Fairgrounds Square Mall

Fairgrounds Square Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located just north of Reading, Pennsylvania in Muhlenberg Township. It is anchored by Boscov's, Burlington Coat Factory, and JC's 5 Star Outlet, formerly JCPenney Outlet. Smaller stores include Against All Odds, a movie theater, Planet Fitness and Golden Eagle Comics. There are over 70 other stores in the mall, many of which are currently vacant. It is located on 5th Street Highway, U.S. 222 Business.

History

The Fairgrounds Square Mall was built by Interstate Properties and opened in October 1980, with Boscov's and JCPenney serving as anchors.^[2] The mall was constructed at the former location of the Reading Fairgrounds, with the Boscov's store existing on the site before the mall was built.^[3] A year later, it was purchased by First Union Real Estate Investments. A mall expansion in 1988 added several more stores as well as Phar-Mor. The mall was renovated in 1996, at which point a Montgomery Ward was built as a third anchor. The Montgomery Ward store closed three years later in 1999.^[2] The same year, the mall was sold to Jager Management affiliate GP Properties Inc and JCPenney converted its store into an outlet format.^[2][4] In 2000, Jason's Furniture Outlet opened in the former Montgomery Ward anchor space.^[5] A National Wholesale Liquidators store opened in the location of Jason's Furniture Outlet in 2003, which had relocated to the former Phar-Mor.^[6][7] In 2005, Burlington Coat Factory replaced National Wholesale Liquidators,^[8][9] and Jason's became Super Shoes and Planet Fitness. In 2011, it was announced that the JCPenney Outlet would be closing as part of JCPenney's plan to eliminate outlet stores.^[3] However, it was later announced that the JC Penney Outlet division was purchased by SB Capital, and rebranded as JC's 5 Star Outlet.^[10]On October 30, 2013, it was announced that JC's Five Star Outlet will close November 30.^[11]

References

External links

• Official Site