Westland Mall; Columbus, Ohio
Tucked away on the west side of Columbus on the corner of Broad Street/U.S. 40 and the I-270 belt, Westland Mall has without a doubt seen better days. Opened in 1969 as an outdoor mall, Westland was enclosed in 1982 and has not been renovated since. As such, it has fallen victim to the flight of many-a-store in recent years, especially considering the tight retail competition in the Columbus market.
When it opened, Westland was anchored by Sears, Columbus-based Lazarus, and JCPenney. Only Sears has held its ground; JCPenney closed in 1997 for new digs several miles up the road at The Mall at Tuttle Crossing and Lazarus, which became Macy’s recently, closed earlier this year citing underperforming sales. Other national chain stores have departed in recent years as well, such as The Limited and Express. In addition, the Woolworth’s mini-anchor which closed in 1997 with the rest of the chain was replaced by a Staples which denied mall access. Whoops. Since 2000, many more stores have departed, and on a Columbus Dispatch reporter’s recent visit to the mall the Dollar store was the busiest retailer in the whole place. Whoops again.
So what really happened at Westland? Several sources suggest that tight competition was a major factor in Westland’s demise. Between 1997 and 2001, Columbus saw more large retail destinations open than in any other market, with the opening of two large enclosed malls, The Mall at Tuttle Crossing and Polaris Fashion Place, and one large outdoor center, Easton Town Center. Malls like Westland, and others which have recently failed like Columbus City Center and Northland Mall, all fell victim to this shiny new competition at an alarming rate.
The opening of all three of these new centers also signified a greater shift geographically in the economic prosperity of Columbus, pressing greater emphasis on the large sprawling swath of suburbia north of downtown and leaving the other parts of town struggling. Just by looking at a map of Columbus, it’s easy to see the recent growth has pressed northward at a rate two to three times the rate of other directions. This is where much of the money is in Columbus, and also has much to do with the location of OSU in this direction.
Today, Westland Mall is a ghost town, a retail relic and a living history museum to the ‘dead mall’ phenomenon visible across the entire country. The Broad Street retail strip around it is dated and functional, but the mall has definitely outlived its original stay as the anchor for this side of the trade area. A massive renovation and repurposing will have to take place before it is viable again. The mall’s website indicates they are courting ‘value’ tenants to make Westland into a ‘value-oriented’ mall, and while this may solve the immediate vacancy issue it is really only a stopgap solution as the center continues to age rather ungracefully.
But for now, enjoy the photos and if you’re in the area take a visit to one of the area’s best-preserved dead mall museums while it lasts. It won’t be long before they give up the ghost and try again. The pictures here were taken in March 2004.
on August 9th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
A few notes of interest:
-Does anyone know who enclosed this mall? Given the time (early 80’s) , and decor, it appears as though the company who owned the mall appears to have owned a lot of Ohio malls at the time- most notably Eastgate Mall in Cincinnati Ohio (renovated in 2004 and no longer bears much resemblance) and Towne Mall in Franklin/Middletown Ohio (a near-dead mall with similar decor to Westland!)
Those smoked-glass faux streetlamps and recessed square lights were a signature style of the company, and it made for some very dark malls that always felt larger than they were.
-The other remaining “Land” mall in Columbus, Eastland, appears to be faring much better (though it’s very bland), but the now-empty Lazarus/Macy’s from the 60’s (complete with groovy blue-glazed brick) is sadly in such bad state that it’s an eyesore (also a shame, because the new Macy’s is offensively dull.)
-Although they were founded in Columbus, I believe at the time this mall opened, Lazarus had become a Cincinnati operation. Maybe not, it’s certainly where the name died.
on August 9th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
Unlike Northwest Plaza, where’s the clues that this was once outdoors?
on August 9th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
Columbus is interesting in that the metro isn’t all that large, but in the retail world it is quite large. When polarasfashon place & easton town center & OSU are factored in you have a robust market.
Speaking of PFP is it a little strange that PFP has trubble holding on to it’s department stores L & T & is stuck with the great indoors? A nice store but they just didn’t make money. One more thing there are no divisions of limited brands because limited chearman Les wWexner is part owner of easton town center & the headquarters are located there. Out of protest limited signed 0 leases at PFP although the mall is owned by Glimsher also in columbus.
on August 9th, 2007 at 7:29 pm
heh there’s a Chi-Chi’s by one of the mall entrances in that 2nd picture. It’s probably vacant know after the whole health scare that closed that chain down (forgot what the disease was).
How large is Columbus? Is it large enough to support this mall, and the newer malls? Or are the new retail malls/center in the suburbs of this city?
on August 9th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
Chi-Chi’s was eventually forced into closure by hepatitis A in green onions…most of the NJ locations were subdivided…one half became Bonefish Grill and the other half another chain restaurant….never was a Chi-chi’s fan…On the Border and Jose Tejas/Border Cafe are ten times better.
on August 9th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
This was an old Jacobs Group mall, as were many in Ohio.
on August 10th, 2007 at 12:20 am
So is it safe for me to guess that a lot of ex-Jacobs Group malls are in essence, ‘dark malls’, and have this sorta design going for them?
That question aside, I really enjoyed the write-up on this mall. It’s sad that it looks like this mall is probably on borrowed time, before it’ll get redeveloped somehow.
on August 10th, 2007 at 7:38 am
I have a picture of the front enterance of the Westland Mall in Columbus, Ohio. I was there to go to the DMV branch in the mall. I think the majority of the mall patrons were at the DMV, as when I got there, they were serving number 7 and I was number 38. Those pictures of the mall make it look much better than it really is. I cannot remember the last time it looked, well, occupied. And yes, the Chi Chi’s is gone; I think you can see what it is now in the picture.
on August 10th, 2007 at 11:10 am
Hi droman i looked up the population for you. Columbus has over 700,000 people in the city & 1,725,000 in the metro area aprox.
With those numbers they could support i would say 4 major centers.
1. TUTTLE CROSSING
2. POLARAS FASHON PLACE
3. EASTON TOWN CENTER
4. EASTLAND
Maybe citty center if they can figure out what to do with it.
Easton has other things going for it like housing & corporate offices of lane bryant & limited brands on it’s property.
Also the large number of eateries cant hert.
On the other hand PFP only has 3 restaurants. Rember restaurants matter just as much if not more so than department stores.
on August 10th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
Oh i forgot to add that Les Wexner tried to stop PFP’s construction, when he faild he chose not to sign any leases out of protest.
on August 10th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Too bad about this mall. If it reinvents itself, it might have a fighting chance. Perhaps with a blend of bix-box retailers. Seems like with 1.7 million people, they could get 4 1/2 malls in there.
Scott
on August 10th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Jacobs malls tended to be a little dark. This one looks a little different than the othe ones I’ve sen though. For one thig, there’s no terrazzo. Usually they had a lot of terrazzo flooring, at least the ones from the late ’70s that I’m more familiar with.
on August 10th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Lazarus was part of Federated and had been since the 20s or 30s, as the Lazarus family organized and ran Federated for many years. Some of the family was in Columbus and ran the namesake store. Federated itself was based in Cincinnati (where they owned Shillito’s) and also had a large NY office.
on August 10th, 2007 at 7:58 pm
Polaris was the death of the malls in Columbus. Northland, gone. Westland, close to being gone, and it will be followed by Eastland.
And even Polaris has seen better days. Easton Town Center sets the standard in columbus
You made mention of City Center Mall, which is worthy of coverage.
http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/business/stories/2007/08/07/City_Center_evict.ART_ART_08-07-07_B1_FG7I1MP.html
It’s a Simon Mall, acquired from Mills. But it’s not listed on their site
on August 10th, 2007 at 8:09 pm
I went to this mall 5 months ago and spent like 5 minutes in it as it had nothing left and macy’s was starting to close. therew as a vacant anchor. this shopping area I hear is in a high crime area. Someone form my college went to this area and was scared. there is a vacant Kmart, TOys r us and closed circuit city near it.
eastland was not too good. well polaris and easton mall with nordstrom is doing really good
on August 11th, 2007 at 12:43 am
@Steve: I noticed that too… most Jacobs group (it was in fact Jacobs who owned Towne & Eastgate until they sold them to CBL) they used Terrazzo up the wazoo. Their design really an interesting effect in the malls- they always seemed gloomy and large, even if it was a sunny day. (We always called it the “Goth Mall” - also fitting given its bizarre decor pieces such as organ-pipe chimes in the center court (removed by the time I got there with a camera, natch) and the other watchamacallits.
My guess is that the retrofit of the existing center led to some unique design decisions on this mall (such as the wood panelling- I almost want to believe this was enclosed before 1982 because by the early 80’s, Jacobs group was using hexagons up the ying yang… just see the attached pictures.)
I’ve included 3 shots of Eastgate and one of Towne Mall, apologies about the lack of quality.
http://getcarbonated.com/jacobsmalls
Do note this is right before Eastgate was renovated, so much of its original gloom was on its way out.
on August 11th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Thanks for posting those pics of both Eastgate and of Towne Mall. I presume both these malls are in the greater Columbus(OH) area, am I right?
The ones of Eastgate are especially interesting, and what I particularly enjoyed looking at. Sad to hear that it may be the next dead mall in Columbus to come, beyond Westland…..(unless say, Eastgate somehow can reinvent itself, or do something drastic to prevent further decline)
on August 11th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
I wondered about the history on this one. Eastland opened around ‘69 or ‘70 and was enclosed. It’s difficult to find a mall, anywhere, that was built after the early 60s that wasn’t originally built as a mall (there are exceptions like Landmark & Tysons in the DC area, but those are rare). Jacobs enclosed Westgate in Cleveland (one of their first centers) around ‘69 or ‘70. This center was to Great Western what Eastland was to Great Eastern and Town & Country on the east side. My guess is that it either opened as a mall or opened as strip well before ‘69. If it did open as a strip in ‘69, it would have been designed with eventual enclosure in mind.
on August 11th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Is it to far fetched to say that Easton Tuttle crossing & PFP will be the only malls left in Columbus?
on August 12th, 2007 at 1:48 am
Eastgate is in Cincinnati, was renovated in 2003 (looks nothing like it does in the pictures nowadays.. at least on the inside) and is doing allright.
Eastland mall is in Columbus… and also was recently renovated. It is doing okay, but it is missing an anchor, and is trying hard to fight off its “b-mall” image. Still a functional mall serving a minority customer base, but that image combined with difficult freeway access make its future questionable.
Towne Mall is halfway between Cincinnati and Dayton (opened about 2 year prior to Eastgate) and is at death’s door (anchors are healthy, inline is gone.)
Eastgate & Towne Malls were sold to CBL from Jacob’s Group about 5-6 years ago (in the 3 year period where just about every mall in Cincinnati changed hands) .
Two other points of interest:
1) Eastgate added an addition in 1992 when McAlpin’s relocated to the mall. Despite the obvious changes in style over the 11 years, Jacobs Group demanded that the addition match the original mall exactly, and actually had the light fixtures re-fabricated to match the original 1981 mall decor.
2) Eastgate’s current owner felt the mall was so dark that the skylights weren’t serving any purpose but to exaggerate how gloomy the mall was, so when installing the new light fixtures (basically, industrial grade fluorescent fixtures behind a translucent canopy covering almost all of the corridor), they kept adding more and more light fixtures on a trail-and-error basis until the lights matched the brightness of the skylight. It certainly brightened the mall up quite a bit, and watching the construction workers grumble as they had to add MORE fixtures was hilarious. It’s one of the few renovations I’ve heard of where the end result was LESS natural light.
on August 12th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
“B-mall”? What’s that? African American?
on August 12th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Jacobs Group malls were known for their seamless additions. In two cases I remember in North Carolina, older malls they owned were doubled in size, but you’d never know where the old part ended and the new part began unless you really studied the minute details.
on August 12th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
A “B-mall” is basically one rung below the largest regional malls; a mall that may be missing anchors or only has 1 or 2 anchors, and fewer stores than the usual regional mall–in a large metro area, a mall with 50 or 60 stores and 2 anchors would be a “B-Mall” even if it always functioned that way.. Malls with only second string anchors like Burlington Coat Factory might be considered a “B”, too.
on August 13th, 2007 at 9:45 pm
The Matter of Steak sign is funny and old, I like neon in dark malls. One mall in Corpus Christi has lots of neon and a Burlington Coat Factory too.
on August 16th, 2007 at 10:08 am
does the failure of this mall and others like this a result of the oft-mentioned economic problems in OH?
on August 26th, 2007 at 5:39 am
Westland opened as an outdoor mall about 1965-1966. I was probably in the sixth grade at Clinton Elementary at the time. By 1969, I was in high school in southern Kentucky. I didn’t visit the mall again until a family reunion in 1982. We went to see “Annie” in the theater at Westland. I understood the reasons a mall in Ohio might benefit from being indoors, but I missed the mall I had first seen as a child. To me, it was like putting Walt Disney World inside.
on October 1st, 2007 at 9:57 am
Phil T; let me try and answer this for you, it looks like retail shift is or has moved northward to Easton & PFP & away from Westland & other malls. As for OH’s economic problems-maybe you got something, but i just don’t know.
Well i tried my best.
on January 3rd, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Westland Mall has been going under for over a year. There using duck tape to keep it up and running. Only forced into fixing the problems as the totally go into failure.
Customer Service is now gone as of the first of 2008. I for see that it will be gone by June or July.
on January 17th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Westland Mall was enclosed before 1982. It was as early as 1980, maybe 1979. As a teen, Westland was a great place to hang out. Aladins Castle was the arcade were everyone hung out. They even had an Orange Julius. In my opinion, when they closed the Orange Julius, They killed the mall. The line was always long there. I still visit the mall since I live just down the street. But even on the busiest day, you can shoot a gun and not hit anyone. It’s sad…
on January 22nd, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Of The “Land” malls (Northland, Eastland, Westland), Westland was always the least pretty of the three. Neighborhood shifts will prevent Eastland from ever being what it had once been (there was a shooting there recently, fortunately no one was hurt) And Northland has not been redevelloped in any way since it was demolished in 2002. Right now it’s just a giant empty lot with a Taco Bell in the front. Westland has been completely destroyed by the construction of the nearby Mall at Tuttle Crossing. They use the empty JC Penney (it closed and moved to Tuttle in 1997) as a convention center of sorts, housing gun shows and other whatnot on the main floor. And the few brief ventures I made out into the mall found absolutely no one.
and SEAN, it is far fetched to say that the new “Big 3″ will be the only ones left. Eastland has booming sales, and it’s always full. However, It seemes like every time I go there, the influence from Whitehall is bigger.
on January 26th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Just searching for information on Westland Mall closing, as I have heard just this week that Les Wexner (Limited) has bought the property. I also heard that he bought the apartment complex in the back of the mall and is looking into buying the old GM plant across the street. The goal with all this real estate buying is to build a shopping complex like Easton and call it Weston. Sounds too good to be true, dosen’t it?. The west side of Columbus has certainly had it’s share of crime and business demise in the past 10 years.
Now with Meijer on Georgesville Rd closing, the westside of Columbus needs to have a makeover. Does anyone know if this information is true? or is it just another rumor?
on January 29th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
I recently went to Famous Footwear on the old west side and was told they were closing. The rumor is that Les Wexner purchased Westland Mall and the surrounding property. I live closer to the City Center and Westland Mall. I’m tired of driving to another side of town for mall shopping. I don’t understand why these two malls have been left for ruin. The old malls are in prime locations and once again could prosper. Why continue to build new malls and leave abandon sites to shatter the surrounding neighborhoods. Crime rate is high and property values are lower due to the disregarded stores. There should be laws that prohibit the crazy of over building. There are to many structures left standing. The old shopping locations should be tore down if not remodeled as they are eye sores, and contribute to rise in crime. If the rumor is true, then it would be wonderful to have shopping, restaurants, and entertainment close to work, home, and Downtown Columbus. Does anyone know anything about this resent rumor?
on January 30th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
City Center Mall was bought up by the State and City to be converted into office space. Several state departments are moving into the Lazarus building there. Hopefully the rumor of Weston is true. If you look at the Krone Group (owners of Westland mall) it has had the name changed to Weston Towne center which would go along with the rumors that I have heard.
http://www.thekronegroup.com/krone_group/docs/Weston_Brochure.pdf
I have lived on the west side of town for almost 2 years now and I would love to see a mall and business come back to the area. I feel safer on the west side of town then I do when I go to Easton. Last time I went to go see a movie there (about a month ago) I saw a huge fight break out and about 4020330483024823 Somalians running through the mall screaming at each other. Cops were out in force and they had their hands full.
on February 7th, 2008 at 1:32 am
The entire Westside of columbus around the mall seems to be going dead with major closings of
media play, Meijer, Schottenstein’s, Sears inside the mall (coming soon), Golds gym in the mall parking lot.
There is no reason to shop at westland unless you looking for a pair of sneakers or jewelery.
there are currently 4 shoe stores left, Finishline, Champs, Lady Foot Locker, & KC’s men’s clothing, maybe 2 jewelry places, a Matter of Steak is still there, the arcade somehow is still open nothing what it use to be, other than that the mall is gone, soon as Sears closes say goodbye to westland.
Honestly the area is not that bad as said in previous posted above it’s not easton but it’s not like your gonna get robbed or raped on trip the Bob Evans
, there is still lots of good restaurants down the road in georgesville square. In my honest opinion problems went wrong with the cheap ass apartment complex behind the mall, low income families moving in to run down apartments equals shopping in the mall in non existent.
I worked in the mall about 6 years ago, I would always hear great ideas from management of the mall talking about bringing in new stores, they were even in talks about putting in a Skate Park inside of the old J.C penny’s building but that quickly fell through & I never heard why.
I don’t wanna go into where I worked but in a 11 hour day the store I worked for would only take in a few hundred dollars a day, take into count rent cost & paying employees you can see why stores can’t last in westland. Funny story, one day during a weekday we opened at 10:00 am we didn’t get our first paying customer until about 2:00 pm. that’s so sad, haha.
a complete rebuild of the entire mall, apartment complex out back is the only way to get people back shopping, trust me we are all here ready to shop but with no stores in the mall obviously shoppers will go elsewhere.
there is still hope!
on February 16th, 2008 at 12:42 am
Sears is not closing! My sister works at sears and they are not closing any time soon. That sears is the busiest sears in Columbus believe it or not. Also westland has been bought by Les Wexner. He is also getting ready to buy GM, the two shooping centers by westland, and the apartments behind it. The only reason he has not announced this yet is because he is working with ODOT to have a freeway ramp lead right into weston like it does at easton.
on February 22nd, 2008 at 9:04 am
We moved to this Far West Southwest area from Raleigh NC three years ago to take a job at OSU. We thought that the area around our subdivision seemed safe enough.
I will not go to the upper Georgesville Road area even though it is a little closer to us. In fact, I travel to the Hilliard Rome Meijers instead of patronizing the more closer one on Georgesville. Many people must feel the same, the store is scheduled to close as many others have.
Why? There are an extreme abundance of housing projects that cater to thousands of illegal immigrants and somali refugees in this area (better for the landlords to have the complexes full than empty?). The young children of these people are not assimilating into the schools easily and therefore we have resulting gang problems with these two groups. My family calls this area “little Tijuana”. I DO NOT FEEL SAFE in this area!
This area will not be safe at these stores until the following things happen…
We have seen beautiful renovation of many small towns in the Raleigh area. One of the first things they do is to better plan roads to ease traffic into the area. Second thing is to plan green areas all around the metro complexes. Next come nearby housing and condos that take advantage of the green areas. Then comes the inviting shopping areas with great retail stores. Tax base improves, schools are built which entice more homeowners near the area, the area looks “pretty” and better and safer communties develop. We have seen this plan over and over in North Carolina.
I absolutely agree with the prospect of redevelopment of this area. The easy access to 270 needs to be reworked and the Georgesville/Broad street area can be another Easton Towne Center. When we moved here, we asked “Why isn’t there a good mall area in this area of town? It would be a goldmine!” I wrote letters to mall property development companies!
BUT FIRST…the area housing projects MUST BE CLEANED of the crime eliment or nobody will come to an area that they will not think is safe.
on February 24th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
To truly say it, I am a die hard Westside resident. I was born and raised out here from birth until I was 18 (last year). I seen the Westside peak climb and seen it drop from 2004. It hasn’t been the same, it all has to do with the Mall. The Mall is the back center of a town and or a side of town. Grove City, Hilliard, Urbancrest, Hilltop, Franklinton, Far West, all went to this mall and brought a lot of business. When they took JCPenny’s out that hurt the mall and brought more revenue to the Northside (Tuttle, Polaris, and Easton). It’s hurts me how the West Side was a good place to live. I look at it now, living out in Reynoldsburg, it hurts to see how my City is dying. And West Side is it’s own city.
The Wingate Villages (Lincole Park West formaly) where I grew up at from 1990 to 1995, was a great place to live for the Blacks and the Whites, it was calm community and the biggest apartment complex. The apartment complex has so much history that my mom grew up there when she first move from Indiana, in 1973. I mean when I was growing it rough there but, not like it is now, but Westside was rough city as it is. Now “I look back at it and drive through there and it hurts me to see what the heck the ownership is doing and why would they let get this bad to a point where it’s a projects and a trap house (drug area). And it sad the City isn’t doing squat for the West Side (the first settlement in Columbus) there is a lot history out here. But it’s up to us, to change it so…. Hopefully one day, when I get out of College, I’ll be that person.
When ever they will be, Weston Town Center. They are going to knock down the whole strip from the mall area, to the little stores surrounding, that’s gonna be knock down, and the stores across the street will be knock down. And also if they are trying to rebuild it, the guy is gonna have to by the apartments (Lincoln Par West, Brittany Hills, Country Brook, Pleasent Grove) The Westside is showing a little progess in the Lincoln Village area, building new stores. You also can’t look at the area you got look at where Target is, where K-Mart use to be, where AJ Wright is now, all those areas you have to look at. If it was to get back where it was, these are things they have to do.
on March 26th, 2008 at 12:17 am
It was all over when Orange Julius left. As my father being a mall manager in the late 70s of the mall before it was enclosed shared many memories of how nice of a place it was with the open air feel. It was a beast at winter time, but look how Easton has made the best of it. Here is my idea…since the amphitheater at Polairs is gone. Put it over on the West Side of Columbus. Then build from that. I mean really, you have a bunch of room to grow. With rumors of Target leaving this side of town, that area will open up and the Kmart area. Lots and lots of room to grow.
on March 26th, 2008 at 12:52 am
Ok so I have lived in a suburb near Westland Mall most of my life and I have to say, Westland Mall has been on the decline since I was in high school (1995 - 1999). It got to the point where during high school we stopped going to movies there because it wasn’t safe!!! I couldn’t be happier to see the west side torn down and rebuilt from the ground up. Maybe by time my daughter is in high school it will be a safe place again. Go Wexner, I support you 100% in tearing down the west side!!!
on April 25th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
I have not lived in this area long but before I moved over here back years ago, Westland Mall use to be very active, you could go there and buy some things that you could not find in other places, what happen, is there ever going to be someone that will take it on and bring it back to life. We can”t let something as great as this Mall go to waste. Places like this that use to be a land mark need to be fixed up again stop building new places and take care of the old ones that we have. Columbus needs to take care of it city.
on April 28th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Anyone have any confirmation of the rumour that Les Wexner purchased Westland Mall, the apartment complex behind it and/or the GM plant? Or know where I could go to get confirmation?
on April 29th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
The GM building is for sale there’s a big sign in front of saying for sale but I don’t know if Wexner bought to resell or someone else is selling.
on another note the Chrysler Car lot has went out of business the one that sits in front of Target on West Broad & how about that fancy new Radio Shack, Lol a 4 unit building was built with tons of empty spaces in the mall & were K mart was hell even down by Meijer on Georgesville there’s spots. Seems like a waste to me build a new building just for a radio shack, you know damn well no one else is moving into those other units.
hahaha….
on May 8th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
I just came across this site and It’s a bummer! I was the Mall Manager in the late 60’s and early 70’s and knew Adam Gibride’s dad ( I think I hired him and trained him). The mall was brand new when I took over and it was great! Great tenants, (i knew the family that owned Orange Julius well), great customers, and I loved it. The name of the owners at that time was Jacobs-Visconsi & Jacobs (JVJ) It has now become the Richard Jacobs group. I have fond memories of Westland and JVJ. I left Westland to open more malls for JVJ and in the day, they were one of the top developers in the country. I hope Les comes through for you all.
on May 23rd, 2008 at 9:40 am
I really hope something is going to happen on the westside. We so need a boost to the community. I too lived in in the apartment complex when it was Shannonway. Blacks and whites lived together and it was a really nice place to live. IT was sold. They started renting to anyone and then things went bad. We bought a house and it’s just heartbreaking to see what has happened to that part of town. I hope these rumors I keep hearing are true.
on May 30th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Dear Mr. Wexner:
Come revitalize the West Side, please!!! My house is only 6 years old and it’s now only worth 75% of what I paid for it. Please come drive my home’s value up. The whole west side would greatly apreciate it.