In a section of a 200,000-square-foot space within the former Chapel Hill Mall in Akron, workers at OnQ are busy making retail displays, mostly for companies in the tech industry.OnQ has its design headquarters in California, but its manufacturing and production operations are now located at the Chapel Hill Business Park, which replaced the mall in North Akron after it faced a slow, steady decline and financial struggles. The mall near the Cuyahoga Falls border opened in 1967.
In addition, Berkley is among several Akron-area residents who have fond childhood memories of the mall, including visits with Santa and the iconic Archie the Talking Snowman.'Archie was something that was only special to Chapel Hill, so we came here specifically for that,' Berkley said.The business park now has more than 150 employees among four companies: OnQ, Craft 33, Quantix and Driverge.Chapuis said breathing new life into the old mall is a big deal.