Chapel Hill Mall

Shopping mall in Ohio, U.S.

Chapel Hill Mall

Chapel Hill Mall food court entrance

Location| Akron, Ohio, U.S.
Coordinates| 41°06′50″N 81°28′07″W﻿ / ﻿41.113997°N 81.468655°W﻿ / 41.113997; -81.468655
Address| 2000 Brittain Road, Akron, OH 44310
Opening date| October 12, 1967; 57 years ago (1967-10-12)
Closing date| April 18, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-04-18)
Developer| Forest City Enterprises and R.B. Buchholzer
Management| McKinley Management Company
Owner| Industrial Commercial Properties[1]
No. of stores and services| 100 at peak[2]
No. of anchor tenants| 3 at peak
Total retail floor area| 829,000 sq ft (77,000 m2)
No. of floors| 1 (2 in former JCPenney and former Macy's)
Public transit access|  METRO
Website| http://www.chapelhillmall.com (Defunct)

Chapel Hill Mall was a shopping mall located in Akron, Ohio, United States.[2] It was built by Richard "R.B." Buchholzer and Forest City Enterprises,[3] and opened in 1967. At its peak the mall featured more than 100 stores, with Sears, JCPenney, and Macy's as anchor tenants. In 2021, after several years of financial issues and ownership changes, the mall was purchased by Industrial Commercial Properties with the intent of turning it into a business park. Within a few months, the mall was permanently closed.

## History

[edit]

### Background

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Chapel Hill Mall sits on land once owned by Richard Buchholzer's father, Julius Johannes "J.J." Buchholzer. In the 1930s, a then-teenage Richard found what appeared to be an old Native American council circle on his father's land. Because of this, Richard would later name the development "Chapel Hill", referring to the idea that the council circle was the Native "equivalent of a chapel."[4][5]

In 1932, during the Great Depression, J.J. Buchholzer became the owner of a Hower's department store in downtown Akron.[6] The Buchholzers anticipated that the city of Akron would expand to the north, and they felt that another Hower's store should be built on their land. They later decided to build a climate-controlled shopping mall instead, predicting that it would provide them greater economic opportunities. J.J. Buchholzer died in 1960, and Richard assumed his duties as executive officer of the Hower's. Buchholzer soon teamed up with Forest City Enterprises to build what would be Akron's first indoor mall. Plans were ready by 1963, but before the mall opened, Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation built Summit Mall on the west side of Akron.[4]

### Opening and early period (1967 - 1970)

[edit]

A few stores, opened in 1966 before the mall proper.[4] Gray Drug Stores opened on November 17.[7] JCPenney and Sears also opened their doors before the rest of the mall.

Chapel Hill Mall officially opened on October 12, 1967.[8][9]

### Peak period (1971 - 2013)

[edit]

Expansion plans to include a Higbee's store came up numerous times in the late 1980s and early 1990s. A plan was considered in 1988 by part-owner Forest City Enterprises. It included a 90,000-square-foot (8,400 m2) addition for an additional department store.[10] Expansion was again mentioned in 1989.[11] A front-page story on the January 31, 1990 edition of the Akron Beacon Journal read "Higbee's Coming to Chapel Hill Mall", and said that the store, along with a food court and additional retail space, would be open by Fall 1991.[12]

In 1994, the mall's owners added a food court and retail expansion, as well as new flooring and ceiling tiles, a new fountain, and new lighting.[13][14]

Buchholzer and Forest City Enterprises owned the mall until September 2004, when it was sold to the Chattanooga, Tennessee company CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.,[15] who owned it until 2014.

In 2015, Sears Holdings spun off 235 of its properties, including the Sears at Chapel Hill Mall, into Seritage Growth Properties.[16]

### Decline and closure (2014-2021)

[edit]

The mall gradually began to decline, and in March 2016, Macy's permanently closed their Chapel Hill Mall location,[17][18] citing "disappointing" holiday sales.[19]

On July 15, 2016, Kohan Retail Investment Group, owned by Michael Kohan, bought Chapel Hill Mall for $8.6 million with plans to revitalize the location and focus on attracting younger customers.[20] On January 4, 2017, Sears Holdings announced that the Chapel Hill Sears store would be closing the following spring due to declining sales.[21] By August 2018, "about a quarter" of the storefronts were vacant.[22]

Former Express, Macy's Concourse

Mall tenants received multiple notices from the City of Akron of potential utility shutoff in 2019[23] and 2020 due to accumulating unpaid water and electricity bills.[24] The City decided to cancel the shutoffs due to partial payments received from Kohan,[25][26] but the overall debt continued to accumulate, and in September 2019 the Summit County fiscal office began to discuss the possibility of foreclosing on the property after they received a notice from the City about the delinquent account.[27]

On January 3, 2020, Ohio Edison filled a complaint against Kohan, citing over $195,000 of overdue bills. On January 13, Kohan was served with a foreclosure notice for over $750,000 of unpaid bills owed to Summit County.[28] Retail taxes, which had not been paid since January 2019, made up over half of the amount owed, including interest and fees.[29]

On January 16, 2020, it was announced that the Chapel Hill JCPenney would close on April 24, 2020 as part of a plan to close six stores nationwide, leaving the mall with no remaining anchors.[30] It remained open through the initial closing date, but on June 17 it was included in an updated list of 136 stores closing.[31] The JCPenney store officially closed in July 2020.

On March 16, 2021, Industrial Commercial Properties purchased the Chapel Hill property[32] for $7 million, of which $844,085.24 went to the County to pay off previous debts.[33]

At this time, only 20 out of 75 available storefronts were in use, including kiosks.[34]

The Chapel Hill Mall closed permanently on April 18, 2021.

### Chapel Hill Business Park

[edit]

The property is now a business park with a focus on light manufacturing and other industrial uses. As of September 2023[update], the main building is occupied by four tenants: Craft33, Driverge, OnQ[35] and Quantix. A few smaller suites remain vacant, and areas in what used to be the mall parking lot are now leased to tenants such as Firestone.[36] Much of the building that used to be the Chapel Hill Mall underwent renovations in 2022; the outside of the building received new paint and landscaping,[37] and interior walls were removed or repurposed to create a more open floor plan for the new tenants. Development on the site is still underway and is planned to include a new free-standing building near the original structure.[38] Various tenants had moved in by 2024.[39]

## Major tenants

[edit]

### Anchor tenants

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The mall had three large suites available for anchor tenants.

The first anchor suite was occupied by JCPenney throughout almost the entire history of the mall. It opened in 1966, before the rest of the mall opened officially, and it was one of the last stores to close, remaining until July 2020–6 months after the foreclosure announcement.

Sears was the second anchor when the mall opened in 1967, and remained there until 2017.

The third anchor suite changed hands several times. It was originally occupied by local chain O'Neil's from 1967 until 1989, then May Co. until 1993, then Kaufmann's until 2006, when it became Macy's, which then closed in 2016.[40] From there the suite remained unoccupied until the mall's final closing.

### Other tenants

[edit]

There used to be a multi-screen cinema at the mall as well. It opened in October 1966 as a two-screen theater, and eventually expanded to five screens. In 1987, General Cinemas–owner of the mall's cinema–opened an 8-screen multiplex just west of the mall, and in October 1996, Regal Cinemas opened their 10-screen theater immediately south of the mall. Less than two weeks later, the General Cinemas at the mall closed,[41] and Old Navy took over the former theater until it closed in 2016. Woolworth also operated a store at the mall until 1997, and was later replaced by The Gap, Inc.

## Unique features

[edit]

Archie the Talking Snowman, powered down

### Archie the Talking Snowman

[edit]

Archie the Talking Snowman was a 20-foot tall machine designed to look like the iconic archetype of the snowman; he had a smiling face with glowing eyes, wore a top hat, scarf, buttons, and gloves, and held a large broom in one hand while raising the other hand in greetings. Archie played the role of the interactive winter holiday feature which was common at other indoor shopping malls at the time. A child would speak into a microphone in front of Archie, and he appeared to reply and make casual conversation, and he would ask the child about their preferred Christmas gifts. In reality, Archie was controlled by an actor located in another room who could see the speaker while also concealing his actual location. The actor would speak into a microphone, and the sound would be emitted from speakers hidden inside the snowman's body to create the illusion that the speech originated from Archie.[42][43]

### Carousel

[edit]

The Chapel Hill Mall Carousel was a well-known feature of the mall. It was located in the food court. After the mall closed, the carousel was moved to Lock 3 Park in Akron.[43][44]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Mackinnon, Jim (March 16, 2021). "New owner will convert Chapel Hill Mall into a business park". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
2. ^ a b Chapel Hill Mall - Fact Sheet. Archived March 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved August 19, 2006.
3. ^ "West and South Side Malls" The Plain Dealer. February 22, 2004. Retrieved July 31, 2006.
4. ^ a b c Nevada, Charlene. "Man Behind Chapel Hill Mall–Richard Buchholzer's Idea Defines That Part of Akron." Akron Beacon Journal. July 6, 1997: E1.
5. ^ Dyer, Bob (January 31, 2016). "Bob Dyer: Chapel Hill before the mall". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
6. ^ "Deaths and Funerals - Julius Buchholzer" (PDF). The Salem News. Vol. 72, no. 299\. Salem, Ohio. December 17, 1960. p. 7. Retrieved September 7, 2023 - via Salem Public Library.
7. ^ "There's New Look at Gray". The Akron Beacon Journal. Akron, Ohio. p. 24. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
8. ^ "Akron Ohio Historical Timeline 1950 - 1999". Archived from the original on March 29, 2009. Retrieved January 2, 2009. Akron Ohio Historical Timeline 1950-1999. Retrieved August 16, 2006.
9. ^ John Harper, cleveland com (July 3, 2015). "Chapel Hill Mall teeters after five decades: timeline". cleveland. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
10. ^ Mitchell, Jacqueline. "Forest City Waffles on Plan for Chapel Hill." Akron Beacon Journal. May 7, 1988: A8.
11. ^ Pantages, Larry and Peter Geiger. "Another Higbee Possible; Chapel Hill Plan Studied." Akron Beacon Journal. April 28, 1989: A1.
12. ^ Vanac, Mary. "Higbee's Coming to Chapel Hill Mall." Akron Beacon Journal. January 31, 1990: A1
13. ^ Ethridge, Mary. "Chapel Hill Mall Getting A Face Lift; A 12-Restaurant Food Court, New Lights and New Ceiling Among Plans." Akron Beacon Journal. March 9, 1994: C7.
14. ^ Adams, David. "Mall Courts Customers With Food; Dining Area Added at Chapel Hill to Keep Shoppers on the Premises." Akron Beacon Journal. November 4, 1994: B9.
15. ^ Akron Beacon Journal, September 11, 2004.
16. ^ "At Chapel Hill Mall | Seritage". seritage.com.
17. ^ "PHOTOS | Chapel Hill loses another store as Macy's closes". KGW. March 25, 2016. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
18. ^ "Macy's closing anchor store at Chapel Hill Mall". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
19. ^ "Macy's to close Chapel Hill site". Record-Courier. January 7, 2016. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
20. ^ Wiandt, Steve. "New owner of Chapel Hill Mall sees potential in young consumers". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
21. ^ "Chapel Hill Mall Sears to close by spring". Akron Beacon Journal. Gannett. January 5, 2017. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
22. ^ "New vision for empty space inside Chapel Hill Mall". WKYC. August 6, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
23. ^ Robin Goist, cleveland com (January 3, 2020). "Akron's Chapel Hill Mall avoids closing Friday with partial utility payment by owner". cleveland. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
24. ^ "Chapel Hill Mall tenants notified for the second time this year that electric bill has not been paid". WKYC. December 3, 2019. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
25. ^ Robin Goist, cleveland com (January 3, 2020). "Akron's Chapel Hill Mall avoids closing Friday with partial utility payment by owner". cleveland. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
26. ^ "Summit County pursuing foreclosure against Chapel Hill Mall". News 5 Cleveland WEWS. January 3, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
27. ^ Robin Goist, cleveland com (January 6, 2020). "Summit County to begin foreclosure proceedings against Chapel Hill Mall". cleveland. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
28. ^ "Chapel Hill Mall served with foreclosure notice Monday after back taxes, utility bills pile up". News 5 Cleveland WEWS. January 13, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
29. ^ Robin Goist, cleveland com (January 6, 2020). "Summit County to begin foreclosure proceedings against Chapel Hill Mall". cleveland. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
30. ^ "JCPenney closing Chapel Hill Mall store this spring". fox8.com. January 16, 2020.
31. ^ "JCPenney Store Closings – JCPenney Company Blog". companyblog.jcpnewsroom.com. June 4, 2020.
32. ^ Mackinnon, Jim. "New owner will convert Chapel Hill Mall into a business park". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
33. ^ Mackinnon, Jim. "Summit County gets more than $844,000 from $7 million sale of Chapel Hill Mall". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
34. ^ Mackinnon, Jim (March 16, 2021). "Chapel Hill Mall store owners, shoppers hope once-popular site keeps its retail roots". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
35. ^ "'We're part of revitalizing retail': Former Chapel Hill Mall gets second life". Yahoo Finance. April 18, 2024. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
36. ^ "Chapel Hill Business Park" (PDF). ICP. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
37. ^ Fischer, Neil (April 12, 2022). "Site of former Chapel Hill Mall in Akron under renovations, will host light industrial businesses". WKYC. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
38. ^ "New Construction" (PDF). ICP. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
39. ^ Williams, Patrick (April 18, 2024). "Former Chapel Hill Mall reborn as business park". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
40. ^ "Macy's closing anchor store at Chapel Hill Mall". Akron Beacon Journal. Gannett. January 7, 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
41. ^ Nevada, Charlene. "Retailers to Replace Movies at Chapel Hill; General Cinema Closes 5-Screen Theater at Mall." Akron Beacon Journal. November 19, 1996: C6.
42. ^ Wilson, Joanna (October 18, 2016). Segedy, Jason (ed.). The Akron Anthology. Belt Publishing (published October 15, 2016). ISBN 9780996836739. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
43. ^ a b Williams, Patrick (April 18, 2024). "Where are Archie the Snowman, carousel?". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
44. ^ McDonnell, Sean (April 22, 2021). "Famous Chapel Hill Mall carousel will live on at Lock 3 in Akron". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved April 25, 2021.

## External links

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* Chapel Hill Mall Throughout the Years, an online photo gallery published by Akron Beacon Journal
* Photo gallery from March 2021, published by Akron Beacon Journal
* Photo gallery after renovation, hosted by the property owner (Industrial Commercial Properties)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chapel Hill Mall.

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