The Euclid Square mall in Euclid, Ohio, first opened its doors in 1977 with around 100 stores. Thirty-four years later, only sixteen stores remained, including a pizza shop, a men’s clothing store, and several boutiques. By 2003, the only store left was a Dillard’s clearance store. The mall found a new sense of purpose in the mid-2000s, in the form of faith and spirituality.
Twenty-four church congregations rented out store space in the Euclid mall as a place to hold their Sunday worship services. Rent generally cost about $500 to $1,000 per month, and the leases were on a month-to-month basis. Many of the churches used the mall as a starting point to build up their congregations until they could afford a building of their own.
Where the Foot Locker used to be, there was Grace and Mercy Church of the Living God. Where Dollar Tree once stood, you could find God’s Way Gospel Church in 2004. A former Fashion Bug was converted into Crown of Life. While the congregations’ locations may have seemed unconventional, congregants said that it doesn’t matter where the church is, as long as they can worship together.
The final Dillard’s store closed in September 2013 once its lease was finished, and the mall itself was closed down permanently in late 2016. Many of the churches have found other buildings to call home, and there are now plans to tear down the building that was once a popular mall and start fresh with a new office complex.