Whitehall 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 in Whitehall, Pennsylvania. It is anchored by

Kohl's Kohl's (stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain, operated by Kohl's Corporation. it is the largest department store chain in the United States, with 1,165 locations, operating stores in every U.S. state except Hawai ...

. Whitehall Mall was one of the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the no ...

's first malls and is located across from the

Lehigh Valley Mall Lehigh Valley Mall is an enclosed super-regional shopping mall located in Fullerton in Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. With 146 stores, it is the largest shopping mall in the Lehigh Valley an ...

History

1966-1997

Land for the mall () was purchased for $125,000 from a farmer and groundbreaking occurred in 1965. Zollinger's opened before the mall on August 15, 1966, with the rest of the mall opening on September 26, 1966. The mall had 52 stores including

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 ...

Weis Markets Weis Markets, Inc. ( doing business as Weis and stylized as weis) is a Mid-Atlantic food retailer headquartered in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. It currently operates 199 stores with over 23,000 employees in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, New Jer ...

Woolworth's Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to: Businesses * F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores * Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shops ...

, and Zollinger's. Whitehall Mall expanded in 1973, and in 1978

Leh's H. Leh & Co. (or simply Leh's) was a department store located at 626 West Hamilton Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It was of what was an outside mall structure called the Hamilton Mall. Like many other downtown department stores of the time, ho ...

opened, replacing the closed (bankrupt) Zollinger's. Kravco become co-owner of the mall with

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 1977 for 4.5 million.

Clover Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus ...

opened in March 1982. Sears interior underwent a major overhaul in 1984. The mall received a lowered tax assessment after settling with the county, township, and school district in 1985. In 1987, a suspicious fire started in the back of the mall that later caused a wall of the Leh's to be demolished. Sears interior underwent another overhaul in 1994 that added 35,000 sq. ft. to the sales floor, and converted the former second floor offices to store space. Several stores suffered damage due to a large roof leak in January 1990, with all stores reopening after a few days, and the roofs replacement planned for April. Leh's closed in June 1996 due to bankruptcy, with Gallery Furniture taking over its former space in 1997. Clover closed in 1996, with its replacement

opening in April 1997.

1998–present

Whitehall Mall Whitehall, PA October 2019 - 49276438066

Whitehall Mall received a $15 million renovation in 1998, where it was almost totally demalled, except for a portion near Kohl's. Retaining the traditional mall look was determined to not be cost effective. Sears was expanded during this time. Three additional buildings were added to the mall's grounds during the renovation. Weis Markets closed during renovations that almost doubled its space. Plaza Theater closed in June 1999 due to having only two screens and being obsolete. The theater was previously operated by Budco, and by

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

from 1987-1996. The opening of

Gold's Gym Gold's Gym International, Inc. is an American chain of international co-ed fitness centers (commonly referred to as gyms) originally started by Joe Gold in Venice Beach, California. Each gym offers a variety of cardio and strength training equipm ...

in the mid 2000s was delayed due to design changes. Gold's Gym would use the former Leh's store and Plaza Theater.

Raymour & Flanigan Raymour & Flanigan is a high-end American furniture retail chain, based in the Northeastern United States. Overview Raymour's Furniture Company, the predecessor of Raymour & Flanigan Furniture, was established by brothers Bernard Goldberg and Ar ...

relocated to the mall in 2012, occupying two vacant storefronts. PREIT sold its 50% ownership of the Whitehall Mall in 2014 to

Washington Prime Group Washington Prime Group Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers. The company is organized in Indiana with its headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. From January 2015 to September 2016, the company had the name WP ...

, the mall's other owner. Sears closed in February 2020. PA Fitness (former Gold’s Gym) closed in January 2022.

Notes

References

External links

CBRE Whitehall MallWashington Prime Group Whitehall Mall
{{authority control 1966 establishments in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Shopping malls established in 1966 Shopping malls in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Tourist attractions in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Washington Prime Group