The Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills, or simply Pittsburgh Mills, is a super-regional shopping center northeast of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in Frazer Township, along PA Route 28 near its intersection with the

Pennsylvania Turnpike The Pennsylvania Turnpike (Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike) is a toll highway operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A controlled-access highway, it runs for across the state. The turnpike's we ...

. The mall is the second largest shopping complex in

Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...

, and the main retail center for the Allegheny Valley with of retail space on . The grand opening of the mall portion of Pittsburgh Mills was on July 14, 2005. Pittsburgh Mills was conceived and originally developed by the Mills Corporation, now

Simon Property Group Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/lifestyle centers. It is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States and is headquartered in Indian ...

. On December 30, 2006, Mills Corporation announced it sold its stake in Pittsburgh Mills to its partner in the project,

Zamias Services, Inc. Zamias Services, Inc. is a commercial real estate leasing and management company based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The company was created by shopping mall developer George D. Zamias and traces its history back to 1957. History George D. Zamias ...

of Johnstown. Because of this, Pittsburgh Mills is currently the only Mills-branded mall that is neither owned or managed by Simon in the United States.

Vaughan Mills Vaughan Mills is a regional outlet mall located at the southeast quadrant of the Highway 400 and Rutherford Road interchange in Vaughan, Ontario, just south of Canada's Wonderland. It is one of the largest enclosed shopping centres in Canada, ...

near Toronto and

CrossIron Mills CrossIron Mills is a fully enclosed shopping centre development just outside the northern city limits of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and immediately east of the hamlet of Balzac in Rocky View County. It was developed by Ivanhoé Cambridge, a major ...

outside Calgary, Alberta, are the only other Mills-type malls that are not owned or managed by Simon. To date, it is the last Mills mall built in the United States. It is the first Landmark Mills property to feature two full-price

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

s—

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 ...

and Kaufmann's (now

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 ...

), along with a Sears Grand store, which closed in 2015. Although the typical Landmark Mills mall is synonymous with outlet shopping, Pittsburgh Mills is the only center to offer an entire lineup of full-price retailers that otherwise could be found in a traditional enclosed mall. The reason for this goes back to 1981, when developer Zamias Services, Inc. of Johnstown, planned to develop a

regional 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 ref ...

on the Frazer Township site. Legal setbacks and financial difficulties had postponed the project for many years, until the Mills Corporation announced in 2002 that they would partner in conjunction with Zamias to build a retail and entertainment complex on the site. As part of a

foreclosure Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mortg ...

sale, the mall was auctioned for $100 in January 2017.

Decline

Despite opening to much fanfare in 2005, the Galleria portion of Pittsburgh Mills would never see the success that its owners had hoped. Only a year after opening, Lucky Strike Lanes closed, and was eventually replaced with two restaurants, Dingbats and Abate Seafood, and a banquet hall.

Linens 'n Things Linens 'n Things was a Clifton, New Jersey-based big-box retailer specializing in home textiles, housewares, and decorative home accessories. The chain operated 571 stores in 47 U.S. states and six Canadian provinces, and had 7,300 employees as of ...

closed in 2008, along with

Borders Books Borders Group, Inc. (former NYSE ticker symbol BGP) was an American multinational book and music retailer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. In its final year, the company employed about 19,500 people throughout the U.S., primarily in ...

, which closed in 2011. Sears Grand, which opened with the mall in 2005, also closed in 2015, ending a 10-year run. Starting in 2014, non-retail businesses began occupying space in the mall. These included real estate offices, armed forces recruiters, pharmacy and medical supply outlets, and fitness clubs. One of the largest non-traditional tenants, ITT Technical School, closed its location at the Galleria in 2016. In May 2020,

Cinemark Theaters Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (stylized as CineMark from 1998 to 2022 and CINEMARK since 2022) is an American movie theater chain that started operations in 1984 and since then it has operated theaters with hundreds of locations throughout the America ...

announced that as part of the nationwide shutdown of the economy, it would not reopen the Pittsburgh Mills location after the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

shutdown. In January 2021, Goodrich Quality Theaters announced that they would reopen the former Cinemark in Spring 2021. On June 4, 2020,

announced that it would close its store at Pittsburgh Mills by around October 2020 as part of a plan to close 154 stores nationwide.

Jo-Ann Fabrics Jo-Ann Stores, LLC, more commonly known as Jo-Ann (stylized as JOANN), is an American specialty retailer of crafts and fabrics based in Hudson, Ohio. It operates the retail chains ''JOANN Fabrics and Crafts'' and ''Jo-Ann Etc''. The headquarter ...

, and

Dick's Sporting Goods Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized as "DICK'S Sporting Goods") is an American sporting goods retail company, based in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. The company was established by Richard "Dick" Stack in 1948, and has approximately 854 stores an ...

are currently the only anchor stores left. As of February 2022, there are only about 25 stores left, including 8 major chain stores, which includes

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

Bath & Body Works Bath & Body Works, LLC. is an American retail store chain that sells soaps, lotions, fragrances, and candles. It was founded in 1990 in New Albany, Ohio and has since expanded across 6 continents. In 1997, it was the largest bath shop chain in ...

Champs Sports Champs Sports is an American sports retail store, it operates as a subsidiary of Foot Locker. Products sold at Champs Sports include apparel, equipment, footwear, and accessories. As of June 2019, there were 540 store locations found throughout ...

Claire's Claire's (formerly known as Claire's Boutiques, Claire's Boutique and Claire's Accessories) is an American retailer of accessories, jewelry, and toys primarily aimed toward tween and teen girls. It was founded in 1961 and is based in Hoffman E ...

, Panera Bread, and

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...

. The food court, which once housed two full-service restaurants, a

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...

location, 10 counter restaurants, and several push-cart vendors, is completely vacant.

Mall complex

The mall complex consists of two components. The first of these, named the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills, is the indoor component of the complex which is divided into five themed ''neighborhoods'' corresponding to various Pittsburgh landmarks and cultural icons. One lap around the entire mall is about one mile in length, making it a popular spot for mall walkers. Two children's play areas are also located within the center, located in the cut-through corridor near the food court. The second component is an adjacent shopping center called the Village at Pittsburgh Mills. The Village contains a total of of store space and over 30 retailers. In mid-April 2015 the mall constructed a Sky Trail that occupied a corner of the food court, in hopes of generating entertainment and business. The corner previously was the site of a carousel and a staging area for small pageants and school band concerts. Mall management closed and removed the Sky Trail in fall of 2017.

References

{{Namdar Realty Group, state=autocollapse Shopping malls in Metro Pittsburgh Shopping malls established in 1991 Shopping malls established in 2005 Namdar Realty Group

Decline

Mall complex

See also

References