Midway Crossings/River Street Square - Elyria, Ohio

[jason83080]

Not exactly the mall, but these two plazas are adjacent enough that they could be included in the general "it's by the mall" region.

- Midway Crossings
Built: Unsure, but it's the older of the two

Current Tenants:
- Toys "R" Us (main anchor)
- 'Chiropractic & Rehabilitation' (moved from nearby Midway Market Square)
- Party Place/Costume Place (has a HUGE year-round Halloween section in a neighboring storefront)
- Jo-Ann Fabrics
- Sally Beauty Supply
- Tropical Heat Tanning
- Planet Fitness (former Kids "R" Us location)
- Outparcel 1: Olive Garden (former Smokey Bones; new construction, renovated for OG)
- Outparcel 2: Vanity Nails LED Spa/Verizon Wireless (former Coconuts Music & Movies)/Chipotle (added onto building)

Former Tenants:
- Curves fitness center (now Chiropractic...)
- some audio store (I forget the name, but it wasn't there long) (empty)
- US Merchandise (now home to Jo-Ann Fabrics; I could see the windowboxes in the wall at one point)
- D&K Stores (wasn't there long; opened after I thought the chain went out of business) (empty)
- Allcare Dental & Dentures (closed when the company vanished) (empty)
- TJ Maxx (closed) (empty)
- Shoe Carnival (closed) (empty)
- Bridal Room (closed) (empty)
- Hometown Buffet/[insert three other failed buffets here] (closed) (empty)
- Check Into Cash (closed) (empty)
- Blimpie Subs (closed; I think Tropical Heat is in their old location)
- Randstad (office-type facility, closed) (empty)
- (soon) Dunham's Discount Sporting Goods (relocating to former Steve & Barry's at Midway Mall) (soon to be empty)
- Kids "R" Us (closed when chain folded; sat vacant for YEARS)
- Coconuts Music & Movies
- Mattress Matters (was in old Shoe Carnival, then 2/3 of old Coconuts bldg while VZW occupied other 1/3; Verizon soon moved to other 2/3, and Vanity Nails took over the former VZW store)
- Smokey Bones (became Olive Garden)

-#-

River Street Square
- built: 1990s with a red/blue awning theme and gray buildings, consists of two outparcel mini-plazas, a main strip, one occupied outparcel, and Wal-Mart as a focal point

Current Tenants:
- OfficeMax
- PetSmart
- Avenue
- Buffalo Wild Wings
- Famous Hair
- Dots (*I think*; A new one did just open, so this one might either be closed now or will be closing soon)
- Dollar Tree
- National Cash Advance
- BuyBack$ Movies/Games/DVDs/Music
- GameStop (originally FuncoLand)
- Original Mattress Factory Store
- RadioShack
- Huntington Bank
- American Dental Center

Former Tenants:
- Michaels Arts & Crafts (closed) (currently empty)
- Sun Super Savings Center (closed; subdivided for new tenants)
- Deal$ (closed; former Sun SSC tenant with current tenants Avenue/BW3) (currently empty)
- It's About Games!/EB Game World/EB Games (closed upon merger with GameStop and subsequent liquidation) (empty)
- Cookies By Design (now NCA)
- Famous Footwear (relocated) (empty)
- 1/2 Off Card Shop/Card & Party Giant (closed, became Eatza Pizza for a while)
- Eatza Pizza (closed) (empty)
- Just Closeouts (closed) (became Odd Job next)
- Odd Job (closed) (space currently Dollar Tree, relocated from in Midway Mall to new larger store)
- Wal-Mart (relocated to new supercenter store; oddly, Famous Footwear soon followed) (empty)
- Pier 1 Imports (building now home to BuyBack$ - still looks in excellent condition)
- Community Health Partners medical offices (moved) (now RadioShack)
- FuncoLand (now GameStop)

-#-

As you can see, the Midway Mall area isn't exactly luring business in. A pity, since that decent-sized, recently-repainted Wal-Mart building would make a nice standalone Kmart store. They could even lease out the old Tire & Lube Express (which practically has its own driveway entrance) to a 3rd party! I'd have suggested Target, but they have a new store over at Midway Market Square.

For reference, here's MMS:
- (empty, former Circuit City)
- (empty, former Buddy's Carpet)
- Home Depot
- Target
- Giant Eagle
- Dick's Sporting Goods
- (empty, former Sofa Express)
- Outparcels: KeyBank (former spot of Red Robin, which was razed after two failed restaurants), Texas Roadhouse, IHOP