American Mall

American Mall was a one-level shopping mall 2.9 miles (4.6 km) west of downtown Lima, Ohio, between West Elm Street and West Market Street in American Township, a suburb of Lima. The mall had three open anchors which were Value City, Andersons and Phar-Mor.
== History ==
American Mall opened in 1965 and was the first shopping mall developed by Cafaro Company. It's original anchors included Montgomery Ward, Pangles and Bailey's. In 1968, Bailey's closed after only lasting three years at the mall, it was then replaced with Wells. After Wells closed, the space was replaced by King's. In 1982, King's closed and was quickly replaced with Value City. In 1984, Montgomery Ward closed down and was quickly replaced by Burlington Coat Factory. In 1989, Burlington Coat Factory closed and was replaced with Andersons in 1994. In 1991, Pangles closed and was replaced with Phar-Mor a year later in 1992.
== Decline ==
Decline quickly came to American Mall as the Lima Mall in Lima grew more and had more major stores open then the American Mall did. American Mall started to see some major decline as Phar-Mor closed down due to bankruptcy in 2002. Before Phar-Mor's closure, the mall was 70-75% vacant. By 2005, only a few stores remained besides the two anchors which were GNC, Rogers Jewelers, two locally owned stores and an arcade. Also in 2005, a 12-screen Regal Cinema opened outside of the mall as an attempt to get more traffic to join the mall, unfortunately the plan did not work and the mall continued to decline. On December 26, 2008, after the closure of Value City, the American Mall was closed permanently, the only remaining tenant was Andersons. In 2009, Andersons finally closed, leaving the American Mall completely abandoned. The mall was left abandoned for five years until it was finally demolished completely in 2014. The land still remains vacant.
Category:Dead Malls
Category:Malls in Ohio
Category:Former Cafaro Company Malls
Category:Malls that opened in 1965
Category:Demolished Malls
Category:Allen County, Ohio
Category:Former Phar-Mor-anchored Malls
Category:Former Burlington-anchored Malls
Category:Former Pangles-anchored Malls
Category:Former Value City-anchored Malls
Category:Former Wards-anchored Malls
Category:Former Andersons-anchored Malls
Category:Former Wells-anchored Malls
Category:Former King's-anchored Malls
Category:Malls in the United States