Palmer Park Mall

The Palmer Park Mall is an indoor one-story shopping mall of 457,734 square feet (42,524.9 m2) located in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania, in the United States.[1] The mall is located at the intersection of PA Route 248 (Nazareth Road) and Park Avenue in Palmer Township, Northampton County.[1]

Palmer Park Mall
Entrance to the mall, April 2019
LocationPalmer Township, Pennsylvania
Coordinates40.6968°N 75.2581°W / 40.6968; -75.2581
Address123 Palmer Park Mall
Easton, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Opening dateAugust 16, 1973
OwnerCityview Commercial LLC
No. of stores and services55
No. of anchor tenants2
Total retail floor area457,734 square feet (42,524.9 m2)
No. of floors1
ParkingParking lot
Public transit access LANTA bus: 106, 216, 217
Websiteshoppalmerparkmall.com

The mall has over 50 stores and is anchored by a 192,110 square foot (17,848 m2) Boscov's.[1] It has one vacant 122,125 square foot (11,346 m2) anchor most recently occupied by The Bon-Ton.[1] The shopping mall is owned by Cityview Commercial LLC.

Palmer Park Mall primarily serves as the main shopping mall for residents of the Easton area, including the townships of Bethlehem, Forks, Palmer, and Williams, and the boroughs of Glendon, West Easton, and Wilson.

The mall also serves as a designated "metro transit center" for several LANTA Metro bus routes, where riders can transfer to different routes.

History

The Palmer Park Mall was first announced in October 1971 by the Hess's department store company, who claimed that they intended build a 300,000 square foot (27,871 m2) mall at the site of John Raub's farm in Palmer Township, with 35-40 stores and parking for 2,000 cars.[2] Hess's opened their department store at the site of the mall in July 1972, before the rest of the mall was constructed.[3] Palmer Park Mall had its grand opening on August 16–18, 1973, at which point Hess's was the sole anchor.[4][5]

In early 1976, less than three years after the mall's opening, Hess's announced a 15,000 square foot (1,394 m2) expansion to their department store that was completed by the end of spring that same year.[6] This brought the department store up to 122,125 square feet (11,346 m2). The mall itself was expanded to 349,000 square feet (32,423 m2) in 1982 to accommodate a second anchor: an 80,000 square foot (7,432 m2) Clover department store, the discount division of Strawbridge & Clothier.[7][8]

The mall experienced a decline in business during the 1990s, which was caused in part by the mall's aging design along with the nearby opening of the much larger and much newer Phillipsburg Mall in 1989.[5] In 1994, the debt-ridden Hess's department store chain was sold; 19 of the remaining Hess's stores, including the location at Palmer Park Mall were sold to The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc, which rebranded the stores under its own name the following year.[9][10] The mall was dealt yet another blow when the Clover department store closed their doors in 1996.[11][5]

The fortunes of the mall changed for the better in October 1998 with the opening of Boscov's, which took over the space of the old Clover location.[5][12] The retail space was also expanded by over 100,000 square feet to accommodate Boscov's, bringing the total retail space of the mall up to its current level.[5] The mall also received a $10 million renovation in 1999 to update the mall's aging decor, followed by an investment of over $1 million by Bon-Ton to update their department store.[5]

In 2003, the mall became wholly owned by the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) after PREIT acquired mall developer Crown American. Prior to this acquisition, the mall was owned 50% by PREIT and 50% by Crown American.[13]

In January 2015, Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust announced that it was planning on selling Palmer Park Mall along with four other properties.[14] In its final quarterly report before the sale of the mall, PREIT reported that the Palmer Park Mall did $311 in sales per square foot.[15] PREIT was seeking to achieve a portfolio average of $500 in sales per square foot by the end of 2016, prompting the sale of Palmer Park and other properties.[15] On February 23, 2016, Cityview Commercial LLC purchased the mall from PREIT for $18 million, with plans to improve the mall.[16]

After filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2018, The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. went out of business that same year; all stores closed by the end of August, including the location at the Palmer Park Mall.[17] The mall management has speculated that the former Bon-Ton anchor could be partially demolished and retrofitted to accommodate multiple tenants as the mall searches for a productive future use for the space.[17]

Anchors

Former anchors
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References
  1. "Palmer Park Mall Fact Sheet" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2019-07-24.
  2. "Hess Brothers to build Palmer Township Mall". Easton Express. 1971-10-06. p. 1.
  3. "Hess Department Store opens in Palmer Township". Easton Express. 1972-07-17. p. 30.
  4. "Palmer Park Mall grand opening, August 16-18, 1973". Easton Express. 1973-08-16. p. 6.
  5. Ford, William J. (13 July 2000). "NEW STORES BREATHE LIFE INTO PALMER PARK MALL OPENING TODAY OF VICTORIA'S SECRET WOMEN'S RETAILER HELPS FILL VACANCIES". The Morning Call. p. B05. There is a lot more traffic in the mall with [Boscov]'s, and it will increase with Victoria's Secret,` said Geza Kardos of Salisbury Township, a manager at The Wall music store beside Boscov's. `It definitely helps us." Jennifer Rippert, an assistant manager at Plumb Gold jewelers, which is adjacent to Victoria's Secret, said even with Boscov's and the mall renovations she still hasn't seen much of a change. Boscov's "was the real catalyst in the mall and getting it back on its feet," [Sheryl Dougherty] said. "That is when we started to get more retailers interested in the mall.
  6. "Hess Brothers Department store chain plans to open a 15,000 square- foot addition to its Palmer Park Mall in the late spring". Easton Express. 1976-02-06. p. 1.
  7. "Strawbridge & Clothier: Established a "Clover" store in the Palmer Park Mall". Easton Express. 1982-03-07. p. C-1.
  8. "Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust · 424B5 · On 12/19/97". SEC.INFO. Retrieved January 30, 2010. Palmer Park Mall. Palmer Park Mall is a 349,000 square foot, enclosed mall located in Easton, Pennsylvania, one mile north of U.S. Route 22 on Pennsylvania Route 248. The center, which opened in 1972 and was expanded and redeveloped in 1982, is located on a 50-acre site, with 59 in-line stores (including an Eckerd Drug Store) anchored by The Bon-Ton. Negotiations with a second anchor to replace a former Clover store are underway. Substantial redevelopment planning is proceeding with the purchase by the partnership owning the mall of the Clover building and the renovation of the Clover building. The Company has a 50% interest in the partnership which owns the mall.
  9. Salerno, Allison (1994-08-02). "HESS'S TO BE SOLD DEAL TO SPLIT, SELL CHAIN FLAGSHIP STORE TO BECOME PART OF BON-TON". The Morning Call. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
  10. Salerno, Allison (1994-09-23). "HESS'S SALE MIGHT SPEED UP; POTTSTOWN STORE WILL CLOSE". The Morning Call. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
  11. Hay, Bryan (21 November 1997). "RETAILER MAY MOVE TO PALMER PARK MALL * READING-BASED BOSCOV'S CONSIDERING OPENING A STORE IN THE FORMER CLOVER BUILDING THAT CLOSED ITS DOORS IN 1996". The Morning Call. p. A25. The vacant Clover store at Palmer Park Mall is one of many mid-Atlantic sites under consideration by Boscov's, the Reading-based retailer said Thursday.
  12. "Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust Announces Additional Philadelphia Acquisition and $20 Million Palmer Park Mall Financing" (Press release). Pennsylvania Real Investment Trust. 1999-01-12. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
  13. Call, Kurt Blumenau Of The Morning. "Crown American is bought by PREIT ** The $1.2 billion deal brings many area malls under one ownership". themorningcall.com. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
  14. Kraus, Scott (January 5, 2015). "For sale: Palmer Park Mall". The Morning Call. Allentown, PA. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
  15. Harris, Jon. "Palmer Park Mall sales increased, occupancy decreased in 2015". mcall.com. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
  16. Harris, Jon (February 24, 2016). "New owners to jazz up Palmer Park Mall". The Morning Call. Allentown, PA. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  17. Harris, Jon. "Life without Bon-Ton: Disaster or opportunity for Lehigh Valley malls?". The Morning Call. Retrieved 2019-07-27.
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