Former Super Kmart in Maple Heights, Ohio

Description and photos by Nicholas Eckhart


     This store is located at 5500 Warrensville Center Road in Maple Heights, Ohio. This former Super Kmart was one of the three Super Kmart stores that opened in 1997. This store sported signage with the "Super Kmart" logo on it. The first Super Kmart to use that logo opened in 1996, before then they all used the "Super Kmart Center" logo. Oddly enough, Kmart started using the "Super Kmart Center" logo again in 2001. This was the 97th Super Kmart store opened. Sadly, this store closed in the 2002 wave of closures.


     In 2003 Liberty Ford moved into the store from their previous location in Bedford. I know some people find it odd that a Car Dealer moved into a former Supercenter building, but to me it makes sense. This was a perfectly fine large building with a large parking lot and Auto bays already built. According to a site this is a 160,000 square foot building and is the largest Ford Dealership in America. It even has a Cafe inside (probably the old Kmart Cafe)! Today this store still has much of the Super Kmart look still intact on the exterior. I found a picture that shows the Super Kmart interior is mostly intact as well.


The following photos were taken on May 20, 2012.

Here is the street sign for the former Super Kmart store (is was located where the Liberty Ford sign was. Notice how there is a Petsmart sign underneath. There was a former Petsmart here too; there is a picture of the former Petsmart at the end of the post. Also, notice that there is a former Donato's in the background. There is a closer shot of that restaurant at the end of this post as well.

The former grocery side entrance. The triangle shaped metal design above the doorway was covered-up.

This is was one of the last Super Kmart stores to have a canopy built across the front, the windows are not original to Super Kmart. 

The former apparel side entrance. The former garden center entrance is on the right.

Here is a view of the former Garden center entrance. In this shot part of the auto center is visible.

Here is the former Petsmart I mentioned earlier in this post.

Here is a closer view of the former Donato's that was partially visible in the first photo.

City View Center in Garfield Heights, Ohio

Description and photos by Nicholas Eckhart


     The City View Center is a massive shopping center built in Garfield Heights, Ohio that overlooks the scenic Cuyahoga National Park. At first glance this shopping center seems to be in the best possible location. There are plenty of residential areas nearby, an interstate exit right at the front, and the site is highly visible from interstate 480. 


     The shopping center opened in 2006 under the ownership of the McGill Property Group. In December 2006 the shopping center changed hands to City View Center LLC. Around this time the negative effects of building on top of a landfill began to be felt when a build-up of Methane gas became evident. The center at one point was forced to close down until the levels subsided. The shopping center was sued by the EPA for various reasons and as a result installed a relief system for the Methane.


     After the environmental issues of building this shopping center on a landfill became widely known shoppers and companies started to doubt the safety of the stores there. In September 2008 Walmart closed abruptly claiming the closure was a result of their fear the building was unsafe. The environmental concerns and the closure of the center's anchor caused retailers such as Home Depot and JCPenney to cancel plans to open stores in this center. By the end of 2008 the Petsmart, Jo-Ann Fabrics, and Circuit City stores closed.


     In May 2009 City View Center LLC failed to make payments on an 80 million dollar loan and the ownership was transferred to Foresite Realty Partners LLC. In late 2009 the Bed Bath & Beyond store closed. The Dick's sporting goods store closed in January 2010. In March 2010 plans to convert the former Walmart into a convention center were cancelled. I am uncertain when the Bottom Dollar discount store (was located in the former Circuit City store) closed. 


As of May 2012 the shopping center houses Giant Eagle, Office Max, and Marshalls. There are also a few smaller businesses that cater to people traveling along the interstate such as Applebee's, Steak N' Shake, Penn Station, Chipolte, and Starbuck's that managed to survive. There are now again plans to continue Transportation Boulevard to Rockside Road (which could potentially boost business to the center). It is currently unclear what the fate of this shopping center will be; only time will tell.


Enjoy these photos I took on May 20, 2012.

The former Walmart store; here is an article on its closure
This is one of the last Walmart stores I know of not being built as a Supercenter. Notice how two entrances were put on the building and a space was preserved to the left of the above entrance. It appears this store was built so a conversion to a Supercenter would be easy. 

This is another view of the closed Walmart (closed 2008). I am sure the closure of this store was good news for the nearby Kmart, but after this store closed the whole shopping center seemed to fall apart.

The former Circuit City (Closed 2008). The top part use to be painted yellow. This was used as Bottom Dollar discount for a few years before that too closed.

A still open Office Max. I took these photos on a Sunday, so it must have just been closed for the day.

A former Bed Bath & Beyond store (closed 2009)

A former Jo-Ann Fabrics store (closed 2008) with a label-scar that is clearly visible.

A former A.J. Wright that was re-branded Marshalls when TJX pulled the plug on A.J. Wright.

This Dick's sporting goods store closed in January 2010.

This Giant Eagle store is the remaining major tenant that appears like it is doing well. Giant Eagle relocated from a smaller store at the Garfield Mall shopping center, that store is now Save a Lot.
 (click here to see a photo I took of the former Giant Eagle store.)

This is a former Petsmart store (closed 2008) as evident from the Petsmart tape in the windows.

A look at the Petsmart label-scar

A store that was never finished. This appears to be more of an Old Navy store look and size to me .

A unfinished building that was planned to house smaller stores and restaurants.

Another view of the same unfinished building

A view of the Methane gas relief system that was installed. Methane is a problem since this shopping center was built on a landfill. A massive empty lot is visible in the background. A JCPenny store and a Home Depot store were supposed to be built in the undeveloped area, the the plans never became reality.