Most Dead Mall in America!- Forest Fair Village (Cincinnati Mall)- [Forest Park (Cincinnati), Ohio].

     Welcome to a very special mall in the fascination with dead malls and shopping of the past. The Forest Fair Village located in Forest Park, Ohio, a northern suburb about 30 minutes outside downtown Cincinnati. Possibly one of the most dead malls in America, at over 1.5 million square feet with just Kohl's, Babies R Us, and Bass Pro Shops open, I just had to finally take the plunge and drive out to check it out for myself. Do not let the signs fool you, the mall is technically called Forest Fair Village, although its previous name was Cincinnati Mall, the mall was a few other names in its past that will be explained later in the article.

Forest Fair Beginnings

     An Australian-based real estate firm first proposed the development of a mall in the greater Cincinnati area in the mid-1980's. Plans originally called for the mall being discount oriented, with anchor stores such as Marshall's or TJMaxx, although plans changed to a more upscale them with department stores including Bonwit Teller, B. Altman, and Sakowitz. These three department store chains first store in Ohio were at Forest Fair Mall at the opening in 1989. None of these chains had interest in opening here, although the creator of the mall enticed them to open here anyways. Other stores included Elder-Beerman and Bigg's grocery store.

     Mall construction broke ground in 1986 and the first portion of the mall opening in July 1988. Due to problems leasing additional space to potential tenants, the rest of the mall opened in March 1989. The malls overall design consisted of many skylights, and open center court with a amusement park called "Time Out on the Court" which included some rides including a carousel and Ferris wheel and two movie theaters.

Beginning of the end

     Although the mall seemed to have a rocky start with finding tenants, with a terrific opening, the mall began to struggle in less than a year. In September 1989, the mall owner L.J. Hooker filed for Chapter 11bankruptcy protection. The three department stores, B. Altman, Bonwit Teller, and Sakowitz turned out to be too upscale for the market, by 1990, all three anchor stores closed. Two of which closed all there stores as they went out of business the same year. In January 1991, the mall was sold to several lenders to create a joint ownership of the property, which at the time was about half vacant. Finding new tenants proved difficult, as nearby Tri-county Mall expansion was "stealing" tenants and customers from Forest Fair.

     A "Malls at Forest Fair" concept was developed in 1992 that would split the mall up into three sections, fashion, lifestyle, and value. A large expansion was completed in August 1993 that added an entertainment venue called "Festival at Forest Fair" in the former Bonwit Teller store. Kohl's opened in the former B. Altman in September 1994, bringing the malls occupancy to over 75%.

Decline to discount mall

     The mall was sold  in 1995 and in 1996 and in October 1997, Berean Christian Store opened as a junior anchor. Parisian closed in 1998 and Bass Pro Shop took its place and opened around in late 1999. CompUSA was a junior anchor until May 1998 when it moved to developing Tri-county Marketplace. Guitar Center took over the former CompUSA. Burlington Coat Factory opened as well as Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th and Media Play. Time Out later closed and was replaced with a smaller family entertainment center called Namco Wonderpark. Although comprised of anchor stores, many of the inline tenants were closing. By 2002, fewer than 50 stores remained opened throughout the mall. The Mills corporation purchased the mall in 2002 and forced all the remaining stores out of the mall excluding the anchors and theater as extensive renovations were intended to turn the mall around.

     Elder-Beerman closed by 2003 and was replaced by Steve & Barry's shortly afterward. What was once known as Forest Fair Mall was no more as in August 2004, the mall reopened at Cincinnati Mills. Media Play closed in 2005 and remains empty, although there are police training in progress signs on the windows so the empty store does see some action. Simon Property Group purchased The Mills Corp thus acquiring Cincinnati Mills. Wonderpark closed in March 2008 as a very peculiar chain of events lead to the gates going down for good. A manager was paying employee's and high school students to make pornographic videos, this can be clarified through this theme park forum. The longest lasting tenant, Bigg's grocery store closed in June 2008 and Steve & Barry's closed later that year. By 2009, Simon sold most of the mall and the mall dropped the "Mills" name and changed it to Cincinnati Mall.

     By March 2010, the theater was closing and Off 5th moving to a nearby outlet mall. The name of the mall was changed again in April 2013 to "Forest Fair Village", although it must not have been too official since the entire mall still plainly says "Cincinnati Mall" everywhere! Burlington Coat Factory closed by late 2013.

The malls future...?

     There has been speculation of Bass Pro Shop, Kohl's, and Babies R Us all relocating since 2013 but are all currently still at the mall. As my visit went as planned, my group walked through the massive, empty mall without issue. It was so quiet, a slightest whisper sounded like an outside voice, there was a security guard flying around the halls on a segway. My assumptions of the malls future might consist of a call center for Amazon or AT&T. The mall is in to great of shape to just be demolished, maybe partially demolish the mall, like the former Bigg's and something else on that side to create senior living or an apartment complex. 

Here is my set of photos taken of the mall last week. Based on these, it gives anyone a through look into the mall and what it is about, although photos do not do this place justice, if you can, I highly recommend visiting it for yourself before it closes for good.

The former Media Play and Festival venue.

Former B. Altman which currently is Kohl's, its a two-story anchor although only one floor is being used.

A pretty popular scene on the internet, the center court as the "mall will see customers when pig's fly" concept didn't really take flight.

These pictures look as if the mall is brand new and waiting for stores to fill it in, its so clean, there is really no sign of it being abandoned.

I should have looked more closely at just how many stores the mall directory had on it that clearly are not open any more.

The only creepy corner of the mall, the dark former Steve & Barry's wing.

The aquarium themed food court, again stopped in time!

The only entrance opened to a parking garage. There are cars parked in it despite the gates outside all being closed.

Closed since 2005!

Would have been even neater to see this place with all the colorful lights lit and all the stores filled, must have been amazing, if it ever was that full at one time or another.

Keeping with the "frozen in time" theme, a BonWorth store.

The light fixture practically falling out of the ceiling from the leak.

The patriotic wing of the mall, I loved these huge hardboard American flags.

The former Bigg's hypermarket grocery store to the left of the photo.

There is a gym located back there.

I mean the info desk looks new, again this mall looks like its freshly constructed.

The second floor of Kohl's closed off.

Former Steve & Barry's.

Former Elder-Beerman.

Former Bigg's.

Thank you for reading Trip to the Mall and continue to follow us on Facebook for additional content and information on shopping centers and retail stores across the Midwest.