AKRON, Ohio — Just a few years ago, the Romig Road area in Akron was a ghost town. After Rolling Acres mall fell into foreclosure, it took local businesses down, too.
"That decline began more than a decade ago with Rolling Acres and the protracted lawsuits and the foreclosures, and then ultimately it coming to the city, in 2016, 2017 to be demolished. It really just gutted the Romig Road and the corridors that used to be thriving when I was growing up," Akron Deputy Mayor for Integrated Development, James Hardy, said.
But in November of last year, businesses started moving back, with the arrival of the Amazon fulfillment center -- an economic boost, bringing 1,500-2,000 jobs to Akron.
"Just the fact that we've already started to see life returning to existing businesses and the new businesses starting, is really, really refreshing and quite honestly, almost miraculous compared to what it looked like even four years ago," Hardy said.
Some businesses are seeing sales at a slower pace. Derek Fromby, owner of The Beanhead Brothers Coffee House, opened up his shop because of the fulfillment center. But he wants to do more to team up with Amazon, even though some workers stop in before their shifts.
“We get them six in the morning, maybe lunchtime. And then in the afternoon if they’re coming," Fromby said. “We actually want to take our pots, and put maybe 20 in each breakroom. We’ll deliver them, we’ll pick them up, switch them out every four hours.”'
Hardy says, he'd to see that teamwork, too.
"We'd like to see an even stronger connection between the fulfillment center and small businesses. We'd like to see more business activity filling those vacant storefronts, higher, levels of investment from property owner to rent out or to fix up those spaces. So, that plus more job opportunities and entrepreneurship opportunities for the surrounding neighborhoods," Hardy said.