Ross Park Mall

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Ross Park Mall

The entrance to the mall
Location	Ross Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Opening date	August 1986
Developer	Simon Property Group
Management	Simon Property Group
Owner	Simon Property Group
No. of stores and services	160
No. of anchor tenants	5 (4 open, 1 under redevelopment)
Total retail floor area	1,236,523 square feet (114,877 m2)
No. of floors	2 (3 in Macy's)
Parking	Lighted lot
Public transit access	Port Authority bus: 2, 12
Website	ross-park-mall.com

Ross Park Mall is a shopping mall located in Ross Township, Pennsylvania, north of Pittsburgh. The mall houses 160 retailers including anchor stores JCPenney, Macy's, and Nordstrom. An outdoor lifestyle component complements the enclosed center.

History[]

Center of the mall

The mall opened in 1986. The mall's present anchor tenants include JCPenney to the east, Macy's to the south, and Nordstrom to the northwest with one vacant anchor to the north last occupied by Sears that is yet to be redeveloped. Crate & Barrel, L.L.Bean, and Mitsubishi anchor the lifestyle addition on the southwestern part of the mall property.

When the mall was originally built, a Horne's store occupied the present Nordstrom location and a Kaufmann's was in the present Macy's spot. Horne's was the second largest of Pittsburgh's department store chains, and this store had been the anchor of nearby Northway Mall; the two locations coexisted for about a year after the move. Kaufmann's was the third largest of Pittsburgh's chains, and its store moved in from a standalone location about a mile north on McKnight Road. Today, that location houses Giant Eagle, Dunham's Sports, and Stein Mart.

The Nordstrom location has a complicated history. It was intended to be a Gimbel's but was never occupied because the Gimbel's chain was sold and liquidated a year after the mall opened, resulting in a vacant anchor at the time. The spot was first opened by Horne's. It operated as Horne's from 1987 to 1994, when Federated Department Stores purchased the Horne's chain and rebranded its stores with its own regional Lazarus name. Service Merchandise closed March 15, 1999, and it replaced with Media Play of the same year in Thanksgiving 1999. The store operated as Lazarus until Federated renamed it as Macy's in March 2005. Four months later, Federated purchased the May Department Stores Company, which operated the Kaufmann's anchor store at the south end of the mall. Now Federated owned two anchors in the same mall, operating under different names. However, Media Play closed in 2006, and it replaced by Forever 21. In March 2006, Nordstrom announced plans to build a new store on the Horne's/Lazarus/Macy's site, after tearing down the building and an adjacent two-level parking structure. May quickly closed the Macy's store and began converting the much larger Kaufmann's to a Macy's. In September 2006, the former Kaufmann's became Macy's, which then renovated the entire store with replacement of flooring and lighting, also relocating the furniture department to the original Horne's furniture gallery located in the parking lot. After a two-year construction period, the Nordstrom store opened on October 24, 2008.

An interesting experiment took place at the former Sears store. From 1987 to 1991, a McDonald's restaurant was on the first floor near the lawn mower department.^[1] While restaurants in department stores was not a new concept, a fast food restaurant was. Other Sears stores attempted similar undertakings with moderate success.

Renovation and expansion[]

In 2000, Ross Park underwent $14 million in renovations including the construction of a play area for children near JCPenney as well as new lighting, ceilings, entranceways and flooring. Additional renovations were done in 2008 with the mall expansion, incorporating a Nordstrom department store. Some luxury retailers were also added to the mall. A 65,000-square-foot (6,000 m²) lifestyle addition completed the 2008 expansion. The expansion will contains four or five new tenants, including two eateries, and all stores are accessible from the outside.

On January 4, 2018, Sears announced that its store at the mall would be closing as part of a plan to close 103 stores nationwide. The store closed on April 8, 2018, making JCPenney the only original anchor store to remain.^[2] One day later, Simon announced plans to redevelop the two-story space into a new three-story space with a new dining hall, new retailers, restaurants, and entertainment. It's one of the seven malls owned by Simon that will redevelop a former Sears. Construction will start in January 2019 and open during summer 2020.^[3]

Prior to the 2019 holiday shopping season, JCPenney downsized their store to only one level cutting the sales area in half. This left only the lower floor open.

In 2020, Jim Shorkey Mitsubishi opened in the former Kaufmann's furniture gallery building.

After the Coronavirus Temporary Shutdown[]

After the temporary closure of the entire Ross Park Mall due to the coronavirus pandemic, many retailers closed their stores permanently. This includes: California Pizza Kitchen, China Max, Cariloha Bamboo, New York & Company, The Walking Company, Omega, The Art of Shaving, Philip Pelusi Hair Salon, California Nails, Hanna Anderson, G-Star RAW, Janie and Jack, Godiva, Littman Jewelers, Clarks, Justice, Hope & Henry, Icy Roll, and Chick-fil-A. However, since the reopening, some new stores have opened. This includes: Beef Jerky Experience, Just Leggings, Sinful Sweets Chocolate Company, and Squishables.^[4]

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Simon Property Group planned to renovate the former Sears department store into a three story space with more retail stores, food and beverage offerings, and an AMC Theater on the third floor. However, given the financial strain AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. has been facing, the plans for a new movie theater have been canceled. As of January 2022, there is no update pertaining to the future redevelopment plans of this former department store.

After being open for 34 years, Chick-fil-A announced they would be permanently closing their Ross Park Mall location on March 31, 2021.

As of January 24, 2022 there were 16 empty storefronts, including the upper level of JCPenney and the former Sears department store.^[4]

Shooting and Evacuation[]

On Saturday, May 29, 2021, at approximately 4:34 p.m., a shooting occurred involving 5-6 individuals, at least two of them being juveniles. People fled from the mall while others hid where they could find safety. Two of the six individuals were detained initially and the civilians still in the mall were escorted out by the police. No one was injured from the shooting.

Criticism[]

After the shooting that occurred on May 29, 2021, Simon Property Group was criticized for not having security cameras installed in their facility. This was after multiple attempts were made prior to the shooting to have video surveillance installed in all their properties.

Anchors and major stores[]

• JCPenney
• Macy's
• Nordstrom
• Crate & Barrel
• LL Bean
• The Cheesecake Factory
• Tiffany & Co.
• American Eagle
• Pottery Barn
• LEGO
• Apple Store
• H&M
• Tesla

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ross Park Mall.

• Ross Park Mall
• Tiffany Co. chain finds local home at Ross Park Mall
• Ross Park Mall review

Coordinates: 40°32′35″N 80°00′29″W / 40.543°N 80.008°W / 40.543; -80.008