King of Prussia Mall

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Mall facts and statistics
King of Prussia Mall

Location	King of Prussia in Upper Merion Township, Pennsylvania, USA
Opening date	1963
Developer	The Kravco Co.
Management	Kravco Simon
Owner	King of Prussia Associates, partnership including Kravco Simon
No. of stores and services	400+
No. of anchor tenants	8
Total retail floor area	2,793,200 square feet (251,388 m²)^[1]
No. of floors	2
Website	http://www.kingofprussiamall.com

The King of Prussia Mall is the largest shopping mall on the East Coast of the United States, the second largest shopping mall in the country, and the largest shopping mall in the country in terms of leasable retail space (though this title is sometimes disputed with that of South Coast Plaza of Orange County, California).

The two-building agglomeration is also arguably the world's largest shopping complex at one discrete location. It is located in King of Prussia, an area within Upper Merion Township, Pennsylvania, northwest of Philadelphia.

1 History
2 King of Prussia Today
3 Stores
4 References
5 External link

[edit] History

The interior of the Plaza, with Sears behind the photographer.

The history of King of Prussia speaks to the evolution of shopping malls and the retailing business over the years. It was originally developed by the Kravco company, which still owns the mall today (it is now known as Kravco Simon). The Plaza at King of Prussia, the oldest portion of the complex, opened in 1963 as a modest open-air shopping mall anchored by JCPenney, discount department store E.J. Korvette, and an ACME supermarket. The Plaza prospered and by the late 1970s had become a partially enclosed super-regional mall anchored by department stores JCPenney, Gimbel's, and Wanamaker's.

Kravco recognized a demand for more upscale shopping in the northwest Philadelphia market in the late 1970's. The company embarked on a second mall, The Court at King of Prussia, to be constructed across the street from The Plaza. The Court opened in 1981 as a fully enclosed mall anchored by department stores Bamberger's (later in 1986 to become Macy's), Bloomingdale's, and Abraham & Straus (A&S). In addition, Sears was added to The Plaza around this time, and until the early 1990s the Plaza sported such stores as Woolworth's, Herman's World of Sporting Goods, and a Lionel "Kiddie City" toy store

By the early 1990s, demand for luxury goods had grown across the nation and many upscale retailers were in a growth mode. Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus, and Nordstrom were all looking for new locations in the area, and Kravco didn't want any of them to land at a competing mall. The company's dilemma, though, was that The Court was on a small piece of land and couldn't expand, while The Plaza was too downscale for these stores. Kravco decided to embark on an ambitious campaign to almost completely rebuild The Plaza to make it just as attractive to upscale retailers as The Court and to begin marketing the two malls as a single entity (a pedestrian bridge and walkway connecting the malls was constructed around this time, though there have always been informal passageways from one to the other).

The new Plaza is fully enclosed and has two levels throughout. Lord & Taylor opened its doors in the fall of 1995, while Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom opened theirs in the spring of 1996. Upscale stores at The Plaza are clustered in the southern end of the mall near Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus, and Nordstrom, while middle-market stores remain clustered in the northern end of the mall near JCPenney, Sears, and Macy's. The Court now contains a mix of upscale stores and middle-market stores.

The anchor line-up at both malls changed during the 1990s. Stern's, which had replaced Gimbel's, left and JCPenney moved in to its old space. John Wanamaker was acquired by May Department Stores, which rebranded all Wanamaker's as Hecht's, their Baltimore-Washington regional nameplate. A&S was consolidated with Macy's and Strawbridge & Clothier briefly took its place at The Court. Soon after, May acquired Strawbridge & Clothier, rebranded it as simply Strawbridge's, and merged it with Hecht's Philadelphia operations. The Hecht's (former John Wanamaker) at The Plaza became a Strawbridge's and the Strawbridge's (former A&S) at The Court closed. The mall even featured an outlet of the popular New York City toy company F.A.O. Schwarz, complete with giant teddy bear, before hard financial times forced it to close in 2004.

The growth of large-format specialty retailers in the 1990's led to the early 2000's conversion of the former Strawbridge's store at The Court into The Pavilion at King of Prussia, which might be considered the "third mall" at King of Prussia. The Pavilion consists of a small mall directly connected to The Court but is not owned by Kravco. Tenants at The Pavilion include The Cheesecake Factory, Borders, H&M, Urban Outfitters, a discount store called Five Below and Morton's, The Steakhouse, to name a few.

On 9/8/06, Strawbridge's store was reflagged a Macy's. This is a temporary solution, as Federated intends to close this location eventually. No formal plans have been announced, but it's been suggested that May Company had a lifelong lease on the building.

[edit] King of Prussia Today

The mall is known as being particularly upscale, catering to the needs of the wealthy northwestern Philadelphia suburbs, with such high-end stores as Versace, Hugo Boss, Tiffany & Co., Cartier, David Yurman, Burberry, Sephora, Hermès, and Louis Vuitton, as well as the exclusive department stores Bloomingdale's, Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus, and Nordstrom. The four other department stores are JCPenney, two Macy's (one in each side of the mall), and Sears. A rumor was circulating in June 2006 that Target would be taking over the current JCPenney building, with JCPenney joining a new Fortunoff and relocating to another area of the Plaza, possibly near the former Strawbridge's (currently the second Macy's). The mall has over 400 stores and restaurants. Valet parking is available for shoppers outside of Neiman Marcus. The average household income of shoppers is $70,000 a year. Shoppers spend more than a billion dollars annually, giving the Plaza, excluding department stores, an average annual sales per square foot of $512, the Court an average of $470, although some of the luxury goods stores have averages over $4,000 per square foot.

The mall remains a prominent tourist destination in the Philadelphia area; according to mall management about 20 to 25 percent of its customers are tourists, who arrive on over 1,000 tour buses that visit each year. The mall employs over 6,000 people in the area.

Many stores rent more than one space. Shoppers will find, for example, three Sunglass Hut Internationals, three Auntie Anne's Pretzels, three Hallmark Cards shops, two Coach stores, two Bath & Body Works, two Victoria's Secrets, two Gaps, two Starbucks, two General Nutrition Center stores, two Cingular Wireless stores, and two Teavana stores.

The complex has three food courts, containing everything from Burger King to Bennigan's, though the latter is not contained in an enclosed portion of the mall complex. One of the two Rock Bottom Breweries located in Pennsylvania is located in the Plaza portion of the compound.

Its slogan is "Life. And all its stores."

Surrounding the mall's premises are a number of other stores and shops whose proximity to the site allows them to take advantage of mall traffic. A quick drive will have shoppers finding an IMAX theater, supermarket, and a large selection of luxury hotels and family-affordable hotels.

There are two sections to this mall, each located in its own double-level building: