The Galleria at Erieview
Encyclopedia
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
that opened in 1987 in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, USA, on the east side of the city's downtown
Downtown Cleveland
Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of the City of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. Reinvestment in the area in the mid-1990s spurred a rebirth that continues to this day, with over $2 billion in residential and commercial developments slated for the area over the next few years...
. It is adjacent to the Erieview Tower
Erieview Tower
The Erieview Tower is a skyscraper located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The building has 40 stories, rises to a height of 529 ft , and has of office space...
, a 40-story office building. The Galleria is a few blocks away from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
.
History
The concept for the Galleria began in 1985, when Richard E. Jacobs, who had just bought the Cleveland IndiansCleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
baseball team, also bought the Tower at Erieview, which had opened in 1964. Jacobs began planning to convert the windswept plaza that lay in front of the tower into a shopping center to serve the Cleveland area
Greater Cleveland
Greater Cleveland is a nickname for the metropolitan area surrounding Cleveland, Ohio and is part of what used to be the Connecticut Western Reserve.Northeast Ohio refers to a similar but substantially larger area as described below...
. The result was the Galleria, a glass-enclosed 207600 square feet (19,286.7 m²) mall, opened in late 1987. It was the first major retail venture in Downtown Cleveland
Downtown Cleveland
Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of the City of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. Reinvestment in the area in the mid-1990s spurred a rebirth that continues to this day, with over $2 billion in residential and commercial developments slated for the area over the next few years...
since the 1920s.
The Galleria, which helped spark Cleveland's downtown revitalization in the 1990s, had become very empty due to its lack of a department store anchor and its perception as being far from the center of Downtown action. In 2005, the mall had only 36 tenants out of a possible 66.
In 2003, The Galleria and Tower at Erieview were purchased by Werner Minshall, who made a proposal to close the mall and convert it into a convention center
Convention center
A convention center is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typically offer sufficient floor area to accommodate several thousand attendees...
http://www.cleveland.com/convention/index.ssf?/convention/more/1046255461199880.html. This did not happen and Minshall changed his approach to try to revive the mall by filling it with local tenants. So far, this plan has been very slow to develop, but it has seen success: a few area businesses have bought retail space, and several area vendors set up stands during the week and sell their goods http://www.cleveland.com/living/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living/1120555943130091.xml&coll=2. There are a few non-retail businesses and groups on the second floor.
Another strong point of the Galleria is its food court
Food court
A food court is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dining. Food courts may be found in shopping malls and airports, and in various regions may be a standalone development...
, which attracts downtown workers on weekdays.
In 2007 Dollar Bank announced plans to open a new two story branch in the mall which will be the base of Northeast Ohio operations. The Galleria now enjoys near full occupancy.
In 2007, radio station owner Good Karma Broadcasting moved studios and offices for its two Cleveland sports radio stations (WKNR
WKNR
WKNR — branded ESPN 850 WKNR — is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio. Owned by Good Karma Broadcasting, WKNR is the primary Cleveland affiliate for ESPN Radio; together with sister station WWGK, WKNR is often referred to as ESPN Cleveland.WKNR is the Cleveland affiliate...
and WWGK) into the Galleria.
Tenants
- Najarel Esthtique
- Nzuri Designs by Freda
- J Lucas Clothiers
- Chely's
- Great Steak & Potato CompanyGreat Steak & Potato CompanyGreat Steak is a chain of Philadelphia cheesesteak restaurants. Great Steak is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kahala Franchising, L.L.C. of Scottsdale, Arizona. The chain was founded in Dayton, Ohio in 1982. As of 2010, Great Steak has nearly 160 locations in the United States and abroad....
- Key West Cafe
- Quiznos
- SbarroSbarroSbarro is a bankrupt chain of pizza restaurants that specializes in traditional Italian cuisine, including its most popular menu item "pizza by the slice." Its headquarters is located in Melville, Huntington, New York.- History :...
For a full list of tenants, see the Galleria store directory