The May Company (later Kaufmann's, now Macy's); Great Lakes Mall, Mentor, Ohio. 1960s exterior view. (photo courtesy Pat Richardson)

The May Company (later Kaufmann's, now Macy's); Great Lakes Mall, Mentor, Ohio. 1960s exterior view. (photo courtesy Pat Richardson)

The May Company (later Kaufmann's, now Macy's); Great Lakes Mall, Mentor, Ohio. 1960s interior view. (photo courtesy Pat Richardson)

The May Company (later Kaufmann's, now Macy's); Great Northern Mall (now Westfield Great Northern), North Olmsted, Ohio. 1960s exterior view. (photo courtesy Pat Richardson)

former The May Company and Kaufmann's; Cedar-Center Plaza, University Heights, Ohio. 1950s exterior view. (photo courtesy Pat Richardson)

former The May Company and Kaufmann's; Cedar-Center Plaza, University Heights, Ohio. Exterior sign. (photo courtesy Pat Richardson)

The May Company's Ohio division built its largest branch store in University Heights, Ohio at Cedar-Center Plaza in 1956. The four-level store included a nine-story warehouse (six stories tall, with three sub basements) attached to the south side of the main store, designed to handle furniture distribution for Cleveland's east side.

The red brick warehouse facility, designed to look like an integrated part of the colossal store, was only used for a short time. The warehouse remained empty from 1960 until the University Heights store was demolished in the 1990s.

Marshall Field's (later Kaufmann's and Macy's), Columbus City Center, Columbus, Ohio. (Various Sources)

Macy's (former Marshall Field's and Kaufmann's), Columbus City Center, Columbus, Ohio. Mall entrance, Holiday 2006 (Karl Kuntz, Columbus Dispatch)

Marshall Field's (later Kaufmann's and Macy's), Columbus City Center, Columbus, Ohio. Exterior entrance during conversion to Kaufmann's, 2003 (James D. DeCamp, Columbus Dispatch)

Marshall Field & Company made their second debut in Central Ohio in August 1989 as one of the anchors of Columbus City Center, a large urban renewal project in Columbus highlighted by a 1.3 million square foot enclosed mall connected to the existing flagship Lazarus store. The three-level Field's covered approximately 200,000 square feet and featured a two-story atrium with a prominent clock tower.

The location of the new store, at 3rd & Rich Streets, was very near the site where the former flagship store of The Union stood. The Union was a Columbus-based department store chain that was purchased by Marshall Field in 1980. It was located at the intersection of Town & High Streets, across from Lazarus. Field's itself changed owners shortly after the transaction, and The Union was briefly merged with Field's Cleveland-based division Halle's before closing for good by 1983.

Shortly after the City Center location opened, Marshall Field's was sold again, to Dayton-Hudson Corporation (now Target Corporation). Dayton-Hudson added a second Field's location at the nearby Tuttle Crossing mall in 1996, and operated both stores until 2003, when they were sold to May Department Stores and renamed Kaufmann's, as part of the Pittsburgh-based chain's foray into the Columbus market.

In 2005, Federated Department Stores (parent of the Columbus-based Lazarus and Macy's chains) purchased May Department Stores and eventually divested the Kaufmann's store at Polaris Fashion Place (opened in 2001, prior to the Field's transaction). The City Center and Tuttle Crossing stores were converted to Macy's, and ironically the new Macy's was on the opposite end of the mall from a recently closed Macy's location that was formerly Lazarus.

In September 2007, citing a sales slide due to failing fortunes at City Center, Macy's announced that it was closing its City Center location, with a final closing date just before the holiday season.

Special thanks to Friend of LiveMalls Aryan666 for additional historical information.

O'Neil's (later May Company [Ohio] and Kaufmann's, now Macy's), Rolling Acres Mall, Akron, Ohio. Mall entrance, sometime in the 1980s. (User-submitted image from photo gallery at Rolling Acres DOT Org)


Kaufmann's (former O'Neil's, later May Company [Ohio], now Macy's), Rolling Acres Mall, Akron, Ohio. Mall entrance, summer 2005. (photo by Prangeway, originally posted at Labelscar.com entry on Rolling Acres Mall)

Kaufmann's (former O'Neil's, later May Company [Ohio], now Macy's), Rolling Acres Mall, Akron, Ohio. Mall entrance, sometime in the 1990s or 2000s. (public domain image from Wikipedia entry on Rolling Acres)