Cleveland Mall stores

Juniors clothing store Wet Seal and the accessories store Claire's left the mall earlier this month, and Radio Shack and Icing are preparing to shut down.

Few big-name retailers remain in the distressed shopping complex. It's mostly lined with vacancies and off-brand clothing stores. On Thursday afternoon, the mall corridors were nearly empty, apart from a few walkers and employees who talked about the bleak atmosphere and uncertain future.

"We're worried the mall is going to end up being like Randall Park Mall or Euclid Square Mall. They're giant eyesores in the middle of their cities, " Richmond Heights Councilman Donald O'Toole said.

Randall Park and Euclid Square are both among a list of 27 "dead malls" in Ohio, according to the popular site deadmalls.com. Since 2010, more than 24 malls have closed nationwide and 60 more are on the verge of shutting their doors, The New York Times reports.

Macy's announced its departure earlier this month, and shelves are beginning to clear during closeout sales. The 165, 000-square-foot store is one of 14 Macy's shuttering nationwide, taking $100, 000 in income tax revenue with it.

The mall's past

Richmond Town Square was built in the mid 1960's as Richmond Mall and became Richmond Town Square in 1998, when it gained Kaufmann's department store, a bookstore and food court. Kaufmann's switched to Macy's in 2006 and Barnes & Noble was replaced by Planet Fitness.

"There was lots of excitement, lots of hoopla lots of traffic, I think the investment was over $100 million, " said O'Toole, a councilman of more than two decades. We used to take our kids up there just to have dinner at the food court."

Five customers were eating at the food court Thursday around 5 p.m. Across the empty domed dining area, a large restaurant, formerly Barbeque, Steaks & Seafood, sits vacant, and rumors are circulating that Sears and Subway are the next to go.

O'Toole said JCPenney has had several rough years, while the discount apparel store Steve & Barry's was replaced by Shoe Dept. GNC, Foot Locker, Victoria's Secret, Rogers Jewelers and Games Stop are among the few name-brand stores left.

Some of the shoppers at Richmond Town Square Thursday said they were repeat customers who came to the mall for convenience sake and with a destination in mind; many were headed to Macy's.

"The traffic is dying. Every year I notice it gets less and less. The stores have nothing to offer, there's nothing for kids, nothing to eat. It's damaging, " LaChaé Cosmetics employee Mary Hill said.

The mall's future

Macy's owns its property in Richmond Town Square, and it's not clear what the company's plans are. O'Toole said city officials plan to meet with Macy's executives to discuss a strategy for the store.

Splitting the space for multiple tenants is an option, according to O'Toole.

"To find one store to pick up the entire space is not going to fly in my opinion, " he said.

"Indoor malls have too high of a cost to maintain and heat un-rentable space. Make the investment now to convert it to an outdoor style shopping center, " karnhard wrote.