Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Midway Mall Ad – December 1, 1968

The view from last weekend
Midway Mall was in the news last month (here), with redevelopment plans presented to Elyria City Council by an outside consultant. The study concluded that changes are needed for the mall to survive in this era in which open-air shopping villages (like Legacy Village and Crocker Park) are the preferred destination for people who want to spend money.

So it’s a good time to look back at the above holiday-themed Midway Mall ad, which ran in the Journal on December 1, 1968 back when the mall was only about two years old. (It opened late September 1966.)

The ad mentions a few of the mall’s seasonal attractions, including Fort Christmas (anyone remember it?) and the Talking Christmas Tree. The ad also includes a great map that shows how today's Route 2 back then only extended from Baumhart Road to Route 57.

The ad also points out that the temperature inside the mall is kept at a comfortable 72º. That was one of the reasons that the mall helped kill both Downtown Lorain and O’Neil - Sheffield Center.

Today, it’s hard to believe that people prefer to walk from store to store – out in the December deep freeze – at places like Crocker Park.

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UPDATE (December 23, 2016)
Checking the comments on this post, I noticed there's an interest in which stores were part of the mall when it opened. So I checked the 1967 Elyria city directory and grabbed this listing (below). I had forgotten all about some of those stores!

By the way, I've done several Midway Mall-related posts in the last seven years.
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9 comments:

  1. AnonymousDecember 21, 2016 at 1:40 PM

    Can anyone name all 50 stores from those days?

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousDecember 21, 2016 at 7:02 PM

    I know I can't name all fifty, but at 57 years old, and native Elyrian, I remember: Higbees, JC Penney, Sears (the anchors), Louis Cohen, Seven Seas, Woolworths, The Harvest House, part of Woolworths, The French Cafe (across from Woolworths), a shoe store (Fafliks maybe?), Hough Bakery, Fanny Farmer, Spencer Gifts, some type of fabric store, a cinema (years later), Winklemans. I think May Co. came later but I may be wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rick KurishDecember 21, 2016 at 11:05 PM

    Some time ago I ran across an old ad for Midway Mall from April 1969 which listed all 50 stores. It brought back a lot of memories. A few stores that I shopped regularly that were included in the ad were Diamond's Mens wear and Richmond Brothers. There was also a Sam Kliens store. Women's stores from that time included Ted Jacobs, Winkleman's, and Lane Bryant.

    There was also Walden Books, Gray Drugs, Memory Lane Card Shop, Melody manner and Record World among others. Hmm, wonder if I still have that complete list?

    ReplyDelete
  4. JayJanuary 2, 2017 at 8:14 PM

    I had no idea JCP had a auto center. I wish the mall is not in the state it is now. I had many great times in there and remember how crowded it used to be. I still miss the fountains before the 1990 makeover.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousJanuary 17, 2019 at 9:16 PM

    Since I've become a mall walker, I try to remember what stores used to be at Midway: A&W, Aeropostle, Added Touch, Aladdin's Castle, Alvin Jewelers, American Eagle, Arby's, Auntie Ann's, B Dalton? Baskets of Blessing, Baskin Robbins, Casual Corner, Camelot Music, Christopher & Banks, Claire, County Seat?, Dairy Queen, Dakota Watch, Faflik Shoes, Fanny Farmer candies, Footlocker & Lady Footlocker, Gray Drug, Gap, Gadzooks, Gymboree?, Hot Topic closing 1/20/19, JB Robinson jeweler, Joann fabric, Journeys, KB Toys, Lids, Limited, McDonalds, New York & Co, Nicole Kay, Original Cookie Company &/or Mrs. Fields?, PacSun, Payless shoes, Pet store, Radio Shack, Regis Hair Salon, Sbarra, Seven Seas, Steve & Barry's, Suncoast motion picture company, Taco Bell, Things Remembered, Thom McAn, Waldenbooks, Wicks n Sticks?, Wilson Leather, Winkleman/Petries/Deb, Zales.

    Please add or correct me if needed-thanks. Sharon

    ReplyDelete
  6. CraigFebruary 26, 2019 at 12:39 PM

    In high school I worked as an usher at the Midway Cinema 1973 and 1974. Right next door was the Sidewalk Café. It mostly had soft drinks, hot dogs, soft pretzels and so on. No full meals at all. We had an agreement we would get free food and they got free admittance.

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  7. Julie DNovember 22, 2019 at 3:13 PM

    I very fondly remember in the late 70's and early 80's always getting a hotdog at a fast food hotdog place at Midway Mall. Does anyone remember the name of it? It was in the north wing across from Penney's and was the very last store closest to the exit on the west side. I think I remember it being bright yellow and I distinctly remember the hotdog topping bar!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dan BradyNovember 26, 2019 at 6:11 PM

    Hi Julie,

    Could it have been the Carousel Snack Bar? It was a chain that served things like hot dogs, popcorn, etc. According to the Elyria city directories, it was at the Mall during the 70s and 80s.

    Here’s a link with a picture of one at another mall:

    https://www.liebermancompanies.com/about/

    ReplyDelete
  9. Julie DDecember 10, 2019 at 3:38 PM

    OMG yes! That's it! The picture is exactly how I remembered it! Thanks for solving that mystery... strangely one of my favorite childhood memories!

    ReplyDelete