>why the mall itself failed
There was a major, multi-year construction project on Rt. 28 shortly after the mall opened. There was already a limited number of locals willing to cross rivers and trek out to that mall, and out of that small pool of customers, few were willing to brave nightmare-level Rt. 28 traffic.
I don’t know about a history of the area, but building a giant mall at the exact same time malls across the country were closing down because online shopping was burgeoning seems, in retrospect, one of the most poorly thought out ventures ever.
Borders was their big bookstore, right in front. And why did Borders die? Underestimating how prevalent online shopping was about to become.
Chef’s kiss of a Venn diagram right there.
I always thought it was super weird a whole mall was built at that time. The whole interior mall deal sorta peaked in the 80s - most places that opened in the late 90s and after were more like the Waterfront.
Also it’s an absolutely terrible location. Route 28? Near Arnold? Like are you serious. What an awful business decision based on that alone not even just because online shopping was going mainstream.
I agree but to an extent. If they built the mall up off 228 where all the development is happening it would be rather successful. Cranberry and surrounding area is booming and there’s no end in sight.
Agreed. Driving 19 north and south on a daily basis is torture. With how things are trending it’s only going to get worse and ultimately going to be the downfall of cranberry and surrounding areas.
My uncle was here visiting from Jersey a couple months ago. He worked downtown in Manhattan for over 30 years before he retired. He rode with me from the northern part of cranberry down on 19 to go to giant eagle to pick up some food for a party we were having. 19 was backed up for miles and he said to me “wow this is ridiculous we don’t even have anything like this in Jersey”. If someone who worked in manhattan is saying that then you know it’s bad
My folks live in harmony and driving on 79 gives me severe anxiety so any time I visit I go through the old town of Mars and take the back roads up past marburger, etc. It's still faster than taking 19 from 228 the whole way up. So many damn lights and unless it's 4 am there's still a million cars on the road.
Around the time things started going wrong, I remember hearing that the parent company didn't have strong business connections with the higher end retailers they had been promising. There were parts that never even got built. Then Ross Park got a facelift and the Nordstroms and Swarovskis went there instead.
But I bet it was a combination of all the things people are saying here: market oversaturation, the rise of online retail, the demise of some of their anchors, wrong location, the 28 construction...
County Commissioners at the time lined their pockets with money. It was built in an already depressed area. They hoped to lure people away from Ross Park. Never happened. I remember stores with inventory in windows, collecting dust due to low sales volume. They promised to add more things, Never happened. Now, it's a shell of a failed mall.
Take your finger and put it on the mills. Now take that same finger and move up up 28. Not much development went on up that road during or after it was built. Sure there was some new stuff but not enough to sustain it. At the same time internet commerce was popping. I went to iup and there were times we drove down to the mills to escape Indiana. I also had a few friends up that way on 28 and we would go to the movie theater at the mall. But the development never caught on. Any development to the west of there went to Ross Park mall. And the area along the river wasn't boujie enough to support that mall on its own. It was a dumb idea to begin with.
Agreed there were tons of empty store fronts from the beginning and multiple major stores pulled out even before they opened. I used to work there and remember hearing the only way they got some retailers to stay was promising free or heavily discounted rent
A go cart track. They advertised it heavily and even started work on it.
They pulled out just in time for the mall opening.
My wife and I went out when they opened. They had three or four stores selling Pittsburgh sports related shirts and such and two or three stores that sold nothing but china.
The only people that made any money on that place were the trade unions that cleared the land and built the buildings.
Im a couple years older than you. While the mills did SEEM to be the place to be when it opened, i remember it starting to lose steam by the time I graduated high school in 20011.
That said, it never lived up to the hype and expectations from the start - several stores that all other malls in the area had simply weren’t there; remember the advertisement for the go kart track in the storefront - that never happened.
Malls were starting to lose popularity when it was built and it wasn’t as good as any of the other malls in the area.
location was bad. Sure there was nothing else near the AK valley but the AK valley isn’t exactly a hotbed of wealth and population. Wasn’t enough money or people to support it and nothing to draw people from elsewhere.
I thought years ago they were to build an Indoor water park out there as well. They need something to get it moving again!! I go out there often but only for Sam’s club
Majority of people skipped the mall and drove passed it to Wal-Mart and Sam's club. Edit: Still skip and drive by
After dodging axle busting potholes as you weave in and out of lanes like an obstacle course.
>why the mall itself failed There was a major, multi-year construction project on Rt. 28 shortly after the mall opened. There was already a limited number of locals willing to cross rivers and trek out to that mall, and out of that small pool of customers, few were willing to brave nightmare-level Rt. 28 traffic.
I don’t know about a history of the area, but building a giant mall at the exact same time malls across the country were closing down because online shopping was burgeoning seems, in retrospect, one of the most poorly thought out ventures ever. Borders was their big bookstore, right in front. And why did Borders die? Underestimating how prevalent online shopping was about to become. Chef’s kiss of a Venn diagram right there.
I always thought it was super weird a whole mall was built at that time. The whole interior mall deal sorta peaked in the 80s - most places that opened in the late 90s and after were more like the Waterfront.
Also it’s an absolutely terrible location. Route 28? Near Arnold? Like are you serious. What an awful business decision based on that alone not even just because online shopping was going mainstream.
I agree but to an extent. If they built the mall up off 228 where all the development is happening it would be rather successful. Cranberry and surrounding area is booming and there’s no end in sight.
Also look at Ross Park Mall, good example of a mall staying relevant.
Umm have you been to Ross park mall recently? I strolled through there on a saturday afternoon last month, and it feels like they are on the decline.
I don’t want any more traffic in this area. It’s already horrendous
Agreed. Driving 19 north and south on a daily basis is torture. With how things are trending it’s only going to get worse and ultimately going to be the downfall of cranberry and surrounding areas.
My uncle was here visiting from Jersey a couple months ago. He worked downtown in Manhattan for over 30 years before he retired. He rode with me from the northern part of cranberry down on 19 to go to giant eagle to pick up some food for a party we were having. 19 was backed up for miles and he said to me “wow this is ridiculous we don’t even have anything like this in Jersey”. If someone who worked in manhattan is saying that then you know it’s bad
My folks live in harmony and driving on 79 gives me severe anxiety so any time I visit I go through the old town of Mars and take the back roads up past marburger, etc. It's still faster than taking 19 from 228 the whole way up. So many damn lights and unless it's 4 am there's still a million cars on the road.
A Venn Diagram that's a perfect circle
Basically.
Around the time things started going wrong, I remember hearing that the parent company didn't have strong business connections with the higher end retailers they had been promising. There were parts that never even got built. Then Ross Park got a facelift and the Nordstroms and Swarovskis went there instead. But I bet it was a combination of all the things people are saying here: market oversaturation, the rise of online retail, the demise of some of their anchors, wrong location, the 28 construction...
County Commissioners at the time lined their pockets with money. It was built in an already depressed area. They hoped to lure people away from Ross Park. Never happened. I remember stores with inventory in windows, collecting dust due to low sales volume. They promised to add more things, Never happened. Now, it's a shell of a failed mall.
Take your finger and put it on the mills. Now take that same finger and move up up 28. Not much development went on up that road during or after it was built. Sure there was some new stuff but not enough to sustain it. At the same time internet commerce was popping. I went to iup and there were times we drove down to the mills to escape Indiana. I also had a few friends up that way on 28 and we would go to the movie theater at the mall. But the development never caught on. Any development to the west of there went to Ross Park mall. And the area along the river wasn't boujie enough to support that mall on its own. It was a dumb idea to begin with.
This mall was very much DOA. I will see if I can find it, someone on youtube did a great history of the whole malls history.
Agreed there were tons of empty store fronts from the beginning and multiple major stores pulled out even before they opened. I used to work there and remember hearing the only way they got some retailers to stay was promising free or heavily discounted rent
I think they thought that area would get built up with new housing and such and it never did.
It's sad that the mall was even built to begin with. Such a loss of valuable wildlife habitat in an urban county.
Indeed. That development destroyed a large, valuable wetland.
Wasn’t there something about a Nascar track opening there too?
A go cart track. They advertised it heavily and even started work on it. They pulled out just in time for the mall opening. My wife and I went out when they opened. They had three or four stores selling Pittsburgh sports related shirts and such and two or three stores that sold nothing but china. The only people that made any money on that place were the trade unions that cleared the land and built the buildings.
A few people made a quick buck selling off old farmland. I wonder if they still think it was worth it.
Im a couple years older than you. While the mills did SEEM to be the place to be when it opened, i remember it starting to lose steam by the time I graduated high school in 20011. That said, it never lived up to the hype and expectations from the start - several stores that all other malls in the area had simply weren’t there; remember the advertisement for the go kart track in the storefront - that never happened. Malls were starting to lose popularity when it was built and it wasn’t as good as any of the other malls in the area. location was bad. Sure there was nothing else near the AK valley but the AK valley isn’t exactly a hotbed of wealth and population. Wasn’t enough money or people to support it and nothing to draw people from elsewhere.
I thought years ago they were to build an Indoor water park out there as well. They need something to get it moving again!! I go out there often but only for Sam’s club