Lycoming Mall is a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

located twelve miles east of

Williamsport, Pennsylvania Williamsport is a city in, and the county seat of, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. It recorded a population of 27,754 at the 2020 Census. It is the principal city of the Williamsport Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a popul ...

off Route 220 and I-180. It is anchored by

Burlington Burlington may refer to: Places Canada Geography * Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador * Burlington, Nova Scotia * Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington" * Burlington, Prince Edward Island * Burlington Bay, no ...

. Other stores include Books-A-Million.

History

1978–2015

Plans for Lycoming Mall were announced in 1975, with 674,000 sq. ft. of space and Gee Bee,

Hess's Hess's was a department store chain based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company started in 1897 with one store, originally known as Hess Brothers, and grew to nearly 80 stores by its peak in the late 1980s. The chain's stores were closed or sol ...

, and

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

as anchors. Hess's would open on March 1, 1978, with the rest of the mall opening July 15, 1978, and Sears a few weeks later. Plans included a $4.7 million expansion in 1985 that added 115,800 sq. ft. and a

Bon-Ton Bon-Ton Holdings Inc. is an American online retailer and former department store chain founded in 1898. After rapid expansion in the 1990s and early 2000s, the original company had financial troubles, ultimately filing for bankruptcy in 2018 ...

to the mall. J. C. Penney moved from downtown Williamsport to the mall in the late 1980s. During this time, an independent attempt to build a second area mall in downtown failed.

Value City Value City was an American discount department store chain with 113 locations. It was founded in 1917 by Ephraim Schottenstein, a travelling salesman in central Ohio. The store was an off-price retailer that sold clothing, jewelry, and home good ...

would close in March 2008, with

Burlington Coat Factory Burlington, formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory, is an American national off-price department store retailer, and a division of Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation with more than 1,000 stores in 40 states and Puerto Rico, with i ...

announced as its replacement in May. Books-A-Million opened in November 2011, replacing a closed

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

. The Gap and RadioShack closed in February 2015, with a Gap Factory store opening in the Lycoming Crossing Shopping Center, near Lycoming Mall.

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers mostly in the Mid-Atlantic states. History The company was founded by Sylvan M. Cohen in 1960 as one of the first equi ...

put Lycoming Mall up for sale in January 2015.

Sale and downturn: 2016 – 2020

The mall was sold to

Kohan Retail Investment Group Kohan Retail Investment Group is a shopping mall investment company based in Great Neck, New York. They primarily purchase endangered/troubled shopping malls. History Kohan bought Northland Mall from Developers Diversified Realty for $1.8 mill ...

for $26.35 million on March 22, 2016, who owns it under the name Lycoming Mall Realty Holding.

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

closed in March 2017, and owned its anchor store. J. C. Penney closed at the mall on July 31, 2017. Sears was announced to close in January 2018. Lycoming Mall's owners are appealing its tax assessment of $44.89 million. The former Macy's was sold for over $500,000 to MC Storage Lycoming LLC, and it will be changed into storage. Bon-Ton closed due to the chain's liquidation. The mall lost power in late August 2018 due to owner not paying its PPL electric bill, but reopened the next day. Lycoming Mall faced sheriff's sale in February 2019 due to unpaid bills from the Lycoming County Water and Sewer Authority. The auction did not occur due to a partial payment by Kohan.

Continued downturn: 2021 – present

Dick's Sporting Goods moved from the mall to the Lycoming Crossing Shopping Center in late 2021. Lycoming Mall was scheduled go to sheriff's sale in May 2022 due to unpaid bills of almost $240,000 from the Lycoming County Water and Sewer Authority. Its sale was latter cancelled after the owners paid almost $300,000 in bills and fees.

Hadany Arch

The mall is noted for the 90-foot-high, 55-foot-wide, 140 ton steel sculpture known as the Hadany Arch. It is named after

Israel Hadany Israel Hadany ( he, ישראל הדני, Israel ha-Dani) (born 1941) is an Israeli environment artist , sculptor and jewelry designer, internationally acknowledged. He is involved with poetry writing as well. Biography Early life Born in B ...

, who designed it in 1977. The arch was purchased by board members from Hess's and Crown American, with its dedication being in November 1978.Some sources report as 100-foot-high.

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{coord, 41.240577, -76.82670, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-PA, display=title Shopping malls in Pennsylvania Shopping malls established in 1978 1978 establishments in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania Tourist attractions in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania Kohan Retail Investment Group