Friday, July 19, 2024

Ashtabula Town Square (Dead Mall)

An honorary Ohio county that is unofficially a part of the Twin Tiers coverage area.

    Opening in 1992, the Ashtabula Mall (as it was called then) opened with a whopping six anchor lineup consisting of Dillard's, JCPenney, Sears, Carlisle's, and prototype Phar-Mor and Kmart locations. The Kmart would later be expanded to become a Super Kmart. Upon Carlisle's closure in 1994, Dillard's would open a home store in the space. Phar-Mor would close and be replaced by Steve & Barry's in 2005. In that same year, Dillard's would close the home store and leave the mall entirely in 2007. Around this time, original developers Cafaro would sell the property and the mall would change to its current name and begin its decline. The only remaining anchor is a hospital system operating out of the former Sears. The former Kmart auto center space (itself a former relocated Sears Auto Center)  appears to be leased and used for storage.