Shenango Valley Mall was 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 in

Hermitage, Pennsylvania Hermitage is a city contiguous with Sharon, PA in western Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. Hermitage is located about northeast of Youngstown, about southeast of Cleveland and about northwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 16,230 ...

opened on March 13, 1968. The mall was shuttered following the closure of its final anchor store,

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...

, on May 31, 2024.

History

The land Shenango Valley Mall sits on was previously owned by the McConnell family until its sale in 2022. Shenango Valley Mall opened on March 13, 1968.

opened at the mall in January 1969, after being previously located in

Sharon, Pennsylvania Sharon is a city in western Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city, located along the banks of the Shenango River on the state border with Ohio, is about northeast of Youngstown, about southeast of Cleveland and about northwest o ...

. Shenango Valley Mall was renovated in 1997, costing $3.5 million. It was the malls first major renovation since opening in the 1960s and

Kaufmann's Kaufmann's was a department store that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Summary The store was owned in the early 20th century by Edgar J. Kaufmann, patron of the famous Fallingwater house. In the post-war years, the store became a regi ...

also expanded its store. Crown American Realty Trust, the mall's owner, was sold to

PREIT 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 ...

in 2003. The mall was then sold by PREIT, along with five others to

The Lightstone Group The Lightstone Group is a privately held real estate investment company which owns and operates a diversified portfolio of multifamily, office, industrial, hotel, and retail properties. Lightstone has invested directly in individual real estate as ...

in 2004. Kaufmann's was re-branded as

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 ...

in August 2006. Shenango Valley Mall and three other malls entered receivership in January 2009, with

Jones Lang LaSalle Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL) is a global commercial real estate services company, founded in the United Kingdom with offices in 80 countries. The company also provides investment management services worldwide, including services to insti ...

taking over management. Jones Lang LaSalle offered the mall, along with three others, for sale in May 2009. An attempted sale with two other malls failed in 2010. Shenango Valley Mall made national news due to the closure of both its Macy's 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 ...

in March 2017. Sears Auto Center was not part of the closure. Firestone and Sears Auto Center were both damaged in the same month by a storm. In 2017, Hermitage City and School District challenged the mall's tax reassessment that significantly reduced its value due to the loss of two anchors. JSMN Shenango Valley Mall defaulted on the mall's $3.430 million loan in February 2018, with courts assigning Metro Commercial as the malls operator. The malls lender, Iowa Square Realty LLC, won it at sheriff's sale for $50,000 in July 2018. Sears Auto Center closed in October 2018. Court hearings occurred in December 2018 over Iowa Square Realty's ownership of the mall due to issues with maintenance, unpaid rent, and taxes. The mall in December was $243,000 in debt due to unpaid rent and taxes. Ownership of the mall was given to GFM 23 (McConnell family) by the court in January 2019 due to Iowa Square Realty not paying a court ordered $25,000 bond. Issues in early 2019 include the parking lot and a leaky roof. The mall's tax assessment issues were resolved in June 2019. Due to legal issues with JCPenney regarding the redevelopment of the mall, LRC Realty did not complete its purchase of the mall announced in 2019. In February 2022, the malls owner won a common pleas court decision against JCPenney regarding the malls potential redevelopment. JCPenney appealed the case as of August 2022. Shenango Valley Mall was sold to Butterfli Holdings LLC (FLICORE LLC) in August 2022. JCPenney would lose further appeals in the Pennsylvania Superior and Supreme Courts in 2023. In January 2024, JCPenney announced it would close at the Shenango Valley Mall in May. The mall closed on May 31, 2024 and is set to be demolished later in 2024.

Notes

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://www.shopshenangovalley.com/ Defunct shopping malls in the United States Shopping malls in Pennsylvania Shopping malls established in 1969 Shopping malls disestablished in 2024 1969 establishments in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Mercer County, Pennsylvania Tourist attractions in Mercer County, Pennsylvania