Rolling Acres Rolling Acres opened in August 1975, and it was one big accomplishment for the city of Akron and their indoor retail scene back in the 70’s. The mall was very popular due to how easy it was to get to and how close it was to the city of Akron. Rolling Acres caught the eye of many people because it was one of the first malls in the area to have 2 floors, a glass elevator, giant water fountains and even 3 movie theatres. This mall was a big deal and many people came to see it and most were not disappointed. Richard Buchholtzer and Cleveland Forest Enterprises were the masterminds behind developing Rolling Acres. The mall opened with 22 stores including one major department store, being a Sears. Shortly after it opened the mall quickly gained popularity and more stores opened up and at one point Rolling Acres was so popular that by the mid 1980’s there were over 140 stores and 4 major department stores. The mall expanded in 1995 welcoming target and an additional 20,000 square feet of shopping space. Unfortunately in 1998 Nomura Assets Security Corporation, one of the mall’s largest financiers, had its credit rating downgraded resulting in Rolling Acres debt problems. That was one of the key factors to the fall of Rolling Acres. Another key factor to the falling of Rolling Acres was the surrounding area, it wasn’t wealthy enough and newer malls opened up. Rolling Acres reputation slowly vanished and people weren’t willing to drive to Rolling Acres as newer and safer malls opened up around the city of Akron closer to their homes. By the late 1990’s and early 2000’s most of the stores inside the mall closed due to lack of business. The anchor stores like target and sears soon left. On October 31, 2008 First Energy shut off the power in the dead mall and it was just left there to rot. It sat there unattended, weeds growing in the parking lot, vandals and scrappers ruined the interior stripping all of the metals to sell. One scrapper lost his life trying to steal copper from a power box and all of the sudden the power box exploded in flames and the man was burned to death and when help got there his body was still burning. The mall was attempted to be sold multiple times but there were no buyers. The mall sat abandoned until demolition was scheduled in late 2016 and as of now the city is in the middle of demolishing the iconic mall. A giant landmark that sparked the popularity of indoor shopping and it is a piece of history taken away to be forgotten about forever.