Everyone says the food court was what died first at Rolling Acres, but I stood in the empty Kmart and saw the real moment

Laura Knight · 2026-10-19T02:20:05.347291+00:00

I went out to Rolling Acres Mall in Akron about 4 months ago with my friend Dave, and we were standing in the Kmart that closed back in 2008 watching a chunk of ceiling tile fall. The popular story on here is that the food court dying is what killed these places, and I just don't buy it. Right then a guy in a yellow raincoat came around the corner with a clipboard, told us we were on his insurance risk walk, and asked us to leave. Dave wanted to argue, but I just nodded and asked him one question: which store went under first? He said the anchor, every time, and pointed at that dark 90,000 square foot box behind us. So I pulled out my notebook and started writing down every anchor closing date I could find on county records that night. The food court was the last thing to go, not the first, and we were standing in the proof. Has anyone else found the same thing at their local dead mall, or am I way off base here?

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Everyone says the food court was what died first at Rolling Acres, but I stood in the empty Kmart and saw the real moment | Dead Mall Explorers - Librear