Century 3 and the Declining South Hills (Pittsburgh, Washington: rental, crime, home)

[appalachiangirl]

I was in Pittsburgh with a friend to see "West Side Story"(GREAT performance) and going south we stopped at Century III and it was practically DEAD(few shoppers,MANY vacant stores). Sad to see. On the plus side we got some good bargains on clearance clothing. My friend was disappointed the Disney store had closed--she wanted to get her son something there. I think a lot of Disney stores have closed.

[mr.davon24]

I was there on Saturday. Man what happened to all the stores?

[Geeo]

As has been noted on other places on this forum, it's probably a combination of demographics, the economy, and lots of new stip centers and the Waterfront in Homestead. The new centers kill the older centers. Sounds like Century III may be going the way of the giant Randall Park Mall in Cleveland.

[mr.davon24]

But, The waterfront doesn't have shoe stores such as finishline, footlocker, and Champs. In fact none of these strip malls has youth in mind at all. There are no Ktoys, disney stores, Aracades.

[Geeo]

Maybe people aren't that devoted to certain stores anymore. There's one of those giant DSW shoe warehouses at the Waterfront, so they may go there instead. Toy stores in general have been in trouble for several years because WalMart has just about cornered the market on cheap toys. A lot of Disney stores have closed around the country, too. The sure sign of a declining mall is if it has a Steve & Barry's in it. I don't know if Century III has one of those or not.

[fleetiebelle]

if it has a Steve & Barry's in it. I don't know if Century III has one of those or not.

They do, but it's closing since the company went bankrupt.

[mr.davon24]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

They do, but it's closing since the company went bankrupt.

Darn I was just in there too.

[Geeo]

There was an interesting story in the New York Times about a month ago when Steve & Barry's declared bankrupcy. They had really really low prices, and one of the ways they did that was to go into underperforming malls with lots of vacant space and negotiate incredible terms with the landlords who just wanted to fill a large space. I guess the strategy didn't work.

[PeterRabbit]

I didn't know they were around here then a couple weeks ago I saw one at Hillcrest Shopping Ctr. in Lower Burrell. They are in where a Hills or Ames used to be and there has been a few vacancies up there and that was the biggest. Looked like good stuff at great prices.

What I read was they filed for Chapter 11 so they should be around for awhile and hopefully recover.

[Geeo]

I went to one at the Millcreek Mall in Erie a few months ago and was amazed at the prices. Got a few T-shirts and a sweatshirt. I hope they can manage to stay open through bankrupcy.