The Midway Mall opened in 1966 with Three Department Store; Higbee's, Sears Roebuck, and JCPenny's as well as Woolworth's a Discount Store. Higbee's Became Dillard's and then closed. Woolworth's was located in the store now used as Best Buy.
Relocation From Downtown
The Majority of the smaller stores in the mall relocated from Downtown Elyria as well as the Major Stores; JCPenny, Sears Roebuck, and Woolworth's. The Downtown district was the main shopping district in town before the Mall opened. The Higbee's was a new store not previously open in Elyria.
The East Wing
The original Anchor Store in this wing was Higbee's. The Higbee's Became Dillard's in 1992. Dillard's brefly became a Dillard's Outlet store before closing due to poor sales in august 2007. Steve & Barry's closed in Late 2008 when the Company first declared Bankruptcy. I have Noticed that this Wing is becoming vacant at a very quick rate. Most stores in this wing left after Steve & Barry's and Dillard's left. I know Payless Shoes is still open in this Wing.
The West Wing
The Anchor Stores in this wing were originally Sears and Woolworth's. Woolworth's Closed during the chain's liquidation in 1994. Best Buy currently occupies the space formerly inhabited by Woolworth's. Sears does not appear to be doing well. I honestly have saw only five cars in the parking lot before. I have saw Red Lobster have more cars in the Sears Parking lot than Sears had. The Red Lobster (not connected to the mall) appears to do very well. A lot of times their parked cars overfill into Sears parking lot. This Red Lobster was remodeled in September - November of 2011.
The South Wing
In 1990 the South Wing (including a Food Court and May Company) was added. The Food Court includes space for ten Restaurants (I believe Eight or Nine of these are currently used). However, Auntie Ann's Pretzels is not located in the Food Court, but nearby. May Company relocated from Sheffield Centre in nearby Sheffield, Ohio. The Sheffield Store is still mostly vacant. A section of it is used where the employee parking lot is fenced in; making pictures from that angle hard to get. I plan on taking pictures of the Former May Company. Back on topic, The Midway Mall May Company later became a Kaufman's. In late 2006 Macy's Acquired Kuafmann's and re-branded all stores to Macy's. In some places the Kaufmann's stores were closed. The Midway Mall store is one that was rebranded as Macy's.
Current Information
The Midway Mall currently is home to 90 Businesses and is 1,100,000 square feet of Mall. Some of those places are located in detached buildings on the Mall's property and range from High-end stores, Churches, Department stores, and a Variety of Restaurants. This Mall's anchor stores are currently Sears, JCPenny, Macy's, and Best Buy. The mall's management said that around four Million people visit the mall yearly (to me that seems a little high). I have realized that most new stores that open are owned by families. This is also found in the Food Court. Sbarro, Charley's Grilled Subs, Taco Bell, Yihi Japan, JJ BBQ and Grill, and Auntie Ann's are the only food chains in the Food Court. Hotels seem to do a good business by the mall. When I drive by in the day no cars are in their parking lots, but at night most are filled almost to capacity. The Mall has had a two percent increase in sales from last year!
Rumors of a Major Overhaul
Centro Properties planned to have a complete overhaul done to the mall, but then they said they were pulling out of America. The mall is still listed as being owned by Centro and for lease signs say Centro on them. Centro owns the Midway Mall, Midway Crossings Shopping Center, and Midway Market Square shopping centers in Elyria. One of the Current rumors is that the owners are considering reshaping the Midway Mall as an outlet mall with lower prices, but still recognizable store brands.
Location
The Midway Mall is sandwiched between Interstate 90 and Interstate 80, just East of the Interstate 80 / 90 split on the north side of town. Interstate 90 is to the North and Interstate 80 is to the South. On the East side of the Mall is West River Road (this road is the main road for traveling between the Mall and nearby Shopping Centers). To the West is State route 57. Route 57 is how Shoppers get in from both interstates as well as from Lorain, Ohio and Sections of Elyria, Ohio.
Competition
Some shopping places that are taking the Mall's business is the Great Northern Mall in North Olmsted, Avon Commons in Avon, Crocker Park in Westlake, and South Park Mall in Strongsville.
Closed Stores and Restaurants that are Nearby or Connected to the Mall
Some stores that closed in the area are Circuit City, Walmart, Sofa Express, Dillard's, Steve & Barry's, T.J. Maxx, and Kids R Us (now Planet Fitness). Some Restaurants that closed are Hometown Buffet (has since been three different Asian buffets; none were successful), Eatza Pizza, Bennigan's (now Ground Round), Smokey Bones (now Olive Garden), Tokyo Steakhouse (now Wasabi Steakhouse), Red Robin (torn down and Key bank was built on the site), Fazoli's (now Mezcal Tequila), Eat N' Park, Lone Star Steakhouse, T.G.I. Fridays, and one of two McDonald's nearby.
How the Midway Mall looks from state route 57.
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| Sears Department Store as of 2 - 3 - 12. The visible cars are parked for Red Lobster, but Sears did seem busier than normal. |
