The decline of the suburban shopping mall. (Pittsburgh, Grove City: real estate, homes) - Pennsylvania (PA) - City-Data Forum

dprice412 · 03-31-2013, 07:01 AM

I was hoping someone could give some good analysis on this. I am interested in reading more on the subject, with an insight from all of you.

What is causing the empty stores in so many malls? What will become of the land? Which malls will no longer exist in the near future? I really hope nobody builds a "new and improved" mall in the next 10 years because we don't need it.

I think the Mills Mall is the most interesting. What happened to this place? I remember the hype when this place opened, but there is nothing there that interests me. But I cannot see why this place is failing with the tastes of the mainstream American consumer. Why is this place in such a horrible state already? How many resources were destroyed building this place with so many empty stores? Quite sad.

Feel free to share any thoughts or comments on the subject!

UKyank · 03-31-2013, 07:23 AM

The Mills was a terrible location choice, not sure what planning models ever thought it would be a success.

As for other malls, the newer ones (Robinson) or ones adding new sections & attracting unique stores (Ross Park) do well, while others that are old (century iii, monroeville) & lacking internal investment slowly die. South Hills Village falls somewhere in between those extemes.

gg · 03-31-2013, 07:29 AM

The Mills is an odd one. Never understood it from the start, but if they made it an outlet mall, I feel it would be a total game changer, but I don't think we will see that happen since there is one in Grove City and that is close enough to be direct competition. Not sure what will happen to the Mills. I think Macy's is doing okay up there, but I could be wrong. Ross Park seems to do very well. I just don't know. With so many people buying things online, it just isn't something that is needed as much anymore. Also, dealing with the young people that hang around malls. Monroeville has really gone down the tubes due to the new clientele. Who want to deal with that? I think the Mall down in Robinson does well, but it has been a long time.

dprice412 · 03-31-2013, 07:51 AM

Lots of riff raff in Monroeville Mall, but it is full and busy and I can't see putting this in same catagory as century 3

selltheburgh · 03-31-2013, 07:59 AM

Century III was always a mediocre mall. It wasn't near wealthy or upper middle class suburbs. South Hills Village was close enough for people who lived anywhere west of Century III and is much nicer.

My theory on Pittsburgh Mills is that they built it so that they could frack the hillside above it. It is a bizarre mall. It has a school, a church, a real estate office, multiple asian massage parlors, an Andes Mountains craft shop, and various other odd businesses.

I heard that it was going to be an outlet mall when it was first being proposed. I think that would have done well.

I_Like_Spam · 03-31-2013, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by selltheburgh

Century III was always a mediocre mall. It wasn't near wealthy or upper middle class suburbs. South Hills Village was close enough for people who lived anywhere west of Century III and is much nicer.

Century III was built before the collapse of the steel industry, when there was plenty of money in the area. It was built with 5 anchor department stores.

Since then, South Hills Village was built up with additions and the Homestead Waterfront provided even more competition and that combined with the general economic malaise in the Mon Valley led to the mall's declined.

SteelCityRising · 03-31-2013, 08:18 AM

We actually like Pittsburgh Mills exactly for the reason that it is so desolate. When we want to go to Olive Garden we rarely, if ever, have to wait at the one here while we typically can't even get a parking spot at the one in Green Tree. It's the same story with just about every other restaurant and retailer up there.

Herodotus · 03-31-2013, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

Century III was built before the collapse of the steel industry, when there was plenty of money in the area. It was built with 5 anchor department stores.

Since then, South Hills Village was built up with additions and the Homestead Waterfront provided even more competition and that combined with the general economic malaise in the Mon Valley led to the mall's declined.

Century III was killing SHV when it first opened. As many have pointed out, the death of steel in Pittsburgh hurt it badly. Also a lot of money was put into SHV, and it found a nice niche as a fairly upscale mall, that is convenient to the wealthy southern suburbs.

As for Pgh Mills, I think the builders were counting on 28 being upgraded, and that following the upgrade, rural areas such as Deer, would see massive development. The northeastern corner of the county is the most undeveloped section that is fairly close to the city, so now that the upgrade of 28 is nearly complete, this may well begin to happen.

SteelCityRising · 03-31-2013, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Herodotus

As for Pgh Mills, I think the builders were counting on 28 being upgraded, and that following the upgrade, rural areas such as Deer, would see massive development. The northeastern corner of the county is the most undeveloped section that is fairly close to the city, so now that the upgrade of 28 is nearly complete, this may well begin to happen.

Ugh. More urban sprawl? Really? I sure hope not.

Herodotus · 03-31-2013, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Ugh. More urban sprawl? Really? I sure hope not.

Well, you know how it usually plays out. What was once a horrible bottleneck, will soon be a quick, smooth ride into town (for the time being). I bet the developers are drawing up plans, and working on corny names now.
Evergreen Heights
Maple Lane Village
Fairview Acres

Ugh!