Upscale Eateries Give Struggling Malls A Lift

After perusing a few boutique stores and getting her hair done at Rizzieri Salon & Spa at Moorestown Mall, Jamie McCulloh-Martin decided to go for dinner at Osteria a few doors down.

“I’ve been here more in the last 1½ years since [Osteria] opened than in all of my 22 years living in Moorestown,” said McCulloh-Martin, 50, owner of a physical therapy chain, who ate outdoors with her administrative director, Kelly Casio. “The mall is really changing, and for the better.”

In the new mall world order, you can taste Jose Garces’ tacos at Moorestown Mall, Bobby Flay’s burgers at Cherry Hill Mall, and filet mignon at Morton’s – the Steakhouse at King of Prussia Mall.

The mall and high-end restaurants have struck up a marriage that’s holding on to shoppers longer and generating a better return for powerhouse owners such as Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) and Simon Property Group.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20150524_Upscale_eateries_give_struggling_malls_a_lift.html#61pW5raHst0VyXYE.99

Boscov: Mall At Steamtown Changes Must Get My Approval

Repurposing the troubled Mall at Steamtown as a Reading Terminal-style market, a casino or a skating rink will remain a dream.

That is because the mall’s lease agreement with Boscov’s Department Store allows the anchor tenant to veto significant changes like that, said department store chairman Al Boscov in an interview at The Times-Tribune, a Times-Shamrock newspaper, on Monday.

Boscov’s Department Store will likely be among bidders in the June 1 – 3 auction of the Mall at Steamtown and the goal will be to buy the mall and keep the mall all — or predominantly — retail, he said.

Boscov wants to keep people with ideas of re-purposing the mall, some of whom he called “cranks,” away from the auction scheduled by LNR Partners, the mall’s caretaker since it was taken over by lenders following foreclosure.

Read more:

http://citizensvoice.com/news/boscov-mall-at-steamtown-changes-must-get-my-approval-1.1883885

Tesla’s Plans For Lehigh Valley Mall Supercharger Station Stall

Tesla Motors Inc. has scrapped plans to build a supercharger station at Lehigh Valley Mall in Whitehall Township.

Township commissioners approved the project in August and Tesla hoped to begin welcoming motorists last fall, but couldn’t get around a roadblock put up by J.C. Penney, according to Mayor Ed Hozza Jr. and a PPL Corp. spokesman.

The station was slated for property in the parking lot west of the Grape Street mall entrance near J.C. Penney. In order to supply the station with power, PPL needed to run an underground electrical line through the lot, a section of which is owned by the department store.

J.C. Penney rejected the utility’s request for an easement to put in the line, PPL spokesman Paul Wirth said Tuesday. PPL proposed an alternate route for the line, but hasn’t heard back from Tesla on how to proceed.

Read more:

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/lehigh-county/index.ssf/2015/02/tesla_lehigh_valley_mall.html

“Malls Have Been A Dying Thing For Us”: Who’ll Replace RadioShack?

Radio Shack has been trying to close more than 1,000 of its 5,000 stores for the past year; its lenders are resisting; bankruptcy threatens.

Meantime other retailers are weighing whether Radio Shack sites — 29 in Philadelphia and its nearby suburbs, a total of 130 from Wilmington to Princeton, each about 2,000-2,700 sq ft — would make good lunch spots, phone stores, massage salons.

“We have a lease” to take over a Philadelphia-area Radio Shack — he won’t say which, it’s still open — and are negotiating for others in Boston, Atlanta, Miami, and Austin, Tex., Todd Leff, CEO of Hand and Stone Massage and Facial Spas, a 200-store franchise chain based in Hamilton Township, N.J., told me.  Hand and Stone says it has 35 locations in the Philadelphia area and South Jersey, and plans up to 15 more. Each store employs 30, including therapists and aestheticians for massage and skin care. Hour-long treatments cost $49-99.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-phillydeals/Malls-have-been-a-dying-thing-for-us-Wholl-replace-RadioShack.html#i6EFp5ErOlAswsiP.99

Uniontown, Washington Crown Center Malls For Sale

Two malls in Western Pennsylvania were put up for sale by their Philadelphia-based owner as part of its strategy to sell lower-performing properties and improve returns.

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust said Monday that Uniontown Mall in Fayette County and Washington Crown Center mall in Washington County are among five shopping properties it will try to sell this year.

“I’m a little surprised,” said Jeff Kotula, president of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, who lives nearby. “Over the past year, the Washington Crown Center has done a lot of upgrades, adding a Marshall’s, Ross and Ulta. From what I’ve seen, they’ve been investing in that mall. The improvements make it very attractive, in my opinion.”

The company said it sold eight properties in other areas in 2014 for a total of $191.7 million. It has sold interests in 16 properties for more than $424 million since its portfolio review began in 2012.

Read more: http://triblive.com/business/headlines/7500999-74/mall-malls-properties#ixzz3O3VpDOUD
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Monroeville Mall Quieter Today After Friday Night Fracas

No trouble was reported as of this afternoon at the Monroeville Mall, which reopened today under heightened police watch after a series of fights broke among 1,000-plus teenagers and young adults Friday night, prompting the facility to close early.

Two injuries not believed to be life-threatening were reported in the skirmishes that began on the first floor and moved upstairs, startling shoppers on the day after Christmas and drawing police from multiple communities. Authorities expected to cite at least one for disorderly conduct, in addition to a pair of arrests made earlier Friday over a domestic dispute.

Monroeville Police Chief K. Douglas Cole said today he knew of no connection between the disturbance at the mall in his community and problems reported Friday in at least two other malls elsewhere in the nation.

Some mall stores within Independence Center in Independece, Mo., were locked down Friday night after several hundred youths congregated inside, with some fights breaking out, The Kansas City Star reported.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/east/2014/12/27/Monroeville-Mall-quieter-today-after-Friday-night-fracas/stories/201412270116

No Holiday Cheer At The Philadelphia Gallery

MOHAMMAD HOSSAIN has sold jewelry from his Gold Center kiosk in the Gallery mall on East Market Street for 10 years, and yesterday he wore a weary expression.

Despite the holiday season, Hossain and other merchants weren’t feeling cheerful. PREIT, the owner of the Gallery, has told them to vacate by either Dec. 31 or Jan. 31.

PREIT has plans to redevelop the Gallery, which means the stores and kiosks will be moved out for at least a year.

George Thomas, who has operated a jewelry kiosk there for 20 years, said merchants are angry.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20141214_No_holiday_cheer_at_the_Gallery.html#4y8Ur2uzxQh6rLqw.99

Century III Mall In West Mifflin Slides Into Retail Abyss

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Allegheny County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jay Natale had a good year in 1979.

The Steelers won the Super Bowl. The Pirates won the World Series. And Natale opened a sporting goods store in the new Century III Mall in West Mifflin.

“The first year was unbelievable,” Natale, 70, of Elizabeth said, recalling a mobbed grand opening at the mall. “We hit the jackpot on that one.”

The jackpot lasted for nearly 20 years.

Since then, the mall has spiraled downward, losing customers, retailers and property value, which drained hundreds of thousands of dollars in property taxes from West Mifflin and its school district.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/6235359-74/mall-century-iii#ixzz34oyENfeX
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Franklin Mills Reinvents Itself As A More Conventional Mall

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Philadelphia County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A sky-high crane dangles over a corner of Franklin Mills Mall these days, but it is more than a towering construction tool: It is a symbol of how necessity is the mother of reinvention at this once-legendary shopping mall.

A Walmart Supercenter is taking shape at the once-pioneering complex, which opened nearly 25 years ago with theme-park anticipation as among the first outlet malls, and the outright largest, ever built. The splashy development, unveiled in 1989, was a gamble befitting its locale, a onetime Northeast Philadelphia racetrack. And early on, its unmatched offerings paid off with packed corridors.

The mall flaunted a 1.2-mile-long, zigzag-shaped concourse, and more than 200 stores hawking discount designer goods, at a time when such wares were available only at out-of-the-way old-factory outlets. Its 1.7 million square feet of bargain buys, right off I-95, was a tourist draw and local sensation.

But the megamall’s early monopoly on outlet shopping has come to an end, forcing Franklin Mills to alter its once-irresistible identity. The Walmart is one of many tenants that now make the monolith, well, a bit more ordinary. And this is by design.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20131226_Franklin_Malls_reinvents_itself_as_a_more_conventional_mall.html#B6GQUXeWYThVsWmy.99

Boscov’s To Open Pair Of Stores

The southwest entrance facade of Woodbridge Mall. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Boscov’s Department Store said Thursday that it will open two new department stores, one in New Jersey and one in Maryland, over the next year and a half.

A planned 180,000-square-foot store in New Jersey’s Woodbridge Center mall, Woodbridge, will open in August 2013, while Maryland’s White Marsh Mall will get a 197,000-square-foot store in November, according to a Boscov’s news release.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=386979

King Of Prussia Mall Announces Yet Another Expansion Project!

Just a few days after demolition of the former John Wanamaker store at the Plaza began and the announcement about the construction of a new two-story addition to take its place; the King of Prussia Mall has announced an even larger project that will finally connect both malls.  40 more stores will be added when the malls are finally joined.  The Wanamaker project is adding 10 more stores.

The Plaza with its 1.7 million square-feet will be combined with the Court’s 900,000+ square-feet.  With the additions (200,000+ square-feet) there will be nearly 3 million square-feet of space.   The King of Prussia Mall is the largest mall in the United States in terms of leasable retail space.

The latest project is subject to approval by local government.  I would be beyond shocked if that didn’t happen!

J. C. Penney Store At King Of Prussia Mall Splurges On Remodel

Image via Wikipedia

J.C. Penney is the last original anchor store at the King of Prussia Plaza.  The plaza opened in 1963 with Penney’s, Wanamaker’s and Korvette’s as anchor stores.  To celebrate nearly 50 years at the Plaza, the store splurged on a makeover!

To read all about it, click here: http://www.timesherald.com/articles/2011/09/13/business/doc4e6fe79c39906162083352.txt

Boscov’s Names New Vice Chairman

Boscov’s Chairman and CEO Albert Boscov made an announcement today appointing Jim Boscov as Vice Chairman of Boscov’s Department Stores.  The promotion ensures that the 39-store chain will remain a family business.  Jim holds a master’s degree from Tufts University and started with Boscov’s in 1975 as an assistant store manager.

Albert Boscov said he has no plans to retire but wants to assure employees and business partners that “Boscov’s will remain Boscov’s for many years to come.”

Boscov’s is a Reading, PA-based department store chain founded in 1911.  Boscov’s is one of the last family-owned department store chains left in the United States.  Boscov’s successfully fought off bankruptcy in a little more than one year and has emerged strong. 

For a listing of Boscov’s store locations:

http://www.boscovs.com/static/about_boscov/stores_locations.html

Borders Bookstores File For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

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Borders filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York on Wednesday.

Borders is hemorrhaging cash at the rate of $2 million dollars a day from underperforming stores.  Borders intends to close 200 of its 642 stores nationwide.  The closures will come in the next few weeks.  Clearance sales could start as early as this weekend.

Borders will receive $505 million in debtor-in-possession financing from GE Capital Partners and others to help with the reorganization.  Borders owes over $100 million to various publishers.  Book sales nationwide fell 5 percent in 2010.  Borders controls 14.3 percent of the book selling market.  Barnes & Noble, on the other hand, controls 29.8 percent of the market which is helping them survive the economic downturn.

Borders has been in business since 1971, when it started out with one used bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Borders was owned by Kmart Corp. from 1992 until 2006.  Borders committed a fatal error when it opted out of their e-commerce contract with Amazon.com in 2001.  This decision made it possible for Barnes & Noble to eventually double Borders market share.

J.C. Penney Closing Stores – Dropping Catalog Business

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I guess all good things come to an end.  J.C. Penney is getting out of the catalog business and closing all 19 of their catalog outlet stores.

This is possibly bad news for the Fairgrounds Square Mall, in Muhlenberg Township, which has a J.C. Penney catalog outlet store.  The store used to be a regular J.C. Penney and is one of the mall anchor stores.  The Fairgrounds location converted to the catalog outlet format in 1999. 

No closing date has been set other than it will be sometime in 2011 – 2012.  J.C. Penney would not say whether the store will close or convert back to a standard J.C. Penney retail store.

This would leave Boscov’s and Burlington Coat Factory as the remaining anchor stores in the event Penney’s pulls out of the Fairgrounds Square Mall.