Eastwood Mall Evolves, reinvents itself – and thrives

Eastwood Mall evolves, reinvents itself – and thrives

  • By MICHAEL ROKNICK Herald Business Editor
  • Mar 2, 2023

    

NILES, Ohio – Hopping on top of a big plastic turtle figure at Eastwood Mall’s playground, two-year-old Hannah Cross pretends she’s going on a wild adventure.

“Go fast,’’ Cross urges the man-made turtle.

Unsettled, the Cortland tike moved on to another figure.

And that’s pretty much what the Niles mall has been doing – moving on to face a far different retail landscape since the rise of internet shopping.

“What was Eastwood Mall was 20 years ago is much different than we are today,’’ said Joe Bell, director of corporate communication’s for the mall’s owner, Cafaro Co.

Eastwood touts itself as being the fifth-largest shopping area in the U.S. in measuring total space under roof.

Housed on over 100 acres, Eastwood said it had 13 million visitors last year.

The mall itself opened in 1969 with a list of anchor retailers from a different era. Sears, Strouss’, Montgomery Ward, and Woolworth department stores were its breadwinners.

But those retailers have either gone bankrupt, gone out of business or were gobbled up by bigger outfits.

Its anchor stores now still are chain department stores – Boscov’s, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Macy’s, and Target. Dillard’s been a full-service department store there for years, and the mall managed to save as clearance store, where Dillard’s sells products that shoppers likely won’t buy unless it’s at a steep discount.

“That’s a big growth area now,’’ Bell said. “We’re seeing more retailers going this route.’’

Along state Route 46 on the east side of the mall complex, a Bass Pro Shops is settling into the former Levine Furniture location, and Meijer is close to opening its combination retail and grocery store on the former site of the Kmart SuperCenter. Both stores are located in free-standing buildings. Other smaller retailers and a new restaurant are coming, Bell said.

The mall’s playgrounds and aquarium were created to draw families.

Attracting young families is crucial for retailers as adults between 20 to 45 are in their prime spending years. It drew Hannah’s parents, Alyssa and Josh Cross.

“We’re here at least once a week,’’ Alyssa said. “When it’s cold and rainy, we like to walk inside the mall.’’

And yes – they buy at the mall’s stores.

Eastwood has the traditional stores all housed under one roof, but there’s a bevy of other retailers, restaurants and other businesses in plaza-like dwellings or stand-alone buildings.

There’s other things that sets it apart. The complex has a cosmetology and medical education school. A workout center also is inside the mall.

“We’ve got a doctor’s and dentist’s office and an art studio, too,’’ Bell said.

The 30,000-square-foot Eastwood Event Centre was created to house events from weddings to conferences. It can be divvied up to create five spaces.

Thought was put into the operation. A Residence Inn by Marriott is connected to the center to handle overnight guests for events.

“You can walk from one to the other without going outside,’’ Bell said.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers, a short-season minor league baseball team, is based a Eastwood Field, a stadium at the northwest corner of the Eastwood complex.

Eastwood is owned by the Cafaro Co., which is guided by the local Cafaro family. With over 50 properties nationwide, Cafaro has developed more than 30 million square feet of commercial space in 14 states. That makes it the largest privately-owned shopping center development and management company in the U.S.

Cafaro’s headquarters is located in a separate section of Eastwood.

The mall’s current occupancy rate is 90 percent, a tad lower than competitor Simon Property Group’s 94.5 percent mall occupancy rate as of Sept. 30, 2022. Simon is the largest U.S. mall owner, and its properties include Grove City Premium Outlets in Springfield Township. In 1996, the Youngstown-based mall and retail developer DeBartolo Realty Corp. merged into Simon.

But Eastwood is leaps and bounds ahead of the Shenango Valley Mall in Hermitage, which lost Sears and Macy’s as its anchor tenants plus slews of smaller merchants. Penney’s is the remaining anchor store still open.

Last summer, the Shenango Valley Mall was bought by Butterfli Holdings LLC, an affiliate of Pepper Pike, Ohio-based Flicore LLC. The city of Hermitage is working with the new owner to develop the mall and surrounding area.

Eastwood is a 20- to 45-minute drive for the majority of Mercer County residents. and there are familiar faces here.

In 2021, Reyers Shoe Store made the painful decision to end its 135-year run in downtown Sharon and settling inside the Eastwood Mall. Store co-owners Mark Jubelirer and his brother Steve said the move was critical to keep the business alive as Eastwood has far more shopper traffic.

“We’re thrilled to be in Ohio’s best mall,’’ Mark said.

The shoe store is still learning about its new clientele.

“We’re still working on what the market wants,’’ he said. “But shoppers here are learning we pride ourselves on better service and better footwear. We’ve won two national service awards since we’ve been here.’’

Sharon-based Daffin’s Candies, which still operates its main store in Sharon as well as a handful of outlets in nearby towns, has rented a store inside Eastwood for a dozen or so years. The store moved to a new location inside the mall to make room for Boscov’s new store in 2021.

“This has been a wonderful move for us,’’ Mandy Meyer, the store’s manager said. “This location has a lot more shopper traffic.’’

Meyer explains that the store is now located next to an entrance.

“The first thing people smell when they come in is chocolate,’’ she said with a laugh.

 

Bass Pro Shops part of Ohio’s Eastwood Mall Growth Spurt

 

02/15/2023

Bass Pro Shop joins in the regeneration of Ohio’s Eastwood Mall

Al Urbanski

Real Estate Editor & Manager – Chain Store Age

 

Over the past two years, Eastwood Mall outside of Youngstown, Ohio, has executed leases with a bevy of new restaurants and landed a Meijer superstore. This week it hauled in Bass Pro Shops Outpost.

“Shaking hands with [Bass Pro Shops founder] Johnny Morris to bring one of his amazing retail stores here is a crown jewel addition to this complex and the entire region,” said Anthony Cafaro Jr., co-president of Cafaro Properties.

Eastwood is Cafaro’s largest property, encompassing 1.7 million sq. ft. of enclosed mall and 1.4 million sq. ft. of power center space.

The 63,000-sq.-ft. Bass Pro Outpost will be located in the Howland Commons section of the complex, across from the soon-to-be opened Meijer and Home Goods stores. It is expected to be open and running in early 2024.

Outposts carry less theming and merchandise than Bass Outdoor World stores, which run as large as 500,000 sq. ft. It will be Bass Pro’s seventh location in Ohio, but the first in the Mahoning Valley that has a population of 540,000 people—a large percentage of which commutes to work in Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

“This part of the world is home to a proud sporting heritage,” said Morris, who began selling fishing tackle out of his father’s liquor store in 1972  and has since grown it into a 177-store chain. “Our latest Bass Pro Shop in Ohio will make it easy for people and families to enjoy time together in the woods and on the water.  For that we, we are deep down proud and excited.”

Over the last 24 months, Cafaro has also embarked on a wide expansion of Eastwood’s food and beverage options. They will number more than 30 when a new spate of restaurants open, many of them fast casual and sit-down establishments such as Longhorn Steakhouse and Mission BBQ.

 

New seafood restaurant celebrates Grand Opening at Eastwood

New seafood restaurant near Eastwood Mall to celebrate grand opening September 13

King Cajun Seafood & Bar will celebrate its grand opening next week with a ribbon cutting ceremony taking place on Tuesday, September 13 at 11:00 a.m.

September 7, 2022

By Zach Mosca

Seafood lovers will soon have a new restaurant to try near the Eastwood Mall in Niles.

King Cajun Seafood & Bar will celebrate its grand opening next week with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, September 13, at 11:00 a.m.

Folks will get the chance to meet restaurant owner Steven Yang and former Cafaro Company President Anthony Cafaro, Sr., who was closely involved in designing the restaurant’s concept.

In addition, Niles mayor Steven Mientkiewicz, Niles City Council members, Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber President and CEO Guy Coviello, and other dignitaries will also be in attendance.

King Cajun will be located on the east side of the Eastwood Mall Complex next to Steak & Shake. The building, which used to house the HomeTown Buffet, has been completely renovated to create new dining rooms and a full bar.

The restaurant will primarily offer dishes inspired by Louisiana and Low Country cuisine.