O'Neil's Building (Akron, Ohio)

 restaurant, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places

One of two buildings which along with Polsky's was at one time a well-known department store right in downtown Akron. The M. O'Neil Co. was a regional department store chain based in Akron, Ohio, United States. O'Neil's dominated the Akron and Canton retail markets. Founded in 1877, the store grew to several locations throughout northeastern Ohio. Owned by May Department Stores, in 1989 it was merged with May's Ohio division, May Company Ohio, which was subsequently merged into its Pittsburgh division, Kaufmann's, in 1993. May Department Stores was purchased by and merged into Macy's in 2006.

The O'Neil's department store featured large display windows along the front and sides of the massive store where seasonal displays were set up for viewing by the public. During the holiday season, large elaborate animated displays of elves in Santa's workshop, nutcrackers, teddy bears, trains and various toys played under Christmas trees. These displays were a main feature of downtown Akron during the holiday season, along with the displays in the windows of O'Neil's rival store, Polsky's, directly across South Main Street.

After O'Neil's closed, the building remained empty for a few years. Eventually the back half of the building was demolished for a parking deck. Today the building contains mostly offices but the lowest level is home of Akron's Barley House Restaurant.

As a tribute to the old days of the O'Neil's and Polsky's store windows, the basement level is home to Archie's Enchanted Encounter, containing many of the same decorations from the olden days as well as Akron's very own Archie the Talking Snowman, originally a holiday icon at Akron's Chapel Hill Mall now seen here every Christmas since 2012.
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