Things that were new or innovative become common and are eventually classified as historic…which is the case with the Great Lakes Mall.
In 1959, Mentor Township was a sleepy rural community dominated by agriculture. Nurseries were still the main industry at the time although Mentor Village had set its eye on the future by designating the property along the railroad tracks and the new Lakeland freeway (Route 2) for industrial development.
Based on a growing population (Lake County and Mentor) and its proximity to Cleveland, Edward DeBartolo made plans to build a shopping mall on a strawberry field along Mentor Avenue.
When it opened in 1961, the Great Lakes Mall was the largest shopping complex in the country. It was an open-air shopping center with just one anchor store – JC Penney. In 1964 the May Company was added to the complex, and their wing was enclosed. By the end of the 1960s the entire mall was enclosed for all weather shopping.
Online shopping has certainly taken its toll on traditional retail, but the Great Lakes Mall continues to thrive by continuing to adapt to modern trends. What was deemed the “middle of nowhere” in the early 1960s has become the center of Mentor’s commercial success.
Great Lakes Mall is located at 7850 Mentor Avenue, Mentor, OH 44060.
Learn about other waypoints on the Mentor History Trail.