Forest Fair Mall/Cincinnati Mills questions (shop, food, activities)

[CinciFan]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

We keep hearing rumors of such but I have seen no solid plans. Seems to me to be too large for that kind of endeavor. Where are all of the paying customers going to come from?

My thoughts exactly. I can't imagine a need for the number of indoor soccer fields and skating rinks that could fit inside that place.

[northwoodsman]

i heard that cincifan.. a friend who had a business there told me to, a woman at sprint said something about a UFC gym or something like that, plus the mall has new owners which i doubt plus i remember biggs being there shopped there too

[natisfynest]

Has anyone been to "bee active" from the pics it seems like a good place for the kids. But it is a tad pricey compared to other bounce house oriented places

[deg1114]

Originally Posted by $honey

6. Parisian and Sakowitz were there at the same time and were 2 of the anchors. Also there was Elder Beerman and B. Altman (now Kohl's location). I think there was one more department store, but I can't remember the name.

The 3 original were Sakowitz, B. Altman, and Bonwit Teller. Elder Beerman took the space that was occupied by Sakowitz, Kohl's is in the B. Altman space, and Parisian took the Bonwit Teller space. When Parisian moved to Kenwood, Bass Pro Shops took the space. I remember when Bass Pro Shops came in, it was almost a resurrection of the mall - a lot of shops and restaurants started to move in around it and the space along Winton Road started to build up with the Old Spaghetti Factory, Roadhouse, and one other. I think that is around the time the tiny strip mall with the Panera was built as well.

In my opinion they should do what they did to Beechmont Mall and tear down the majority of it and make it a town center but then again I don't know if that would make it either.

[Ohioan58]

Originally Posted by deg1114

In my opinion they should do what they did to Beechmont Mall and tear down the majority of it and make it a town center but then again I don't know if that would make it either.

All of that styrofoam in the structure would make a big mess.

(A friend used to talk about the incredible cheapness of the building techniques of Forest Fair, like styrofoam used in the columns. Now that garbage is mainstream construction.)

[ram2]

Originally Posted by deg1114

The 3 original were Sakowitz, B. Altman, and Bonwit Teller. Elder Beerman took the space that was occupied by Sakowitz, Kohl's is in the B. Altman space, and Parisian took the Bonwit Teller space. When Parisian moved to Kenwood, Bass Pro Shops took the space. I remember when Bass Pro Shops came in, it was almost a resurrection of the mall - a lot of shops and restaurants started to move in around it and the space along Winton Road started to build up with the Old Spaghetti Factory, Roadhouse, and one other. I think that is around the time the tiny strip mall with the Panera was built as well.

In my opinion they should do what they did to Beechmont Mall and tear down the majority of it and make it a town center but then again I don't know if that would make it either.

Beechmont Mall is a joke of it's former self. The lack of pedestrian traffic proves it.

[stephen431]

Originally Posted by NanaKimmy

3.) I asked several former coworkers, none of us remember "O-2"

Was it O-2? I seem to remember Saks had an outlet there called "Off 5th".

The fire happened in the upstairs part of the food court. A big chunk of the upstairs area above the putt-putt course was walled off. The walkways were still there all around the time-out play area, but there were no stores up there, just white drywall panels. There were gaps in the drywall where you could see storefronts, and I think there was a bathroom back there.

Probably the worst mall I ever saw in Cincinnati was Crestview Hills mall. It was like a time machine back to 1982. They had a McAlpins, an Orange Julius... and I think that was about it. The upstairs was completely empty except for powerwalking seniors.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by ram2

Beechmont Mall is a joke of it's former self. The lack of pedestrian traffic proves it.

Don't quite understand you comment. The whole intent was to overcome the old Mall concept where people just wonder around supposedly shopping. I believe people today do not desire to go shopping, they have an idea of what they are interested in purchasing and just want to go do it and leave. About 90% of my shopping is done on the internet. Just yesterday I went to our local Kohls store and bought a new wallet, as it seemed rediculous to pay shipping for it. But I had already selected what I wanted on the internet, went to the store found it, and left.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

Don't quite understand you comment. The whole intent was to overcome the old Mall concept where people just wonder around supposedly shopping. I believe people today do not desire to go shopping, they have an idea of what they are interested in purchasing and just want to go do it and leave. About 90% of my shopping is done on the internet. Just yesterday I went to our local Kohls store and bought a new wallet, as it seemed rediculous to pay shipping for it. But I had already selected what I wanted on the internet, went to the store found it, and left.

The "old" Beechmont Mall had many more customers than the "new" Beechmont Mall. The "old" mall had interesting stores, like a hobby shop. The "new" mall is a glorified strip mall. Nobody goes there any more. I remember the crowds there back in the 1980s. Today, deserted.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by ram2

The "old" Beechmont Mall had many more customers than the "new" Beechmont Mall. The "old" mall had interesting stores, like a hobby shop. The "new" mall is a glorified strip mall. Nobody goes there any more. I remember the crowds there back in the 1980s. Today, deserted.

But again, the old Mall concept is what is disappearing. So the only thing important is are the current merchants earning a profit or not, not whether they satisfy patrons interests. If they do not make a profit, they too will disappear.