 Upon opening in 1978, the Promenade section of the mall featured predominantly local and regional shops, along with Motherhood Maternity, Spencer Gifts, and a food court originally known as the Prom-n-Eat, but renamed by 1981 to Picnic Place.The opening of Montgomery Ward at the mall had resulted in that chain demoting its existing Akron-area store at Akron Square Plaza into an outlet store which sold damaged, returned, or overstocked items from other stores.By 1980, the chain had decided to convert all of its eastern Ohio stores, including both Akron locations, to its discount division Jefferson Ward.