Amazon is reportedly taking over the site of a once-thriving mall in Akron, Ohio, that was shut down and abandoned after a decade-long decline.
Amazon is planning to build a 695,383-square-foot facility at the site of the former Rolling Acres Mall, according to blueprints of the project obtained by theAkron Beacon Journal/Ohio.com.
Poignantimagesof the mall's decay over the years have come tosymbolizethe era of retail disruption known as theretail apocalypse. The mall was largely demolished by the city of Akron in 2016.
Here are some of images of the mall that were taken before its destruction. The photos were taken by photographers Seph Lawless and Nicholas Eckhart.
Advertisement
{{}}
Rolling Acres Mall opened in 1975 to great fanfare as the premier shopping destination for the surrounding community.
At its height, the mall boasted more than 140 stores including Macy's, JCPenney, Target, and Sears.
Advertisement
Four decades later, the mall fell victim to years of falling customer traffic.
As the mall lost customers, several department stores abandoned their leases, and smaller tenants followed suit.
Advertisement
Rolling Acres never recovered ...
... and it lost its last store tenant in 2013.
Advertisement
As business slowed, the building became a target for criminal activity.
A homeless man was sentenced to a year in prison for living inside a vacant store in 2007.
Advertisement
Another man was electrocuted trying to steal copper wire from the mall in 2011.
That same year, the body of an apparent murder victim was found behind the shopping center.
Advertisement
Even vacant, the mall remained a safety concern.
The mayor of Akron instructed residents in 2016 to "stay clear of the area."
Advertisement
The outside of the mall decayed along with the inside. Weeds sprouted up between cracks in the parking lot.
This building originally opened in 1978 as an O'Neil's department store.
Advertisement
In 2006 it became a Macy's, which shut down just two years later.
This cinema was added to the mall around 1977.
Advertisement
Storage of America at one point took over this space, which was formerly occupied by Target.
This truck unloading center also belonged to Target.
Advertisement
This was originally the now-defunct Montgomery Ward department store before it closed in 1986. The store became Dillard's in 1992. In 1997, it became a Clearance Center.
The city began the process of demolishing the rotting shopping center in 2016.
Advertisement
Years after it was abandoned, the Rolling Acres site could now become home to a brand-new Amazon facility.
The warehouse could bring hundreds of jobs to the area.
Advertisement
It could also serve to symbolize a new era of retail dominated by Amazon and other e-commerce giants after the retail apocalypse wiped out hundreds of shopping malls.
NewsletterSIMPLY PUT - where we join the dots to inform and inspire you. Sign up for a weekly brief collating many news items into one untangled thought delivered straight to your mailbox.