Parkway Center Mall

Parkway Center Mall was an enclosed shopping mall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Opened in 1981, the mall closed in 2013 after losing Kmart, its last anchor store. The only remaining store in operation is a Giant Eagle supermarket.^[1]

History

Kossman Development opened Parkway Center Mall in November 1981. Original anchor stores included Gold Circle, Giant Eagle, Zayre, Thrift Drug, and a David Weis catalog showroom.^[2] Other major tenants included Chi-Chi's, Kay-Bee Toys, Radio Shack, Payless ShoeSource, and Jo-Ann Fabrics.^[3] An exit from Interstate 376 was built specifically to service the mall.^[4] Gold Circle became Kmart in 1986, and shortly thereafter, the foundation shifted resulting a crack in the floor that ran the length of the store. 8 inch wide steel plates were used to cover it.^[3]

Zayre closed in 1989 along with three other stores in the area.^[5] David Weis closed in 1990, and its space became Phar-Mor a year later.^[6] Also in 1990, the former Zayre became a Kaufmann's clearance center.^[7] By 1992, the clearance store was closed, and one-third of its space was converted to CompUSA.^[8] The rest later became Syms Corporation. In 1997, Thrift Drug became Eckerd when the latter bought out the chain. In 1999, the arcade and food court were closed, with the latter later converted to a dance studio and a drivers' license office.^[9]

Syms and Phar-Mor both closed in 2002,^[10][11] and CompUSA moved to Robinson Town Centre.^[12] By 2006, the center was largely vacant, with all tenants consolidated to the second floor after the first and third floors were closed to traffic.^[13] The mall building also had foundation issues that caused it to shake as the building settled on the fill dirt on which it was built. Some of the vibrations were caused by truck traffic passing by on the nearby Interstate.^[9]

Kmart announced its closure in late 2012, with its last day of operation January 6, 2013.^[9] After this closure, the last remaining tenants were shuttered or relocated within the month,^[3] including GNC, a deli, a nail salon, a martial arts studio, and an optician.^[14]

References