NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio – Long gone are the days of dropping off your car for repairs at the May Co. auto center and strolling through the mall, maybe grabbing a cheese sample from Hickory Farms, browsing the tool selection at Sears and looking for a bargain at Kay-Bee Toys.
Most of the indoor malls that once operated in Cuyahoga County are gone. Where they still exist, the mixture of tenants has changed. And nowadays, there often are concerns about how to keep the foot traffic flowing.
In North Olmsted and Strongsville, home to two of the three remaining large suburban malls in the county, city officials have been reworking zoning rules to provide flexibility aimed at keeping the properties vibrant hubs of activity…