On the south side of Central was a 1950s-era L-shaped strip center, with the multi-level Lion Department store at the bend of the L. This strip was torn down a few years ago and replaced with another strip center, albeit brighter and shinier, and absent any department store anchor. Toledoans can correct me if I am wrong, but the last I saw of this new Westgate strip, it seemed fairly bustling.

On the north side of Central are two stand-alone department stores, a Sears with a 1950s vibe that now seems fashionable again, and an Elder Beerman Store that used to be a Macy’s and before that LaSalles. There are other retail outlots on the north side of Central, but I don’t believe that there’s really a strip of stores on that side. I believe both the Sears and the Elder Beerman remain open for business.

Although near the Franklin Park Mall (Toledo’s one indisputable thriving mall), Westgate seems to be holding its own. There’s not much room for expansion around Franklin Park, so presumably the Sears and the Elder Beerman will stay put, as long as they maintain a presence in West Toledo. And why not? The residential areas around Westgate are middle class and upper middle class (especially to the south and west and in the area near the University of Toledo) and provide a decent base of customers for Westgate.

- Southgate (open: 1954 as strip / enclosed: 1976 / closed: 1998)
- Bayshore (open 1956 as strip / enclosed 1976 / Still open. Conversion to ‘lifestyle’/'town square’/ enclosed center recently completed. )
- Mayfair (open 1956 as open-air mall / enclosed: 1974 / expanded twice (1986 / 2002 ) Still open )
- Capitol Court (open 1956 as open-air / enclosed: 1970s / Closed and Demolished in early 2000s, land redeveloped into new big box / strip center)
- Brookfield Square (open: 1968 as enclosed mall / remodel/expansion: 1996-1997.)
- Southridge (open: 1970 / expansion (food court): 1990 / remodel: 1995-1996 / remodel 2: 2003 after Mills Corp. buyout. Still in operation.)
- Northridge (open: 1973 / remodel: 1988 / Closed: 2002. Dead mall)
- The Grand Avenue (A collection of 7 buildings linked together by skywalks and buildouts. Opened in several phases, starting with the Plankinton Building in 1919, and finishing in August 1982 with a new 3-level mall built out behind the Woolworth, Majestic, and First Bank buildings. The original Boston Store and Gimbles buildings are connected, directly and via skywalk, respectively. This mall really needs its own entry. for a better explaination.)

There were also tons of strip malls and little enclosed community malls that dotted the entire region. If you encompassed the entire 5-country area (Ozaukee, Waukesha, Washington, Racine, Milwaukee), you would expand into:

Grafton
– County Faire Mall (later Manchester Mall)
West Bend
– Westfair Mall
– Washington Mall (later Paradise Mall)
Germantown
– Washington Square Mall
Racine
– Racine Mall Shopping Center
– Westgate Mall
– Regency Mall

I’m not sure if the city of Waukesha, and the western-most suburbs of Delafield, Occonomowoc, et al, ever had any enclosed shopping centers to speak of that maybe were converted to outdoors in the 1990s.

This hefty listing (and I didn’t even bother including the few dozen major strip centers, ‘lifestyle’ centers, or big box projects) ranges from still open, to forever gone, having been torn down and put to different uses.

I do know there’s a huge new mall project slated for the Delafield area that’s to be at least a million square-feet in size. But that’s a new project…..this blog’s about days gone by. Still, it’s amazing how much retailing has evolved in the past 50 years. I read blogs like this, and sister blogs ‘Malls of America’ and that ‘Caldor’ one, and you get a wide idea of the various eras.

Been keeping up with this site now since May this year. Keep the great work up.

Oh yes, and I have something to contribute. Whom do I contact?

Good choice with doing one about Toledo, since I’ve heard about the troubles of Southwyck Mall and (defunct) North Towne Square.

Hopefully eventually, one can do a report on some of the small malls in mid-size towns in central and north-central Illinois(i.e. Mattoon’s Cross Country Mall, Sterling’s Northland Mall, Peru’s Peru Mall, and Effingham’s Village Square Mall). It seems from what I’ve read on these malls, only Peru seems to be thriving. The one in Effingham is really facing tough odds for survival, since it’s not in a easily accessible part of town(and has a higher # of vacancies than the othermentioned malls do). Anyway, just suggesting an idea for what I think would make an interesting, and unique case study.