Forest Fair Mall (also known as Cincinnati Mills and Cincinnati Mall) was a super-regional shopping mall in the northern suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was located on the border between Forest Park and Fairfield, at the junction of Interstate 275 and Winton Road.
Opened in phases between 1988and 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 as The Malls at Forest Fair 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 2002and renovated the mall once more in August 2004. Following the sale of Mills' 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 to 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 2024and 2025, respectively. Demolition of the entire complex began in September 2025, and was completed in March 2026.
History 1985–1988: Planning and construction 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. Romanian-Australian business executive George Herscu, then chair of the Australian real estate company LJ Hooker, acquired the property from Amega in 1986 and chose to make Bigg's an anchor store to a shopping mall with 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.
19881990: Grand opening and early years In June 1988, a month before the mall's scheduled opening, Higbee's withdrew from the project after being purchased by a joint venture of Dillard's and Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. As a result, B. Altman was relocated from its original location to the space vacated by Higbee's, leaving a vacant anchor store and delaying the opening of the rest of the mall.
The first phase of the mall, featuring Bigg's and approximately 20 other stores, opened in July 1988. Immediately after that wing opened, Elder-Beerman was confirmed for the vacated anchor. The opening of the remainder of the mall was delayed until March 1989. About one-third of the mall tenants were open then, including Bonwit Teller, B. Altman, Parisian, and a food court. By mid-year, Elder-Beerman and Sakowitz had also opened. Other tenants included an Australian restaurant called Wallaby Bob's, a 1950s-styled diner, Oshman's Sporting Goods, and an eight-screen movie theater called Super Saver. Many of the tenants were unique at the time: Wallaby Bob's was "the first brewery-restaurant in the nation that operates in a suburban shopping mall", while another tenant, Koala Klubhouse, was the first licensed day care in an American shopping mall. Another major tenant present at opening day was a entertainment complex called Time Out, featuring a carousel and miniature golf course. The inclusion of such entertainment venues was cited by The New York Times as an example of shopping malls staying competitive by offering options besides retail stores. The Times compared it to the inclusion of entertainment at West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. A 1989 article in The Cincinnati Enquirer described the mall as "entering uncharted waters" due to Sakowitz, B. Altman, Parisian, and Bonwit Teller all being not only new to the Cincinnati market but offering higher-priced merchandise available at those stores, in comparison to the area's more blue-collar demographics.
An estimate by the Enquirer valued Forest Fair's building costs at $200 million ($ in ) to build. Concourses between Bigg's and Parisian were about long, using over of wood. It had two stories, with three wings forming into a Y shape. The Dallas, Texas-based firm Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum (now called HOK) was the architect. Original decor of the mall included peach and teal tones, brass handrails along the concourses, lighting mounted on poles, and barrel-vaulted ceilings that alternated between brass linings and skylights. Decor within the mall concourses included a number of fountains and sculptures, including mechanical fish and hangings that resembled sails. Diane Heilenman of the Courier Journal noted that the heavy use of skylights, mirrors, and ceramic tile gave the mall a strong usage of light, and compared it to being "inside a pinball machine." The B. Altman store also featured brass as a primary decorative element, along with parquet floors and a color scheme of rose and mauve. Bonwit Teller also employed brass and a color scheme of peach and teal, while Parisian's store mostly used mahogany wood and softer shades of blue, such as periwinkle.
LJ Hooker filed for bankruptcy soon after the mall opened due to debt accrued by the company's expansion in the United States. The company put Forest Fair up for sale for $200 million in June 1989. At this point, only 65% of the inline mall space was occupied, and the mall was described as "struggling" due to the many vacancies, primarily in the B. Altman wing. The proximity to both Northgate Mall and Tri-County Mall was also cited as a factor in the mall's struggles, compounded by the latter's expansion not long after Forest Fair opened. Despite the mall's troubles, the owners of Parisian noted that the store's sales were strong enough for the company to consider expansion in the Cincinnati market. As part of LJ Hooker's bankruptcy filing, the company put all four of the department stores it had acquired on the market. Parisian was sold back to its previous ownership, while the other three were to be liquidated. The other six B. Altman stores began that process in November 1989, although the Forest Fair store was kept open to prevent its closure from lowering the mall's value. Liquidation sales began in August 1990 at the Forest Fair locations of all three department stores. All of the other Sakowitz stores were also liquidated at this point, along with all but two locations of Bonwit Teller. These locations, both in Upstate New York, were sold to The Pyramid Companies. In October 1990, the mall was sold to FFM Limited, a partnership headed by a group of banks which had loaned Hooker most of the $250 million in construction costs.
1990s: The Malls at Forest Fair In May 1992, the owners announced The Malls at Forest Fair, a new concept for the mall. Under this concept, each wing would focus on a different theme of shopping. The southwestern wing, featuring Parisian and Elder-Beerman, became "The Fashions at Forest Fair", featuring apparel and traditional department stores. The northwestern wing, vacated by B. Altman, became "The Lifestyles at Forest Fair", with stores focused on home decor, entertainment, and sporting goods. Surrounding Bigg's, the eastern wing became "The Markets at Forest Fair", which featured tenants centered on "value, services, and convenience". Finally, center court and the former location of Bonwit Teller became "The Festival at Forest Fair", focused on entertainment and new restaurants. Lexington, Kentucky-based clothing store Dawahares opened its first Ohio store in the vacated Sakowitz space, while Subway and Hot Dog on a Stick joined the food court. By June 1993, further new tenants had opened, including a Sam Goody/Suncoast Motion Picture Company music and video superstore in the Lifestyle wing and a CompUSA electronics store in the Markets wing. At the time, each of the other wings was about 90% leased except for the Lifestyle wing, which was only 25% leased. Due to the increased traffic brought on by the new stores, many new retail developments were constructed at the I-275 interchange, while the increase in businesses also boosted tax revenues in Forest Park. The Altman's space remained vacant until late 1994 when Kohl's opened there. This was the first of three stores it opened that year as it entered the Cincinnati market.
The mall was put on sale again in 1995, with FFM representatives noting that the partnership had never intended to maintain ownership for more than five years. Miami, Florida-based Gator Investments ultimately bought the mall in January 1996. Several anchor stores in the mall changed under Gator's ownership: Dawahares closed in late 1996 due to poor sales, Berean Christian Stores signed a 10-year lease for a Christian bookstore at the mall in late 1997, while Parisian closed in June 1998 and Guitar Center replaced CompUSA in August 1998 after that store moved to a larger location across from Tri-County Mall. A gym called Moore's Fitness also opened during this time.
In late 1999 and early 2000, Gator Investments began a second renovation which attracted several new tenants. Under these plans, they worked with Glimcher Realty Trust as leasing agent. The mall underwent a myriad of changes soon afterward, including three anchor stores that opened in October 2000: Bass Pro Shops opened in the former Parisian, Burlington Coat Factory (now known as just Burlington) replaced the former "Festival" wing, and Stein Mart entered Ohio with a temporary outlet store in the space Dawahares left. Also joining the mall in 2000-01 were Media Play, Saks Off 5th (an outlet division of Saks Fifth Avenue), and the first Steve & Barry's sports clothing store in Ohio. These stores were part of a reconceptualization of the mall as "a value retail center with new-to-the-market merchants". This reconceptualization included new entertainment venues, like a nightclub called Metropolis, a new Showcase Cinemas theater complex with stadium seating, and a new children's playplace called Wonderpark.
2002–2007: Cincinnati Mills
The Arlington, Virginia-based Mills Corporation bought the mall from Gator Investments in September 2002 and announced that the property would undergo further redevelopment, along with a name change to Cincinnati Mills. As part of the redevelopment, Mills forced out many small independent businesses. Renovations began in January 2003, which included new paint, floors, and signage throughout, along with differently-themed decor for each wing of the mall, typical of properties developed by Mills at the time.