pp. 2H. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
- ^ "Tri-County work starts next week". The Cincinnati Enquirer. July 18, 1959. pp. 6B. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
- ^ "'Opening Day' festivities at Tri-County". The Cincinnati Enquirer. October 6, 1960. p. 50. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
- ^ "A store within a store, Tri-County lower level". The Cincinnati Enquirer. September 23, 1962. p. 34. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
- ^ "Sears opens at Tri-County". The Cincinnati Enquirer. May 21, 1967. p. 5. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
- ^ "Cincinnati 'model city' for Sears". The Cincinnati Enquirer. April 9, 1967. pp. 7D. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
- ^ "Enclosed, air-conditioned wing opened at T. C." The Cincinnati Enquirer. September 24, 1967. p. 2. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
- ^ "Tri-County's versatile mall enclosure now ready". The Cincinnati Enquirer. March 31, 1968. p. 4. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
- ^ "8th outdoor living show lifestyle on the mall". The Cincinnati Enquirer. September 27, 1970. Retrieved April 7, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Ninth annual Safety Town simulates traffic hazards for preschoolers". The Cincinnati Enquirer. September 27, 1970. p. 8. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ "Symphony under the stars". The Cincinnati Enquirer. September 27, 1970. p. 19. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ "Fashion-wise teens on Tri-County board". The Cincinnati Enquirer. September 27, 1970. p. 6. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ "New Tri-County Pogue's is glamorous, colorful, exciting!". The Cincinnati Enquirer. September 26, 1971. p. 4. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ "New main entrance for Tri-County". The Cincinnati Enquirer. September 30, 1976. p. 2. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ "New location for Hader Hardware". The Cincinnati Enquirer. September 30, 1976. p. 10. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ "Tri-County bought by Equitable". The Cincinnati Enquirer. August 30, 1979. pp. G9. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ Wayne Buckhout (April 6, 1982). "Federated combines Shillito's, Rike's". The Cincinnati Enquirer. pp. C9. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ Mary Kay Culpepper, Sara Pearce (February 9, 1986). "Hello Columbus: Lazarus shows Cincinnati shoppers what's in store". The Cincinnati Enquirer. pp. E1. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ Rosemary Munsen (October 29, 1984). "Recalling the name about to change". The Cincinnati Enquirer. pp. B1, B4. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ "Tri-County Mall celebrates 25 years of success". The Cincinnati Enquirer. August 14, 1985. pp. B5. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ a b c Laura Baverman (February 15, 2009). "With retailers closing, Tri-County faces trying times". The Cincinnati Enquirer. pp. G1, G2. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
- ^ Jon Newberry (July 22, 1987). "New mall awaits consent". The Cincinnati Enquirer. pp. F1. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ "Penney's negotiating on Ayres locations". The Cincinnati Enquirer. May 25, 1988. pp. B5. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ "Penney purchases Ayres sites". The Cincinnati Enquirer. June 29, 1988. pp. A1, A10. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
- ^ Ronnie Agnew (June 30, 1988). "Studies guided Penney's to expand". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. B8. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ Gina M. Gentry (June 30, 1988). "Closing of store brings to an end a retailing era". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. B8. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ Richard Green (May 3, 1990). "More food for shoppers". The Cincinnati Enquirer. pp. C9, C12. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ John J. Byczkowski (September 17, 1991). "Lazarus knocking down the walls". The Cincinnati Enquirer. pp. B5. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ "Tri-County McAlpin's offers convenience, quality service". The Cincinnati Enquirer. August 6, 1992. pp. D2. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ "Lazarus gets nod for work". The Cincinnati Enquirer. May 25, 1990. pp. C7. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ Lisa Biank Fasig (December 15, 1996). "Tri-County's biggest sale?". The Cincinnati Enquirer. pp. I1. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ a b Leah Beth Ward (July 8, 1997). "Tri-County Mall sold for $147M". The Cincinnati Enquirer. pp. B10. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ Dan Monk, Andy Hemmer (July 7, 1997). "Mall deal richest in decade". Cincinnati Business Journal. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ Lisa Biank Fasig (May 19, 1998). "Dillard's buys Mercantile". The Cincinnati Enquirer. pp. A1, A9. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ Ken Alltucker (October 13, 2002). "NY firm seeking to buy Tri-County Mall in $425M deal". The Cincinnati Enquirer. pp. D1. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ Mike Boyer (February 9, 2005). "Tri-County Mall purchased". The Cincinnati Enquirer. pp. D1, D2. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ John Eckberg (February 26, 2005). "Lazarus upgrading more than its name". The Cincinnati Enquirer. pp. D1, D2. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ Mike Boyer (May 6, 2005). "J. C. Penney leaving Tri-County". The Cincinnati Enquirer. pp. D1, D2. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ Mike Boyer (March 12, 2006). "Tri-County remake keys on new entrance". The Cincinnati Enquirer. pp. E2. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ "Coventry, Developers Venture Pays $226Mln for 3 Retail Properties". CR News. May 18, 2006. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ a b c Bowdeya Tweh (June 4, 2015). "Tri-County Mall launching $35M improvement project". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ "No consensus on future of Tri-County Mall". The Cincinnati Enquirer. February 12, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ "SingHaiyi to buy 100% of Tri-County Mall for US$45 mil". The Edge Markets. September 30, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
- ^ a b Eric Schwartzberg (June 8, 2018). "Tri-County Mall continues re-development efforts as another anchor retailer prepares to close". The Journal-News. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ Bowdeya Tweh (August 19, 2015). "Dillard's closing Tri-County clearance center". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ Mary Bresnahan (April 25, 2017). "Tri-County Mall retools retail plan". Cincinnati Business Courier. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ Dan Monk (March 23, 2018). "Tri-County Mall lands Cincinnati's first Backstage store by Macy's Inc". WCPO. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ "Cincinnati malls' death spiral: Will yours survive?". Cincinnati.com. June 28, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
- ^ Bowdeya Tweh (December 29, 2016). "The Limited closes Tri-County, Liberty Center stores". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ^ Holly Shively (March 7, 2019). "1 Victoria's Secret store in region to close; no impact to Kettering". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ^ Holly Shively (February 5, 2019). "Charlotte Russe files for bankruptcy, plans 94 store closures". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ^ Holly Shively (January 28, 2019). "Things Remembered reportedly prepares to file bankruptcy, close stores". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ^ "Macy's Inc. Will close Tri-County Mall store by April". 6 January 2021.
- ^ "Springdale approves plan for massive redevelopment of Tri-County Mall". Fox 19. December 21, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
- ^ "Tri-County Mall sale finalized, hurdle cleared for $1B massive redevelopment". Cincinnati.com. March 8, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
- ^ "Tri-County Mall announces closing date ahead of redevelopment project". WLWT. March 29, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.