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Forest Fair Mall

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Forest Fair Mall

Forest Fair Mall (also known as The Malls at Forest Fair, Cincinnati Mills, Cincinnati Mall, and Forest Fair Village) was an enclosed shopping mall in the northern suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Demolition began in September 2025, it was located on the border between Forest Park and Fairfield, at the junction of Interstate 275 and Winton Road.

Opened in phases between 1988 and 1989, the mall has become noted for its troubled history. Despite being the second-biggest mall in the state of Ohio and bringing many new retailers to the Cincinnati market, it lost three anchor stores (B. Altman and Company, Bonwit Teller, and Sakowitz) and its original owner LJ Hooker to bankruptcy less than a year after opening.

The mall underwent renovations throughout the mid 1990s under its second owner, Gator Investments, attracting new big-box stores such as Kohl's, Burlington Coat Factory, and Bass Pro Shops. Mills Corporation renamed the property Cincinnati Mills in 2002 and renovated the mall once more in August 2004. Following the sale of Mills's portfolio to Simon Property Group, the mall was sold several times, while continuing to lose many of its key tenants due to a combination of retailer bankruptcies and increased competition from newer shopping centers.

After having been renamed Cincinnati Mall and again Forest Fair Village in the 2010s, the property became a dead mall. It also received a number of proposals for renovation, none of which were realized. Following years of losing tenants, it closed to the public in December 2022, with the exception of Kohl's and Bass Pro Shops. Those stores closed in 2024 and 2025 respectively. Demolition of the entire complex began in September 2025.

In 1985, real estate developer Amega selected the site at the northeast corner of the Interstate 275 beltway's interchange with Winton Road in suburban Cincinnati, Ohio, for the development of a retail property. Initially, the site was to consist solely of Bigg's, a local hypermarket chain.

Billionaire George Herscu, chairman of the Australian Hooker Corporation, acquired the property from Amega in 1986 and chose to make Bigg's an anchor store to an ambitious $200 million "supermall" with 1.5 million square feet (140,000 m2) of retail space. About 70% of the proposed building was located in Forest Park and the rest in Fairfield.

In July 1987, herscu announced that two department stores had committed to the project: Higbee's and Bonwit Teller. Overall, Forest Fair Mall would be the second-biggest mall in the state of Ohio at the time of construction, behind only the now-demolished Randall Park Mall in the Cleveland suburb of North Randall. Architectural plans called for a two-story structure with space for up to 200 stores. Decor was to feature "soaring, cathedral type ceilings, supported by steel beams and covered with curved glass."

Also in 1987, Hooker bought a controlling interest in Bonwit Teller and three other department stores: B. Altman and Company, Parisian, and Sakowitz. B. Altman was confirmed as a tenant in November 1987 and Parisian in March 1988, while negotiations with Sakowitz began in October 1988.

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