Ross Park Mall

Coordinates: 40°32′35″N 80°00′29″W / 40.543°N 80.008°W / 40.543; -80.008
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Ross Park Mall
The entrance to the mall, 2013
Map
LocationRoss Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Opening dateAugust 1986
DeveloperSimon Property Group
ManagementSimon Property Group
OwnerSimon Property Group
No. of stores and services150
No. of anchor tenants5 (4 open, 2 under redevelopment)
Total retail floor area1,236,523 square feet (114,877 m2)
No. of floors2 (3 in Macy's)
ParkingLighted lot
Public transit accessBus transport Port Authority bus: 2, 12
Websiteross-park-mall.com

Ross Park Mall is a shopping mall located in Ross Township, Pennsylvania, north of Pittsburgh. The mall features JCPenney, Macy's, Nordstrom, Amazon Fresh, and Dick's House of Sport (coming soon).

With 170 stores, Ross Park Mall is currently the sixth-largest shopping mall in Pennsylvania. An outdoor lifestyle component complements the enclosed center.

History[edit]

Center of the mall

The mall opened in 1986. The mall's present anchor tenants include JCPenney to the east, Macy's to the south, and Nordstrom to the northwest with one vacant anchor to the north last occupied by Sears that is set to become a Dick's House of Sport. Crate & Barrel and L.L.Bean anchor the lifestyle addition on the southwestern part of the mall property. When the mall was originally built, a Horne's store occupied the present Nordstrom location and a Kaufmann's was in the present Macy's spot.

From 1987 to 1991, a McDonald's restaurant was on the first floor near the lawn mower department in the former Sears store.[1] While restaurants in department stores was not a new concept, a fast food restaurant was. Other Sears stores attempted similar undertakings with moderate success.

The Nordstrom location had a complicated beginning. It was intended to be a Gimbels but was never occupied because the Gimbels chain was sold and liquidated a year after the mall opened, resulting in a vacant anchor at the time. The spot was first opened by Horne's. It operated as Horne's from 1987 to 1994, when Federated Department Stores purchased the Horne's chain and rebranded its stores with its own regional Lazarus name. The store operated as Lazarus until Federated renamed it as Macy's in March 2005. Four months later, Federated purchased the May Department Stores Company, which operated the Kaufmann's anchor store at the south end of the mall. In March 2006, Nordstrom announced plans to build a new store on the Horne's/Lazarus/Macy's site. Following the announcement, the existing Kaufmann's soon became the current Macy's store. Demolition began on the former Macy's site and Nordstrom later opened on October 24, 2008.

During the summer of 2019, JCPenney consolidated to an updated store format on the lower level. No store currently occupies that upper level space.

Renovation and expansion[edit]

In 2000, Ross Park underwent $14 million in renovations including the construction of a play area for children near JCPenney as well as new lighting, ceilings, entranceways and flooring. Additional renovations were done in 2008 with the mall expansion, incorporating a Nordstrom department store. Some luxury retailers were also added to the mall, including Tiffany & Co, Burberry, Kate Spade New York, COACH, and Louis Vuttoin. In addition, a 65,000-square-foot (6,000 m2) lifestyle expansion was also completed the 2008 remodel. The expansion contained about five tenants, including two eateries.

On January 4, 2018, it was announced Sears would shutter as part of an ongoing decision to eliminate its brick-and-mortar format.[2] The previous Sears outpost is set to become a Dick's House of Sport in March 2024.[3]

In November 2023, it was announced that Amazon Fresh would open it's first Pittsburgh location in the former upper level of JCPenney in the November 2024, in time for the thanksgiving season.

On January 20, 2023 a GUCCI store opened in the mall, which was its first location in Western Pennsylvania. [4]

Shooting and Evacuation[edit]

On Saturday, May 29, 2021, at approximately 4:34 p.m., a shooting occurred on the upper level near J. Crew, involving 5-6 individuals, at least two of them being juveniles. People fled from the mall while others hid where they could find safety. Two of the six individuals were detained initially and the civilians still in the mall were escorted out by the police. No one was injured from the shooting. After the shooting that occurred on May 29, 2021, Simon Property Group was criticized for not having security cameras installed in their facility. This was after multiple attempts were made prior to the shooting to have video surveillance installed in all their properties.

Anchors and major stores[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "North Hills Flashback: Remembering the Ross Park Mall Sears". North Hills, PA Patch. 2018-08-18.
  2. ^ "Ross Park Mall Sears Closing Soon". North Hills, PA Patch. 2018-01-04.
  3. ^ https://patch.com/pennsylvania/northhills/ross-park-mall-finds-tenant-former-sears-location
  4. ^ "Gucci store opens at Ross Park Mall". WTAE. 2023-01-23. Retrieved 2023-09-29.

External links[edit]

40°32′35″N 80°00′29″W / 40.543°N 80.008°W / 40.543; -80.008