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.jpg) Entrance to the closed mall, March 2017 | |
| Location | Columbus, Ohio |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°57′02″N 83°06′56″W / 39.9505556°N 83.1155556°W / 39.9505556; -83.1155556 |
| Opening date | 1969 (enclosed 1983) |
| Closing date | 2012 (whole mall) September 2017 (last remaining tenant) |
| Developer | Richard E. Jacobs Group |
| Management | Cyndi L. Perkins, General Manager |
| Owner | The Krone Group, LLC |
| Total retail floor area | 860,000 ft² |
| No. of floors | 1 (2 in anchors) |
Westland Mall was an 860,000-square-foot (80,000 m) shopping center located on the west side of Columbus, Ohio, at the western intersection of U.S. Route 40 and Interstate 270.
As of November 2012, Westland Mall was reported as closed to all traffic, pending redevelopment of the property.
History
Westland Mall opened in February 1969 as an open-air shopping center. The original anchor stores were Lazarus, Sears, and JC Penney, as well as Woolworth which acted as a secondary anchor. The Lazarus store, the chain's first suburban operation, had opened as a free-standing location in 1962. The Sears and JC Penney were built, along with the mall, in 1967-1969, and the Lazarus was also expanded at that time. The mall was enclosed sometime in 1982. From 1977-1980 it served as the studio for the groundbreaking teenage variety show, America Goes Bananaz on Columbus's experimental cable service QUBE.
The Sears store was built and opened as a two-story department store, as were the other two anchors; but in the 1980s, the upper level was closed-off. At one point the empty space was used as office space for Discover when it was still under Sears ownership.
Westland was one of four directionally-named shopping centers in Columbus, along with Northland (the original mall in Columbus, closed in 2002 and demolished in 2004), Eastland (still in operation), and Southland (a smaller discount-style mall, now closed). All but Southland were constructed and originally operated by the Richard E. Jacobs Group, and featured the same mix of anchor stores.
Decline
Although considered a major landmark in the Columbus area, Westland Mall faced many challenges towards the end of the 20th century that would eventually see it lose its status as a premier shopping destination for the city's far west side. It was negatively affected by the opening of the nearby Mall at Tuttle Crossing in 1997, which attracted many customers that may have otherwise shopped at Westland. In particular, JCPenney abandoned Westland for Tuttle, giving the latter a perceived edge; the move gave Tuttle four anchor stores while reducing Westland to two. The Woolworth store, which closed with most of the chain in 1997, became a Staples that closed off the portion of the store that connected to the mall in 1998; the interior-facing portion became a Footaction USA in 1999. Other major stores, such as Express and The Limited, also left Westland, motivated both by shifting economic fortunes in Columbus as well as an increase in crime around the Westland area. After its enclosure in 1982, Westland never saw another major renovation despite both of its sister malls, Northland and Eastland, receiving facelifts in the early 1990s, and the increasingly dated look of the shopping center also worked against its attracting shoppers and major retailers as time went on.
Kashani, a developer which also owned North Towne Square in Toledo, Ohio at the time, bought the mall in 2003 and attempted to reposition Westland as a "bazaar"-style mall with a number of specialty shops (including a used bookstore, several arts and crafts dealers, and a karate school, among others) added to Westland's few remaining chain stores. The Lazarus store was converted to Lazarus-Macy's in 2003, and subsequently to Macy's in 2005; this store was closed in 2007, leaving Sears as the sole remaining anchor. By that point virtually all of the newer stores added under Kashani ownership had also closed, leaving only a small handful of storefronts operating in a virtually empty mall.
By 2010, Westland Mall contained fewer than 15 active businesses; at one time it housed approximately 80. The only remaining national retailers were Sears (which was also the last remaining original mall tenant), Finish Line, Champs Sports, GNC, and Staples; the latter, as noted earlier, lacked direct mall access. The remainder of operating storefronts were small, bazaar-style shops, eateries, and a local branch of the Franklin County Sheriff's office. For much of the late 2000s, it was an example of a "dead mall" that remained completely open to the public (aside from the closed storefronts) and still retained one major anchor.
Current use and future plans
In 2008, home-improvement retailer Menards made plans to expand into the Columbus market, with a store proposed for Westland Mall (which would have been constructed as part of a planned redevelopment of the mall property and several surrounding sites as an open-air "lifestyle center"). However, in December of that year, Menards announced they were putting its expansion plans on hold due to the general economic downturn at that time.
In 2012, a new Hollywood Casino was constructed and opened near the site of Westland Mall, spurring new growth in the surrounding area, which had become severely economically depressed. The current owner of Westland Mall suggested that he was working with county officials on possible redevelopment options for the property, but indicated that whatever is decided, it likely "won't be a mall any longer." An announcement about the future of the site is expected to come in 2013.
As of September 2011, Sears had closed its entrance to the mall. Plans were announced in March 2012 to begin demolishing the mall, except for Sears in favor of new development.
As of 2015 Staples has closed its location at Westland Mall leaving only Sears as the only thing still part of the mall.
On June 6, 2017, Sears announced that its Westland Mall store will close by early September, which will leave the former mall entirely empty of tenants. The store closed as expected in September 2017.
Although Westland Mall itself is now closed, the structure still stands as of November 2019 and parts of it are still in use, but in a highly limited capacity. The Sears portion of the lot, including the auto center just south of the main shopping building, were sold to LGR Weston in April of 2019. On April 26, 2019, plans were announced to redevelop the Westland Mall site by LGR Weston of Columbus, which will become Weston Town Centre, a mixed-use development complement to the casino across the street and whose namesake is partly derived from the Easton Town Center on the opposite side of the city. LGR's sister company, Plaza Properties, is expected to demolish the mall before the end of Spring 2020. The former JCPenney store was used for community events hosted by the mall, including about six gun shows per year, which have now moved to the former Sears building. The property is under 24-hour surveillance by on-site security.
As of November 2019, the following structures still stand: Sears, Sears Auto Center, former NTB building, JCPenney, Main Mall/outlet center, Macy's, Staples, Firestone, and a small shopping center southeast of the main building which currently houses a Mexican grocery market and a small operation gun shop.
References
- ^ Showalter, Kathy (3 March 2003). "New owners poised to revive Westland". Columbus Business First. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- Ferenchik, Mark. "Menards puts Westland store on hold". The Columbus Dispatch. Archived from the original on 2013-01-22. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
- Bowersock, Mike (2012-08-23). "Development Explodes Around Columbus Casino". NBC4i.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-29. Retrieved 2012-11-05.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-02-25. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - "Westland owners forsee a mini-Easton - News - The Columbus Dispatch - Columbus, OH". Dispatch.com. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
- Tim Feran. "Sears to close stores at Eastland, Westland - News - The Columbus Dispatch - Columbus, OH". Dispatch.com. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
- Jim Weiker. "Westland Mall to become Weston mixed-use development under plan". Dispatch.com. Retrieved 2019-04-26.
External links
- DeadMalls.com article about Westland
- Labelscar.com blog entry about Westland (includes photos)
City of 
| Shopping malls in Ohio | |
|---|---|
| Cincinnati area | |
| Cleveland area |
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| Columbus area | |
| Dayton area | |
| Toledo area | |
| Youngstown area | |
| Elsewhere | |
| Defunct |
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