Lima Mall opened on November 18, 1965, with 13 of its 32 planned stores already operational, kicking off a new retail address on Elida Road with a Sears anchor that fall.
Sears began operations on September 30, 1965, as the first anchor. Within a year, JCPenney joined the lineup, moving from its longtime downtown Lima location to the new enclosed mall.
The mall, designed by Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr., featured climate-controlled corridors and a central fountain. Early tenants brought clothing, shoes, and household items into the enclosed space.
The enclosed design contrasted with the open-air downtown streets where JCPenney and other stores had previously operated.
Lima Mall consolidated national and regional merchants under one roof, with parking lots connected to the building.
The concourse was lined with uniform indoor lighting, and a large central court was constructed with open space for displays and seasonal setups.
During the property’s early years, the interior fountain served as a gathering point.
Sears and JCPenney opened as the property’s twin anchors, attracting customers along the entire concourse.
They were accompanied by the Lima-based The Leader, which has a single level and 65,000 square feet.
The property, located at 2400 Elida Road, has direct access to the area’s traffic flows.
Roads were designed to handle peak-hour traffic, and parking lots were built around anchor entrances for convenience.
Lima Mall completed its first year as a regional draw. Anchors and numerous tenants occupied the building, and the next chapter began with Lazarus’ arrival in 1971.
New wings and a department store debut, 1971-1972
In August 1971, a Lazarus department store opened at Lima Mall, providing a new anchor for the property alongside Sears and JCPenney.
The addition expanded the mall’s role beyond a two-anchor layout, bringing in a Columbus-based chain that had been opening stores throughout Ohio.
For local shoppers, the opening introduced a new department store brand and expanded the range of goods available within the enclosed center.
The new west corridor was dedicated in February 1972. Eighteen inline stores opened there, and the design connected Lazarus to the rest of the property.
As 1972 came to a close, Lima Mall was larger and more diverse in its offerings, confirming its status as the primary retail hub for Allen County and surrounding communities.
Rebrand on the sales floor, 1974-1978
In February 1974, Elder-Beerman purchased The Leader, a regional chain that had a department store in Lima Mall.
The transaction paved the way for a rebranding within the property.
Over the next year, construction workers expanded the existing store’s footprint. In September 1975, it reopened as Elder-Beerman, now a full-service anchor.
With Sears, JCPenney, Lazarus, and Elder-Beerman on board, the anchor lineup was complete.
Each drew customers from its respective side of the building, keeping the smaller tenants between them visible.
Stability defined this stage of the mall’s life. By 1978, the mall needed a tune-up, and it got one.
Interiors were refinished with new finishes, storefronts were refreshed, and the overall appearance was adjusted to fit the retail playbook of the time.
Elder-Beerman The move to the Leader position reflected the growing dominance of large-format department stores.
As the 1970s came to an end, Lima Mall stood firm, with all of its anchors in place and a new identity.
A fountain era fades and a chain exits, 1990s
The 1990s saw visible changes in Lima Mall as national chains adjusted their operations.
F. W. Woolworth closed its Lima Mall store in mid-1997, as part of the company’s complete exit from the US.
The closure left a void in the mall’s tenant mix, as Woolworth had long been a general merchandise presence in many regional centers.
That same year, a defining feature of the mall’s early years was also removed.
The central fountain in the mall’s court was removed in September 1997 as part of an interior renovation.
The fountain was part of the original 1965 design and served as a distinguishing feature in the main gathering area.
Its removal created more floor space for events and pedestrian traffic.
The late 1990s renovations included cosmetic updates to flooring, lighting, and signage, ensuring that the interior remained current as newer shopping centers competed for regional traffic.
These changes aimed to modernize the atmosphere while maintaining the anchor lineup of Sears, JCPenney, Lazarus, and Elder-Beerman.
By the end of the decade, the mall had moved away from some of its original design elements while still retaining its established anchors.
New century updates and anchor losses, 2011-2021
Lima Mall entered the new century with additional facility upgrades. In 2003, the Lazarus store was rebranded as Lazarus-Macy’s, and in 2005, it simply became Macy’s.
The property was renovated twice, in 2011 and 2013, to refresh both the interior and exterior.
These changes included cosmetic enhancements intended to maintain the mall’s appeal in a competitive retail environment.
Ownership has also shifted. Following Simon’s spin-off, Washington Prime Group acquired the property in 2014.
The change resulted in new management strategies, but it did not prevent the gradual loss of anchor tenants.
Elder-Beerman closed its mall store in January 2016, marking the end of a four-decade run.
Sears, which opened in 1965 as the mall’s first anchor, announced its closure in May 2018.
The Lima store closed in early September of that year. Three years later, in 2021, Macy’s closed in its former Lazarus location.
The closure removed an anchor that had been on the property since 1971, leaving JCPenney as the last full-line department store to operate.
The decade ended with fewer anchors and a reliance on in-line tenants to keep the mall busy.
A sale price and a reset, 2023
On April 13, 2023, Kohan Retail Investment Group paid $12 million for Lima Mall.
The sale marked the end of Washington Prime Group’s ownership of the property and the beginning of a new chapter.
Kohan, a company known for repositioning aging retail properties, acquired the mall and added it to a portfolio of regional centers.
The former Macy’s building remained vacant at the time of sale, a reminder of the property’s transformation over the previous decade due to anchor closures.
JCPenney remained the mall’s only traditional department store, while other tenants included both national and local names.
Public-facing directories highlighted the remaining retail and dining spaces, while news coverage emphasized the possibility of reusing large empty parcels.
By late 2023, the mall was awaiting the next steps in redevelopment, with the primary focus being on how to address the vacant anchor spaces and aging sections of the site.
Grants, a deed, and demolition, 2024-2025
In November 2024, Allen County received a little more than $1.3 million from Ohio’s brownfield program to demolish the vacant Macy’s building at Lima Mall.
The funding was directly linked to removing the long-empty anchor, which had closed in 2021.
A few months later, on January 31, 2025, a deed was filed indicating that Target Corporation paid $4.5 million for approximately nine acres of mall property, including the former Macy’s parcel.
The purchase confirmed Target as the site’s next major anchor.
On March 31, 2025, crews began demolishing the former Macy’s building. By June 4, 2025, demolition was nearly complete.
On June 5, 2025, the tower that once stood in front of Lazarus and Macy’s collapsed. The removal of the tower marked the end of one of the mall’s most prominent features.
With the site cleared, plans for a new Target began, ushering in the next chapter in the mall’s long retail history.
In 2025, Lima Mall finds itself in an awkward position between what it was and what it aspires to be.
Long stretches of storefronts are empty, and Macy’s absence has left the west side hollow. Instead of the noise and movement that its size implies, the atmosphere is quiet.
JCPenney and a few smaller stores keep the flow of customers going, but the overall impression is of an aging center, its future dependent on Target’s expected arrival in Summer 2026.
