I grew up just north of downtown Cincinnati, within easy driving distance of several malls. The malls were a pretty major part of my childhood, and I have a lot of memories strolling through them with family or friends. Out of curiosity, I looked one of them up only to learn that every single one of them has been closed with plans to be demolished.
The times they are a changing, huh? Online shopping taking off in the '00s, the '08 recession, and covid definitely take the lions share of the blame, but I'm also eyeing a 2010 curfew law that prohibited unaccompanied kids from being at the malls on Fridays and Saturdays. Fuck that.
Northgate and Tri-County were both beautiful places in their heyday. It's a special disappointment to see them close because they both seemed very active when I last visited them back in '17 or '18.
Hearing my greatest love, Forest Fair Mall, is being demolished is less of a surprise. It was also a beautiful place in its heyday, but that heyday was maybe two years in the early 90s and another eight months in the early 00s (when it was revitalized as Cincinnati Mills). Between and after that, it relaxed into a sort of magically dreamland of empty stores, empty hallways, all lit by neon lights. The occasional open restaurant or electronics story, active kinetic sculpture, or closed amusement ride broke up the monotony just enough to make it all the stranger.
It's the kind of place where you could imagine next to anything just walking out of the mists — which was provable true, as when I strolled its halls with my dad one time only to see Mr. McFeely walk towards us. He had done a promotion with the local PBS station earlier that day. I might still have his autograph, if it wasn't lost in a move.
Farewell, Forest Fair. You lost money for every management company who ever invested in you, which was quite a few over the years. I still remember the smell of the coffee shops and the sounds of George Rhoads' audiokinetic sculpture. God bless and goodbye.
mallwalker.net's write up of Forest Fair Mall
ronnysalerno.com's write up of the same
WVXU giving the bad news