Westmoreland Mall

Westmoreland Mall

Westmoreland Mall as seen from across U.S. Route 30
Location 5256 U.S. Route 30 Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates 40°18′04″N 79°30′29″W / 40.301°N 79.508°W / 40.301; -79.508Coordinates: 40°18′04″N 79°30′29″W / 40.301°N 79.508°W / 40.301; -79.508
Opening date 28 February 1977
Developer Adam Eidemiller, Inc./The Goodman Company
Management CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.
Owner CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.
No. of stores and services 200+
No. of anchor tenants 8
Total retail floor area 1,283,597 square feet (119,250.1 m2)
No. of floors 2
Parking 6,436 spaces (covered and uncovered)
Website Westmoreland Mall

Westmoreland Mall, owned and operated by CBL & Associates Properties, Inc., is a two-level, enclosed shopping mall in the municipality of Hempfield Township, Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh. It was completed in 1977, extensively renovated and expanded in 1993-1994, and includes The Bon-Ton, H&M, J. C. Penney, Macy's, Macy's Backstage, Macy's Home, Old Navy and Sears as anchor tenants and over 200 retailers such as American Eagle Outfitters, The Buckle, Charlotte Russe, Crazy 8, Express/Express Men, Hollister Co., The Limited, LOFT, New York & Company, Pandora, Sephora, Talbots/Talbots Petites and Zumiez. It contains 1,283,597 square feet (119,250.1 m2) of retail space on 103 acres (0.4 km2), making it the third largest shopping complex in Western Pennsylvania in terms of square footage.[1] In terms of the number of stores, however, it is the largest. Surrounding the mall are over 25 retailers and dining establishments, including the Westmoreland Crossing strip shopping center, which opened in 1978 and features a 15-screen AMC Theatres complex, Dick's Sporting Goods, Levin Furniture, Michaels Arts and Crafts, Planet Fitness and T.J. Maxx. A variety of restaurants and outparcels such as Dollar Bank, Ground Round, LongHorn Steakhouse and Applebee's completes the mall complex.

It is located on the eastern side of the Pittsburgh metroplex on the heavily traveled U.S. Route 30 corridor. Adjacent to Westmoreland Mall, many big box retailers and restaurants can be found along the U.S. Route 30 and Donohoe Road retail area, which is the biggest concentration of retailers and other commercial businesses between Monroeville and Altoona.

History

Prior to the development of Westmoreland Mall, the immediate area surrounding the site, known as Miller's Woods, was nothing more than a mixture of open fields and wooded land. A handful of small businesses such as the former Winky's Restaurant (now Casual Male XL) were located on U.S. Route 30. At the time, residents shopped in Greensburg's business district, or at Greengate Mall (now Greengate Centre), west of the city. As the demand for more retail grew in the area, Kaufmann's and Sears approached the Rouse Company, owner of Greengate Mall, about the possibility of opening a new location at the facility. Rouse chose not to invest in the development to bring the stores in. Therefore, an idea for a new mall in the area was created.

Proposal

In the mid-1970s, Adam Eidemiller, Inc., the development company that owned the land at the time, initially proposed building a motel on the open acreage, but eventually decided that it was not the best use of the property. The proliferation of shopping malls during the 1970s led Eidemiller to consider developing a regional mall on the site. It contacted St. Louis-based May Department Stores Company, parent of Pittsburgh-based retailer Kaufmann's about building a mall with the department store as an anchor but was rebuffed. Later, a joint venture between Eidemiller and the Goodman Company was formed, which already had experience with developing extensive projects, including Granite Run Mall near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Construction would begin in 1975, and Kaufmann's became the first store to open at the complex in late 1976.[2]

Opening

On February 28, 1977, the 850,000-square-foot (79,000 m2) Westmoreland Mall officially opened its doors with Kaufmann's and Sears as the anchor stores and 89 other retailers. Special events at the new mall included a visit by Mr. McFeely (played by David Newell) of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. The mall's South Annex (now Westmoreland Crossing), originally anchored by Shop 'n Save, opened in 1978. As the years passed, the mall continued to grow, with the addition of Troutman's Department Store (later replaced by Pomeroy's and The Bon-Ton) and 80,000 square feet (7,000 m2) of additional retail space in 1979. By the mid-1980s, the convenience center at the South Annex was constructed, with 40,000 square feet (4,000 m2) of space for 12 to 15 new stores and restaurants. At this time, the mall was owned and operated by The Kravco Company, now Simon Property Group.[3] The rapid growth of Westmoreland Mall brought increasing pressure to smaller cross-town rival Greengate Mall, which was anchored by Horne's, J.C. Penney and Montgomery Ward. Greengate took proactive measures to remain competitive with Westmoreland Mall as it completed a makeover in 1981 and attempted to remerchandise and lease the center to new merchants well into the late 1980s.

Renovation and expansion

By the early 1990s, significant retailer demand for additional space as well as increasing competition from Pittsburgh-area malls prompted the mall's owners to consider redeveloping the property. In response, it went through a $33 million renovation and expansion project, which began in 1993 and ended with the grand opening of J.C. Penney, which relocated from Greengate Mall, in 1994. The expansion also brought another 66,000 square feet (6,100 m2) for 20 new retailers and a spacious food court, as well as a three-level parking garage and a new entrance. The last major mall addition took place in 1999, when Carmike Cinemas (now AMC Theatres) opened a new 15-screen stadium-style seating movie theater abutting the annex. The former 4-screen movie theater and a couple of adjacent shops at the mall were converted into Kaufmann's Home, which has since been renamed Macy's Home.

Anchor stores

Currently, Westmoreland Mall features four major department stores including The Bon-Ton, J. C. Penney, Macy's and Sears, who own their own buildings and operate at the mall under long-term ground leases. Three junior anchor stores also occupy the mall under long-term leases, including Swedish retailer H&M on the upper level near Center Court, Macy's Home on the lower level adjacent to Macy's, and Old Navy, located near Sears on the lower level.

Sears, Roebuck and Co. originally operated a store along North Main Street in Downtown Greensburg. In the 1960s, Sears would relocate east of town to the site of what is now the Davis Center. A freestanding auto service center, now AAMCO Transmissions, was also built adjacent to the main store. At the time of the mall's development, the new Sears store would be twice as large as its predecessor, and offer a larger selection of merchandise on two levels.

J. C. Penney, like Sears, has also been in Greensburg since the early 1900s, originally located along South Main Street. It would replace its original store with a larger one at the former Greengate Mall, which operated from 1971 to 1994, when it relocated to Westmoreland Mall. In 2010, the J.C. Penney store was extensively renovated and a Sephora cosmetics shop opened on the store's upper level.

Troutman's, which had a few locations in the area, operated its flagship store in Downtown Greensburg since the early 1920s. However, it would also open a new location at Westmoreland Mall in 1979. Nonetheless, the downtown store would coexist with the mall location for a few years until its closure in 1985. Its sister store at Westmoreland was subsequently converted to Pomeroy’s before being acquired by the parent company of The Bon-Ton in 1987, which still operates to this day.

Pittsburgh-based retailer Kaufmann's never had a presence in Westmoreland County until the mall's opening in 1977. On September 9, 2006, Federated Department Stores converted all former May Company regional department store nameplates, including Kaufmann's, into Macy's as part of a nationwide rebranding program.

Anchor store square footage

Westmoreland Mall

Anchor Square Footage
The Bon-Ton 99,800 sq ft (9,270 m2)
H&M 19,859 sq ft (1,845 m2)
J. C. Penney 126,994 sq ft (11,798 m2)
Macy's 168,341 sq ft (15,639 m2)
Macy's Home 24,370 sq ft (2,264 m2)
Old Navy 20,257 sq ft (1,882 m2)
Sears 200,071 sq ft (18,587 m2)

Westmoreland Crossing

Anchor Square Footage
AMC Theatres 56,255 sq ft (5,226 m2)
Dick's Sporting Goods 51,000 sq ft (4,700 m2)
Michaels Arts and Crafts 25,000 sq ft (2,300 m2)
T.J. Maxx25,202 sq ft (2,341 m2)

Dining

Westmoreland Mall is home to more than 25 dining establishments, ranging from fast food to casual and fine dining. Many of the restaurants can be found in the food court, in addition to establishments located throughout the mall. Several sit-down restaurants also surround the mall.

The food court, located on the upper level near J. C. Penney, opened in 1994 as part of the mall's renovation and expansion project. In the center of the food court, an elevated dining area is open to diners. In July 2011, Panera Bread opened for business at the site of the former Ruby Tuesday.

References

  1. ↑ "Five Largest Pittsburgh-Area Shopping Malls and Centers". Pittsburgh.bizjournals.com. 2011-09-02. Retrieved 2011-09-27.
  2. ↑ "Mall changed Westmoreland lifestyle". Pittsburghlive.com. 2002-09-22. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
  3. ↑ "Merchant: Shoppers want late hours". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 1986-12-03. Retrieved 2011-09-27.
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