page_title: Forest Fair Village
section_title: 1990s: The Shops at Forest Fair and redevelopment
hierarchical_section_title: Forest Fair Village / History / 1990s: The Shops at Forest Fair and redevelopment
caption_attribution_description: English: Bass Pro Shops - Cincinnati Mills Mall
context_page_description: Forest Fair Village is a shopping mall in the northern suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is situated on the border between Forest Park and Fairfield, at the junction of Interstate 275 and Winton Road. The mall, built in phases between 1988 and 1989 as Forest Fair Mall, has become noted for its troubled history; despite being the second-biggest mall in the state and bringing many new retailers to the market, it lost three anchor stores and its original owner LJ Hooker to bankruptcy less than a year after opening. The mall underwent renovations throughout the mid 1990s, attracting new stores such as Kohl's, Burlington Coat Factory, and Bass Pro Shops. Mills Corporation renamed the property to Cincinnati Mills in 2002 and renovated the mall once more. Following the sale of Mills's portfolio to Simon Property Group, the mall was sold several times afterward, while continuing to lose many of its key tenants. After having been renamed to Cincinnati Mall and again to Forest Fair Village in the 2010s, the property has dwindled to fewer than five tenants as of 2017, and plans of redevelopment have largely been stalled.
context_section_description: In 1992, the owners announced a new concept for the mall, known as The Shops at Forest Fair. Under this concept, each wing would focus on a different theme of shopping. The southwestern wing anchored by Parisian and Elder-Beerman became "The Fashions at Forest Fair", featuring apparel and traditional department stores; the northwestern wing, formerly home to B. Altman, became "The Lifestyles at Forest Fair", with stores focused on home decor, entertainment, and sporting goods; the eastern wing anchored by Bigg's became "The Markets at Forest Fair", which featured tenants centered on "value, services, and convenience"; and the former Bonwit Teller and center court became "The Festival at Forest Fair", focused on entertainment and new restaurants. Also, Lexington, Kentucky-based clothing store Dawahares opened its first Ohio store in the vacated Sakowitz space, while Subway and Hot Dog on a Stick joined the food court. By June 1993, further new tenants had opened, including a Sam Goody/Suncoast Motion Picture Company music and video superstore in the Lifestyle wing and a CompUSA electronics store in the Markets wing. At the time, each of the other wings was about 90 percent leased except for the Lifestyle wing, which was only 25 percent leased. Due to the increased traffic brought on by the new stores, many new retail developments were constructed at the I-275 interchange, while the increase in businesses also boosted tax revenues in Forest Park. Although a home furnishings store called HOME had been proposed for the former B. Altman store as part of the 1992 renovations, the space ultimately remained vacant until late 1994, when Kohl's opened there, as the first of three stores opened that year upon the chain's entry into the Cincinnati market.
  The mall was put up for sale again in 1995, with FFM noting that the partnership did not intend to maintain ownership for over five years. Although Phillips Edison & Company had placed a bid for the property, that company was outbid by Miami, Florida-based Gator Investments, whose purchase of the property was brokered in January 1996. In 1996, Meijer opened across the street from the left side of the mall. Several anchor stores in the mall changed under Gator's ownership: Dawahares closed in late 1996 due to poor sales, Berean Christian Stores signed a 10-year lease for a 21,250 square feet (1,974 m²) Christian bookstore at the mall in late 1997, while Parisian closed in June 1998 and Guitar Center replaced CompUSA in August 1998 after that store moved to a larger location across from Tri-County Mall. A gym called Moore's Fitness also opened during this timespan.
  In late 1999 and early 2000, Gator Investments began a second renovation plan which attracted several new tenants. Under these plans, they worked with Glimcher Realty Trust as leasing agent. The mall underwent a myriad of changes soon afterward, including three anchor stores that all opened in October 2000: Bass Pro Shops opened in the former Parisian, Burlington Coat Factory replaced the former "Festival" wing, and Stein Mart entered Ohio with a temporary outlet store in the space previously occupied by Dawahares. Also joining the mall between 2000 and 2001 were Media Play, Off 5th (an outlet division of Saks Fifth Avenue), and the first Steve & Barry's sports clothing store in Ohio. These stores were part of a reconceptualization of the mall as "a value retail center with new-to-the-market merchants". Furthering this reconceptualization was the addition of new entertainment venues, including a nightclub called Metropolis, a new Showcase Cinemas theater complex with stadium seating, and a new children's playplace called Wonderpark.
caption: Mall entrance to Bass Pro Shops, whose store was originally Parisian.
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