Before Belden Village Mall was built in Jackson Township, the area was just farmland. The Belden family owned the land for many years, and it was mostly quiet on the northwest side of Canton, Ohio.
Some parts were hilly, others were wet, and it was really only useful for letting animals graze.
Then, in the mid-1960s, the Richard E. Jacobs Group noticed something most people did not: a new part of Interstate 77 was being built through the area, and when a highway is built, people usually come.
On June 23, 1966, the developer announced plans for a fully enclosed shopping center on a 66-acre site. Herbert Strawbridge, the CEO of the Higbee's department store chain, was on board from the start.
Getting the land ready was no small task. Workers moved 2.5 million cubic yards of earth just to level the terrain, at a cost of roughly $3.8 million.
New roads went in - Belden Village Avenue, Higbee Avenue, Holiday Street, and an extension of Dressler Road.
Whipple Avenue, then just a two-lane road, was widened to handle the traffic that everyone knew was coming. It eventually became the second-busiest intersection in Stark County.
Groundbreaking happened on July 23, 1969, with township trustees Dale Corbett, Paul J. McCormick, and Melvin Rohr in attendance.
The total cost of development would exceed $20 million.
How Belden Village Mall Was Built and Designed
Belden Village Mall came together through the work of several architects. Cleveland firms Dalton, Dalton & Little, and Louis Resnick handled the design, joined by Minneapolis-based Ralph Shimer.
The plan moved away from the strip malls and downtown department stores people were used to. Skylights brought in natural light.
The floors used a mix of terrazzo, brick, and tile. The layout aimed for the feel of an outdoor shopping street, while keeping everything sheltered from Ohio winters.
The opening happened in stages, starting with the first major anchor. Higbee's opened on August 6, 1970, in a two-level, 191,000-square-foot store.
The full mall opened on October 1, 1970, with around 60 stores and 4,500 parking spaces across more than 800,000 square feet.
Sears followed on October 21 with a 126,900-square-foot store. O'Neil's added another anchor on February 22, 1971, with a two-level, 126,000-square-foot store.
Halle's and an in-mall Fazio's supermarket completed the lineup.
Inside the mall, the tenant list reflected the era. Charter tenants included Waldenbooks, Camelot Music, Casual Corner, Bakers Shoes, and Chess King.
On December 19, 1973, the Earl Pollack Belden Village Twin Cinema opened just outside the mall, adding another destination in the same area.
The mall changed where businesses gathered in northern Stark County. It pulled commercial activity away from downtown Canton and created demand for services across Jackson and Plain townships.
Higbee's donated land for Jackson Township Fire Station 4.
The Anchor Stores Come and Go Over the Decades
The 1980s and 1990s brought steady change to the anchor lineup. O'Neil's became May Company Ohio in 1989, then rebranded to Kaufmann's in 1993, and finally became Macy's on September 9, 2006.
Higbee's converted to Dillard's in August 1992. Sears, meanwhile, expanded in 1995, growing to 196,000 square feet and pushing the mall's total leasable area to around 948,000 square feet.
A food court opened in June 1987, filling the former Fazio's space.
Two years later, in 1989, the mall got a refresh: pastel-colored flags hung from the food court ceiling, tenant signage was updated throughout, and glass atriums were added at the main entrances.
It was a light renovation, but it gave the place a more modern feel for the time.
In 1995, a new competitor arrived: The Strip power center opened 1,5 miles north, drawing some shoppers away.
Outlot businesses grew during this period as well. Chili's Bar & Grille opened in 1986. Max & Erma's came in 2005, later becoming Burntwood Tavern in 2016.
Bravo! Cucina Italiana opened in 2006. The Sears Auto Center had been operating since 1970 and would stay open until 2020.
By 2005, the mall held over 100 inline stores. In 2007, there were plans for a large "Main Street" promenade addition - 110,000 square feet of new space with a parking deck attached.
But when the Great Recession hit, the project was canceled, and the mall moved forward without it.
Ownership Changes and a New Name Twice Over
For many years, Belden Village Mall was owned by the Richard E. Jacobs Group, the same Cleveland developers who built it.
That changed in April 2002, when Australia's Westfield Group acquired the property as part of a nine-mall deal worth $756 million.
The mall was renamed Westfield Shoppingtown Belden Village, then shortened to Westfield Belden Village in June 2005.
Westfield sold the mall in November 2013 to Starwood Retail Partners for $1.64 billion, part of a larger transaction covering several Westfield properties.
Westfield retained a 10% stake. The name returned to Belden Village Mall - the same name it had carried since opening day in 1970.
Exterior renovations followed in July 2016, with modern walkways and landscaping replacing the old main entrance. That fall, the work was complete.
In April 2017, a former truck court at the back of the mall was converted into 11,000 square feet of new retail space, and Melt Bar & Grilled opened there in November.
The food court also got a one-night makeover in 2019, with new furniture and lighting installed overnight so the mall could reopen for business the next morning.
In March 2020, Starwood defaulted on $250 million in loans tied to this property and other six malls.
A joint venture of Golden East Investors and Pacific Retail Capital Partners stepped in, taking over management in December 2020.
The name stayed the same, and the mall kept operating while the financial restructuring worked itself out.
Sears Closes, and the Space Gets Reinvented
Sears had been part of Belden Village Mall since opening day, but by the mid-2010s, the chain was struggling badly across the country.
In 2015, Sears Holdings spun off 235 of its store properties - including the Belden Village location - into a real estate company called Seritage Growth Properties.
That property was later sold to Fidelis.
The plan was to downsize the Sears store to 74,600 square feet on the first floor and use the second floor for something new.
That something new turned out to be Dave & Buster's, which opened on November 4, 2019, in a 34,000-square-foot space.
Just weeks before, on October 23, 2019, Sears announced it would not renew its lease. The store's last day was January 12, 2020.
The rest of the former Sears space was redeveloped quickly. Dick's Sporting Goods and Golf Galaxy moved in together, taking 83,500 square feet and opening on October 16, 2020.
They relocated from a nearby shopping center called Belden Park Crossings.
Boot Barn followed in late 2022, taking 12,000 square feet. In early 2024, KPot, a Korean barbecue and hot pot restaurant, opened in a space beneath Dave & Buster's.
Plans for Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen and Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, both announced in March 2020, were eventually canceled by 2022.
The Sears Auto Center, a fixture since the day the mall opened in 1970, also closed in 2020 and was later demolished to make room for new development.
What Belden Village Mall Looks Like Today
Belden Village Mall is a one-level shopping mall at 4230 Belden Village Mall Circle NW in Canton, Ohio. As of early 2026, it covers about 890,000 square feet and has more than 95 stores and services.
The main anchor tenants are Dillard's, Macy's, Dave & Buster's, and the combined Dick's Sporting Goods and Golf Galaxy store.
Macy's also has a Backstage section, added in June 2022 on half of its second floor, using the chain's discount-style setup that it has added to many locations in recent years.
Pacific Retail Capital Partners manages the mall. It sits just off Interstate 77 between Akron and Canton.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Akron-Canton Airport are close by, which helps bring in shoppers from a wider area.
The mall keeps a steady schedule of public events to bring people in. Autograph signings have included Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo, Dennis Rodman, and former NBA players Ron Harper and Mark Price.
The calendar also includes exercise classes, retail contests, and seasonal promotions throughout the year.
Belden Village Mall feels like a clean, well-kept place to shop or take a walk, especially inside. The food court is one of the highlights.
However, it can get loud and busy on weekends, especially Sundays, when crowds can be messy, and parking is harder to find.
The parking lot is the weakest part. It feels less cared for than the inside, and security can be strict. The mall still works as a busy, active shopping center, not one that is fading away.
Belden Village Mall has been operating for more than five decades. The mall started on a muddy field on the Belden family farm, and it now serves as the commercial center of northern Stark County.
