Shopping has always been popular in Cleveland, whether during the era of the giant department store or later on, when those department stores were closed but we kept shopping because it's the Midwest and we're bored.
The landscape has changed, with big box stores and strip malls and Amazon dominating all, and while there are still plenty of local shop and stores to patronize, here are the ones that have closed that we'll remember most fondly.
In 2009, after 26 years in Coventry Village in Cleveland Heights, Vidstar Video closed. At its peak, revenue hit close to $400,000 a year and the beloved store even survived the Blockbuster takeover of America, but was eventually squeezed out by streaming. What we would give for one more stroll through the eclectic collection and one more rec from a staffer.Along with Alan Freed, Leo Mintz was instrumental in making Cleveland the Rock N’ Roll capital. He opened Record Rendezvous in 1938 and the shop was one of the first record stores to put them into bins for customers to browse. He was a big supporter of Freed, which led to the infamous Moondog Coronation Ball, otherwise known as the first rock concert. He ran Record Rendezvous all the way until he died in 1976. There were five locations of the store at one point. Mintz, not Freed, is actually believed to be the one to coin the term ‘Rock n’ Roll’ in order to sell records.Brooks Brothers, the upscale men's clothing store that was one of the original tenants at the Avenue at Tower City, closed in 2020, three months after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 1990, when the former Cleveland Union Terminal was dramatically transformed into"The Avenue" shopping mall at the hands of Forest City Enterprises, Brooks Brothers was one of the swanky tenants that signed early leases. Alongside Gianni Versace boutique, Gucci, Bally's of Switzerland, Harve Benard and the Los Angeles men's clothier Politix, Brooks Brothers fit squarely with Forest City's plan to create a high-end, specialty retail destination for Cleveland shoppers. Brooks Brothers had been the only retail outlets that remained from The Avenue's original tenant list.May Company department store opened 800,000 square feet of space in Public Square in 1915 and was the third largest store in the nation when it opened. The store contained everything from fancy clothing to homeware to furniture and more. There was also an auditorium, a barber shop, a playground, a daycare and more than 2,500 employees at its height, when there were nine other locations. Many closed in the 1980s and 90s and the downtown store closed in 1993. Kaufmann’s took over the other stores that were still open.Located at the Eastgate Shopping Center in Mayfield Heights, the Eastgate Coliseum, where Target currently is, had it all. Opening in in 1961, the Coliseum had a game room, mini golf, a martial arts room, bowling, an olympic size swimming pool, a banquet hall and lounge with two stages for live music. It closed in the early 1990s.Started by Charles Ratner in 1922, Forest City Enterprises eventually became a multinational corporation with interests in real estate, shopping malls, office buildings, hotels and much more. But on the retail side, Forest City was known as the Home Depot of its time, and their stores peaked in 1983, with seven retail spots in Cleveland and 20 total around region and Detroit. They sold their 18 home improvement stores in 1987.Founded in Columbus in 1967, Gold Circle was a discount chain department store that sold anything from clothes, bedding and jewelry to electronics, home goods, hardware and furniture. They had 76 stores at their height, including multiple in the Cleveland area. Local locations included Severance Town Center, Lorain, Garfield Heights and more.Higbee’s Department Store was originally founded in 1860 as Higbee and Hower Dry Goods. The store relocated to Public Square in 1902 and was acquired by the Van Sweringen Brothers in 1929, at that point moving to the Terminal Tower. Several other Higbee’s opened in the 60s and 70s in the suburbs and in the Akron-Canton area, but by 1984 Dillard's would swoop in and acquire the compnay, marking the end of an era.Known for its unique design — with sculptures, ramps, art deco features and artisanal floor tiles — Randall Park opened in 1976 with a whopping price tag of $175 million. Beloved on the east side, it closed in 2009, was demolished in 2017, and an Amazon distribution center now fittingly sits on the site.In 1946, Silverman’s opened on Harvard Avenue in Cleveland. The department store, which carried a wide variety of goods, closed for good in 2015, but its fans still remember the good days.
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