Mall memories: Readers recall good times at the famed Canton Centre Mall

Posted by Admin December 6, 2024 Shopping

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CANTON − Spencers. Orange Julius. Woolworth’s. Winkleman’s. And the food court pianist.

News this week that the former Canton Centre Mall at 4000 Tuscarawas St. W was being demolished triggered an outpouring of memories, especially from those who worked there or spent hours wandering from store to store, watching movies and eating in the food court.

The Canton Centre Mall — which has been vacant and an eyesore for years — was more than a place to shop; it was a cultural and social hub for thousands of Stark Countians.

The indoor shopping mall, an American phenomenon, was the suburban answer to a decline in downtown retail. In addition to offering a one-stop way to shop, the mall offered a weather-proof climate and a safe space for teens to meet and mingle, unaccompanied by parents.

It was originally built as “Mellett Mall” in 1964, with the name paying homage to Don Ring Mellett, a crusading newspaper editor who was assassinated in 1926 while reporting on organized crime in Canton.

New ownership rechristened the shopping center “Canton Centre Mall” in 1988.

With the mall being demolished — the property owner hasn’t talked about future plans for the site — the Repository asked readers to share some of their favorite mall memories. You didn’t disappoint. Our inbox was flooded with responses, too many to include them all.

Here’s a sampling:

Working as a runway fashion model

Karen Motley Todd recalls working as a teen model for the mall’s “back-to-school” runway fashion shows.

“It was so much fun, ” she said. “That modeling led to my first job at the Canton Centre Lerner’s clothing store. It was close to the food court and I usually was the store greeter, so I was able to people-watch. Such great memories. To this very day, I love trekking through a mall. There aren’t many good ones remaining.”

Finding love at ‘Monkey’ Ward

“Another piece of my youth is gone with the demolition of Mellett Mall/Canton Centre,” said Shelley Schweitzer of North Canton. “My first job was as holiday help in the scarf department at O’Neil’s. There were sewing classes at the Singer store, and cafeteria meals at Bretean’s. My fondest memories are from my time working at my uncle Irv Winston’s store, Winston Shoes.

“In high school and during vacation breaks in college, I worked alongside my aunt, uncle, and cousin Shari at the high-fashion shoe store that had relocated to the new mall from downtown. In those days, sales were twice a year, starting on July 5 and Dec. 26. People waited for the sales with three flat-price tiers for all the end-of-season gems.”

A pair of shoes at the mall is what led to Denise Milhoan’s first date with her husband, Steve.

“My husband and I met at Montgomery Ward in 1979,” she said. “He was working in the shoe department and I had to go pick up a pair of shoes that I had purchased a week earlier. The shoes were out of stock so I had a raincheck. He retrieved the shoes and since it wasn’t busy, asked me to stay and talk.”

The East Sparta couple’s first date was a movie, “Bronco Billy” at Canton Centre Cinema, followed by a walk through the mall, and a treat at Orange Julius. They captured the moment in a photo booth.

“My engagement ring was purchased from Art’s Jewelers, right outside ‘Monkey’ Ward,'” she said. “On Christmas Eve, we would do all of our Christmas shopping, and have all the gifts wrapped there, too. After 43 years, I still have the shoes, the ring and the husband!”

‘The Christmas season was magical there’

Growing up in Perry Township in the ’60s and ’70s, Mark Hill has fond recollections.

“My first memory is of going school shopping with parents and siblings. They bought me ‘husky’ sized pants from the boys’ department at JCPenney,” he said. “I wasn’t too thrilled with the designation. I remember walking the mall hand-in-hand with my high school girlfriend, window shopping, laughing, exploring the aisles of Spencer’s Gifts and seeing what whimsical trinket or poster might be worth buying.”

Hill said he, too, worked at the mall.

“The Christmas season was magical there, with all the festive lights and crowd energy,” he said. “I worked at Camelot Music as a manager-trainee, first in the small store on the southwest part of the mall near O’Neil’s, and then helping with their grand opening of a huge flagship store in November 1978. I’m sorry to see it go.”

‘I played in the new empty mall and marveled at how big it was.’

Sue Becker can remember when the mall was built.

“I was 12 years old. My sister and I played in the new empty mall and marveled at how big it was,” she said.

“Belden Village wasn’t even dreamed of yet. All the while, my dad was demonstrating ‘Pour-a-Floor’ to the owners in hopes of selling this new flooring to do the entire mall. He didn’t get the job, but one section of the mall had his floor in it for many years. My sister and I always took pride in that as we walked over the floor for our Orange Julius. … It’s sad to see the mall go. There were many good memories there.”

Emotional connection at the Canton Centre Mall

Tracey Freeman regrets the demise of the place that played a big part in her formative years.

“I remember my mom taking us there school shopping, and we stopped at Woolworth’s to eat,” she recalled. “It was a special treat to eat at the Woolworth’s lunch counter. Times were different then. Getting to go to the mall was always fun; getting our jeans at JCPenney’s, my sister being old enough to drive and us going to Spencer’s. I am sad that it is being torn down, but, like us, time moves on.”

For Rebecca “Becki” Addington Smith, the name “Mellett” means more than shopping.

“Until 1968, my family lived in Mellett Homes, so I saw the mall being built,” she said. “We would sled-ride on the hill by Montgomery Ward. The mall was a favorite spot while growing up, and from 1978 to 1982, I worked at The Gap.”

‘A friend taught me to drive stick shift in the ‘back 40′ of the parking lot.’

Diana Minor Anderson of Wimauma, Florida, also lived in the Mellett Homes.

“We literally watched (the mall) being built from our apartment,” she said. “My older brother and I used to play around the piles of dirt around the construction site. Once I started school at Baxter Elementary, we moved to Belmont Avenue, so during my junior high and high school years, my friends and I would walk up the Derby race track to get to the mall to go watch movies for 50 cents, get an Orange Julius, and shop.

“A friend taught me to drive a stick shift in the ‘back 40’ of the parking lot. After leaving Ohio in 1988 for our careers, my husband and I would always go to JCPenney to shop for Cleveland Browns clothing during each visit. It was sad to see the mall decline over the years. It was such a big deal in its heyday.”

Canton Centre Mall: A place to eat and play

For Timothy Frye, 37, Canton Centre was a place to eat and play.

“My memories of Canton Centre Mall is going to play video games and going to the movie theater,” he said. “Also, eating at the different food places and listening to the man play the piano, and shopping at the KB Toys store.”

Melissa Bowman recalls spending hours at the mall.

“It not only was a place to hang out with friends … it was a memorable place as a teenager, with jobs in the food court and retail stores,” she said. “Spending an entire Saturday watching multiple movies, getting pictures developed, going to the dentist, modeling for Montgomery Ward as a child, going to Camelot to buy my first vinyl, visiting Orange Julius because I had a crush on one of the workers.

“… But the most memorable event for me was when I took my son there, and took him out of his stroller, stood him up on the ramp from the West Tuscarawas Street entrance, and he said his first word: That’s when he first called me ‘Mama.'”

Andrea Legg was a third-generation Canton Centre Mall regular.

“Growing up a half-mile from West Tuscarawas Street in the late ’80s and early ’90s meant I spent a considerable amount of my childhood at Canton Centre Mall,” she said.

Legg said her favorite memory doesn’t involve a purchase.

“My most treasured memory is the image of my grandmother sitting on a bench in front of the mall’s iconic fountain,” she said.

“As she aged into her 80s, it wasn’t possible for her to walk the entire perimeter of the mall with my mom and me, so she would often ‘take a rest’ on one of the benches and wait for us to finish our shopping. Every time my mom and I rounded the corner to collect her at the end of our spending sprees, the sweet image that greeted us was always the same: Her slight frame, perched on the edge of a bench, wispy white hair illuminated by the fountain lights. Her ‘brag book’ (a purse-sized photo album containing all of my dance recital pictures) would always be …. across her lap.

“Anyone who sat down next to her became a fast friend. … Her eyes would always sparkle as she saw my mom and I approaching, and I can still hear her voice over the fountain’s splashes as she proudly proclaimed to her new acquaintance, ‘There they are! I’d like you to meet my daughter and granddaughter.'”

Expert: Malls are here to stay

Elizabeth Elliot, board chair and a managing partner at Columbus Consulting, a global retail consulting firm, said it’s not unusual for people to have fond feelings for the places where they once shopped.

“Shoppers do have an emotional connection to local community shopping centers and malls, often rooted in personal, social and nostalgic experiences,” she said. “These connections are fostered and shaped by a combination of convenience, familiarity, social interaction and even memories.

“Perhaps one of the most powerful connections is the latter. Parents and grandparents today grew up with traditional malls and department stores, and have deep-rooted memories associated with these spaces — hanging out with friends after school, eating in food courts, seeing mall-sponsored shows/celebrities, having their family pictures taken with Santa and the Easter Bunny and, more timely, doing holiday shopping on Black Friday.”

Today’s consumer, Elliot added, might not have comparable memories, but they do view their local retail centers as sources of entertainment, regional identity and pride.

“At one point, malls were the ‘New York City windows’ of the suburbs, with grand and expansive holiday decor,” she said. “Today (they’re) providing the essential ‘selfie’ moments to share.”

Elliot said despite changes in how people shop, and the decline in the number of malls — 1,000 to 1,200 in operation now compared to 2,500 in the 1990s — they aren’t going away anytime soon.

Rather, they will reinvent themselves.

Elliot said many malls now embrace “shopper-tainment” initiatives like restaurants and amusement and experiential installments such as Lego stores, the Mall of America roller coaster, and the American Dream Ski Slope.

“In 2025, we can see malls continuing to repurpose themselves with alternate uses such as entire housing developments, full health care and fitness facilities and even Amazon and retail fulfillment spaces for ‘click and collect’ shopping,” she said.

“Regardless of its purpose, malls will continue to exist in one form or another. From villages to main streets to open air centers, enclosed centers, lifestyle centers, community/mixed-use facilities and beyond one thing remains constant: ‘Location, location, location.’ If there are people, they will come and the value will be insured.”

Former mall visitor Annette Rosenberger said news of the demolition stirred up a lot of memories.

“It was Mellett Mall when I was a little girl,” she said. “I remember taking the bus there and shopping with my mom. We would shop and get hot fudge sundaes at Woolworth and sit in a booth by the window so we could watch the other shoppers walk by.”

Rosenberger said her first job was at the mall, scooping ice cream at Baskin-Robbins.

“After that, I worked at Winkelman’s, which was also in the mall, so I could get a discount on clothing,” she said. “Problem was, I bought too many clothes and my whole paycheck would go toward paying for my clothes!”

Reach Charita at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP.