Editor's note:
In light of the recent 40th anniversary of the opening of Woodville Mall, The Press asked readers to submit their memories of the mall. Here are some of our readers' recollections:

Walking the mallways

I very much enjoyed reading your story about the Woodville Mall, as I just recently realized that April marked its 40th anniversary.

Like Ms. Hahn in your story, I can no longer bear to walk in the mall itself. When I do go over there, I, too, just drive to one of the current anchor stores. Walking out in the mall literally brings tears. Silly, maybe, but that place was such a big part of the best years of my life.

When it opened 40 yrs ago, I was a young 24-year-old, married fewer than two years, and only two months from the birth or our first child. I had been a teacher in Toledo, and in those days, a woman could only teach up to her seventh month of pregnancy, so I was not working.

The day the mall opened, I was there all day long, all by myself. After having to drive 30 minutes or so to get out to Westgate, I could not believe that such a marvelous shopping area was only 10 minutes away! I walked from end to end, silently oohing and ahhing at all the beautiful stores and at the bright array of items just waiting for my touch and/or my purchase.

There was a place to buy the best caramel corn, an Orange Julius, 10 or more shoe stores, many places to fondle fabric and choose sewing patterns, and even a movie theater and more…all on my side of town! I was in shopping heaven!

I ended up buying two newborn baby outfits (one pink and one blue) for our coming bundle of joy; a new summer maternity top and shorts, and of course, new shoes. I finally went home, but only to grab my husband when he came home from work and bring him back to the mall with me. So that night, we also became the proud owners of a new patio table with umbrella.

Just over two months later, my new son’s first outing was to get his picture taken at JC Penney’s Pixie PinUp studio. I didn’t have a stroller yet so we made him a bed in a JC Penney grocery-type cart. Over the years, we had two more children and for the five of us, the mall became nearly a constant presence in our lives. Occasional dinners at the Harvest House cafeteria; trips to visit Santa and the Easter Bunny; trips to get a new portrait taken to mark when the kids turned 1 year old, 2 years old etc.; trips to buy school clothes and supplies and eventually prom dresses or tuxes.

When we had no money (which was often since I became a stay-at-home-mom, resulting in just one teacher’s salary), we just went to the mall to get out of the house and walk around in the controlled climate.

Like I said, it was so important to us. In recent years, when I have walked those same mallways, those memories come flooding back - sweet, but also causing me to feel so melancholy that those days are over. That first newborn will be 40 years old in June and is a college professor and a father of three.

Carl Sandburg wrote about the Civil War and WWI battlefields which would one day disappear in a poem he called “Grass.”

“Cover me over and let me work, I am the grass, I cover all.” I think of that poem when I see the parking lot crumbling as the grass and weeds make their way up through the cracks destroying what was.

It’s sad.
Becky Buehrer
Oregon

A distant memory

There are so many memories. I was 19 when the mall opened and lived just a couple miles east off of Woodville Road.

I worked at Lasalle’s from 1973 to 1976 as secretary to the store manager, Henry Blumenthal. He was one of the kindest men I’ve ever met. Our working hours were 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. four days a week and one day a week we would be required to work 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The Harvest House next to Woolworth’s was my favorite place to eat lunch with some of the nicest waitresses around.

Christmas was incredibly exciting, with the fountain turned off and the train set up to take children on a ride around the recessed area with life-sized creations looking down on them. Santa sat in a very regal chair just waiting for the eager little ones to tell him what they wanted.

In the spring, the boat show was always a lot of fun as it filled the aisles with beautiful watercraft. That always brought in big crowds too.

And the Sidewalk Sale, with the mall filled to capacity. Every store placed numerous tables and racks just outside their stores with great bargains. There was always so much merchandise in the walkways along with many, many shoppers that it was shoulder-to-shoulder trying to move around.  As an employee, you would see the same people each day and get to know them by name and become friends. You couldn’t walk past a store without waving to someone behind the counter or walking the sales floor.

I never gave a thought to the possibility that this wonderful shopping experience would one day be nothing more than a distant memory.
Janice Wasserman
Administrative Secretary
Office of Equity & Diversity
Bowling Green State University

Unmatched excitement

I read with interest, your interview with Helen Hahn.

I too was one of the originals and your article just brought back a flood of memories.

For us, we were transferred here from Indianapolis, with three boys and a dog, to open the Home Furniture Store. We knew we were coming here in February and subscribed to the Blade. The first issue we received, the headline read “Chicken Farmer Stops Multi-Million Dollar Mall.”

Of course, that is where the Sears Auto Center was going to be built. My company sent me here to set up the store a few weeks early and put me up at the Holiday Inn at T-5. We opened on the 16th of April and Helen is right, the excitement was unmatched. We all were so young and energetic. We had so much fun and it was a big happy family.

In regards to the Merchants Association, I served on the board of directors the four years I was there. The first year, we decided we wanted a big Christmas display, and after much heated discussion, we decided, but how were we going to pay for it? DeBartolo (the owner) wouldn’t, but they were making payments to the Mall for promotional purposes.

Bud Brown was the manager of 1st National Bank and got the ok for the Merchants Association to borrow the money to pay for the display. The board of directors had to sign the note. I’m sure Helen remembers those days.

As Helen mentioned, we had the Toledo symphony play in the Fox Theater, at the time, it was the first time, the symphony, had ever played east of the river.

We worked so hard and had so much fun. Most of the stores have left the area or had their names changed.

Do you remember…
Full-service JC Penney with an auto center?
Foodtown?
Orange Julius?
Keidan Jewelers?
Cunningham Drugs?
Singer?
Home Furniture?
Seven Seas?
Petries?
Winkleman’s?
Woolworths?
Harvest House?
Richmond Brothers?

Russell Nichols
Via e-mail

Full of life

I worked at the mall from 1988-2003 (I think it was 2003 when Spencer’s closed their doors).

The mall back then was full of life and shoe stores. We even had a Merry Go Round store. In the late 90s-2000s Spencer Gifts did an annual Halloween fashion show to show off our awesome costumes.

I also remember when we had sidewalk sales and all the stores participated. There were clearance tables and clothes racks everywhere.

Then there were the pageants with the cute little boys and girls all dressed up. My favorite was the rose show and the gladiola show. The mall smelled so good and you could buy the flowers at the end of the show.

I’d like to remember the mall that way. It’s kind of like a good friend who has died or is dying.
Chris May
Via e-mail

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed