1989 Forest Fair Mall Cincinnati Opening

Mini doc with rare footage on the 1988 building and early '89 grand opening of a huge ambitious mall in suburban Cincy, it fell on hard times just a year or two later, was remodeled a couple times to no avail and sadly closed for good last year in 2023

[@Bubblun1]

This might be the greatest time warp to 1989 ever shared.

[@UniCommProductions]

Oh my goodness I think I might cry because this is the best footage of the OG mall I’ve ever seen. Thank you so so much for uploading this ❤

[@invisi-bullexploration2374]

1:32 The kinetic sculpture 'Ball Game'. No footage of it was said to exist!

[@invisi-bullexploration2374]

It was bonkers that something in many people's memories hadn't been filmed much. But these were the days without camera phones I guess.

[@MrJadePinwheel]

Oh yes. Now I need the sound of it. Always echoing off the walls every 20 minutes

[@ROMExPRIME]

There was a matching one or exact replica of it at COSI, I believe. If not there, Indy kids museum.

[@nightgaunt69]

It's shown at least 3 times in this and I'm not even half way through.

[@wgarbe]

@@MrJadePinwheel kzbin.info/www/bejne/bmrJZ6KIhKlmqrcsi=ZaMYVDrDkI2Vc3qv

[@chrissmith4878]

The piano player as you entered Parisian was very nice and the disco cinema lobby was fabulous. The end of malls was on the not so distant horizon.

[@brandonj1139]

I grew up in Cincinnati...I was 9 when this opened. I'm gonna cry 🥹❤️ So many wonderful memories here. Does anyone remember when Double Dare TV show came through? Great video btw 🥳

[@angeloakes3192]

I love love love this. Back to my youth. I cried when I saw this.💖💖

[@MikeKalasnik]

This is one of the greatest finds!!! WOW!!!

[@SMTMainline]

Sound Track: 0:18 The Wiz LIVE! - A Brand New Day 1:17 Bigger Than Life (specially made) 2:06 Cher - Shoppin’ 3:30 Adam Francis Routh - Positivia. 5:01 Buster Poindexter - Hot Hot Hot 8:05 Stephen Hurd - We're Gonna Have a Good Time? 10:13 The Pointer Sisters - I'm So Excited!

[@RetailWorld]

This is fantastic, I have wanted to see more of what the mall looked like before the Mills took over!

[@stewartpeeps]

Made my day. I worked at Spencer’s & met who would later be my husband. I was 16 when I started & working at that mall was a blast. Then I worked for mall customer service & when Cartoon Corner stopped paying rent (around 95/96?, probably the beginning of the end) we went in & marked all of their stuff cheap to make back their rent money. So many memories I have of this place & not much you can find online. Thanks for this!

[@ga301]

Game arcade , Movies , Grocery Shop . This was a one stop shop

[@StevieDamnit]

Bro, this video's poppin' off!

[@yolondayolonda4423]

Sad that this mall just sitting there empty now😪. I remember our HS after prom was there in 93

[@ryandal666]

A great find! This is amazing

[@TheCubeTube]

This is AMAZING! Thanks so much for uploading!!!

[@medic1541]

Too bad it has been empty for such a long time and probably in disrepair now.

[@natalielsc]

It's slated to be torn down by the end of the year.

[@BananaPoodle2]

@@natalielsctheyve been saying that for the past 3 years lol

[@gloriagarrison8055]

8:23 So many memories of the excitement of that first visit and watching my folks visiting from Montana in disbelief. I just came across the photos they took from there. Thanks for sharing this trip with some great memories.

[@tobyradloff]

The mall's decline also led to the bankruptcy of the mall's developer, as well as Bonwit Teller. Some of the stores there closed within months of opening. Probably the fastest dying of a mall on record.

[@juicyhudson513.]

Oh my goodness gracious I was a little baby when this mall opened wow.

[@loanme20]

terrible video, i loved it

[@SH-sg8or]

Man. I was 18 and leaving for the Army when that place was opening. What a time warp.

[@guitarmanmc2620]

Kohls is the only store that’s open at the mall. Bass pro shop just closed

[@randerson4124]

I remember the big problem that nobody expected was all the epileptic seizures people would have down by the Super Saver Cinema. There were these lights behind glass block that would flash on and off in sequence. They had the lights turned off for a while , then they just posted a warning sign and called it good.

[@patrick39432]

It's a shame that this mall was so ill-conceived and mismanaged. It never had a chance, but it was so beautiful! My family enjoyed it a lot!

[@sdrape4964]

11:29 May be the most cars I've ever seen at that mall. Like, I think there were more cars there that 1 day than all the days combined for the last 5 years.

[@amorrison61227]

What a bomb - like Randall Park, Century III, Pittsburgh Mills, American Dream & Owings Mills - never should have been built

[@Jsimms1324]

Being built between Tri County and Northgate was a big mistake

[@ajpanda4488]

I loved that mall as a 90s kid

[@lawrencethompson3726]

Expensive leases ended it. Retailers couldn't keep up with the rent. The lingerie store was my favorite place, #2 arcade, #3 food court!😂😂 and Biggs.

[@pocketsizeforyourtravelcon3325]

I grew up shopping at that Biggs. So many memories! What a great find! I wonder who the singers are? Someone on another video mentioned they might’ve been performers from Kings Island.

[@rachelroberts633]

I grew up stealing cartons of cigarettes from there🤔

[@SMTMainline]

It's hard to find much online about it but here's what one musician said years ago in a post "Always loved producing "The Swing Sisters" with Dawn, Nicole, Kathy and Jason-music of Andrews and McGuire Sisters. We got to sing during performances with The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in Blue Ash and The Guy Lombardo Orchestra at Forest Fair Mall as well as the Opening Cincinnati Goes to War Exhibit at Union Terminal" I'm not sure if they were referring to this or a performance done later on.

[@dennyr123]

That mall was great for some time and then went downhill fast.

[@infamous119]

Fairfield/Forest park thugs👎

[@mojorisen74]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Biggs open around 1985/86 and the Mall was built around it? I seem to remember going there to Biggs and it was just that single floor. There were some stores outside of Biggs, a record store, some other stores and a McDonalds at the other end. I woul have been 11 or 12 at the time.

[@jamescorry2164]

I was there day one then i was there at the end of the mall

[@Qoltar]

Oh My Gawd - those poor singers and dancers! - The Musicd Loving Klingon (Who lives in Cincinnati...)

[@Scooter4Ever]

This place should never have been built. Hooker literally bought half of the department stores so they could force them to open locations at the mall. Aside from Bigg's and Elder-Beernam, most Cincinnati residents had never heard of the anchors. Plus the demographics of Forest Park and Fairfield didn't support opening up so many higher end retailers.

[@Alyssa_M513]

And it was so close to already existing Tri County mall.

[@SMTMainline]

I don’t think the mall itself was a bad concept but I have no clue why they didn’t pick a different location. The area was already well served by two successful malls and this one wasn’t suited for the demographics.

[@jmecklenborg]

Hmmm. I wonder why there was an epic commercial real estate crash in 1990...for several years prior, easy money was being thrown at mindless office towers and duplicative shopping malls like this one.

[@brianmoore493]

Imagine they made several different jingles for a mall. 😂 Did they ever sell the soundtrack.

[@SMTMainline]

Sound Track: 0:18 The Wiz LIVE! - A Brand New Day 1:17 Bigger Than Life (specially made) 2:06 Cher - Shoppin’ 3:30 Adam Francis Routh - Positivia. 5:01 Buster Poindexter - Hot Hot Hot 8:05 Stephen Hurd - We're Gonna Have a Good Time? 10:13 The Pointer Sisters - I'm So Excited!

[@ericwillis7127]

Taking it to church! Forest Fair: Bigger Than Jesus

[@stevevaughn5365]

Is that Up With People? I think the developer ended up in prison, BTW.

[@gracefulgaming6774]

you just casually found the library of alexandria.

[@Jsimms1324]

This mall should never have been built

[@Jtels85]

I drive past the mall every day. It’s a run down, deteriorating blight on the community. They tried to revive it in the early 2000’s which proved to be unsuccessful. Malls are never coming back. Tear it down and build something useful on the property, like a new jail for the county.

[@KaffeeSpot]

Ironic it might still be here if Cincinnati made better use of jails.

[@Jtels85]

@@KaffeeSpot Lol, funny you say that. My parents grocery shopped at that Bigg’s and my Dad had the hub caps stolen from his new Corolla in the middle the afternoon in their parking lot. That was in the mid 90’s.

[@KaffeeSpot]

The mall really went downhill in the late 90s lots of gang activity. No longer a place you wanted to take your family.

[@MikeKalasnik]

Care to share more negativity?

[@stevevaughn5365]

I think the state has earmarked $7m for demolition.

[@user-og9lu2ks2l]

Winton woods ended it.