欧博Shopping Mall tiers by metro (middle
Ranking the malls in the Pittsburgh area
1. Ross Park Mall - Serves Pittsburgh's increasingly wealthy northern suburbs, and has also become a regional destination due to the presence of Nordstrom and dozens of other upscale retailers including, but not limited to, Ann Taylor, Armani Collezioni, BCBGMAXAZRIA, Burberry, Crate & Barrel, Godiva Chocolatier, Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, L.L. Bean, L'Occitane, Louis Vuitton, Lucky Brand Jeans, Michael Kors, Pottery Barn, Teavana, Tiffany & Co. and Williams-Sonoma. The mall also features a Cheesecake Factory and a California Pizza Kitchen. Less than a mile up McKnight Road, The Shoppes at Northway will soon be given a boost with upscale outlet stores like Nordstrom Rack and Saks Off 5th, plus Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant.
2. South Hills Village - Serves Pittsburgh's wealthy southern suburbs along U.S. 19, but is smaller than the average mall with only three anchors, and no place to put a fourth anchor without gutting the mall. As a result, it lacks an upscale anchor like Nordstrom, as well as many of the upscale stores that tend to cluster around it, but the mall remains very profitable, and it does feature an Apple Store, Teavana, and, later this year, the second Primadonna Collection in North America (the first is actually in the city of Pittsburgh in the neighborhood of Shadyside). About a mile up Washington Road is The Galleria of Mt. Lebanon, which is a mini-mall with upscale stores such as Ann Taylor, Anthropologie, Godiva Chocolatier, Orvis, Pottery Barn Kids and Williams-Sonoma.
3. The Mall at Robinson - Serves Pittsburgh's growing western suburbs. It features all your standard mall retail, like Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle Outfitters, etc., but nothing upscale. Be that as it may, the mall is healthy with few (if any) vacancies. Besides serving an area that's growing in both population and income, it also has two other advantages: One, it's the nearest major shopping destination to the Weirton/Steubenville area, which is just 25 miles to the west on U.S. 22, so it's not uncommon to see West Virginia and Ohio plates in the parking lot, especially on the weekends. Two, it has an IKEA nearby, which is a regional shopping destination since the nearest IKEAs are in Detroit and Cincinnati to the west, and Philadelphia and Washington DC to the east.
4. The Waterfront - Serves Pittsburgh's East End neighborhoods, as well as the lower Monongahela River Valley and adjacent southern suburbs. This was Pittsburgh's first (and so far only) stab at a "lifestyle" center, and it's been a general success despite some criticisms about its layout, due primarily to the fact that it's located right across the Monongahela River from Pittsburgh's rapidly gentrifying East End. It features Macy's, Costco and Dick's Sporting Goods, plus several other standard mall stores, and it also has a strong restaurant and entertainment component, with Bar Louie, P.F. Chang's, Omaha Steaks, Dave & Buster's, and an AMC Loews Theatre with a liquor license.
5. Monroeville Mall - Serves Pittsburgh's eastern suburbs, and is actually a bit of a pop culture icon, being featured in movies like Dawn of the Dead, Flashdance, and Zack and Miri Make a Porno. The Waterfront has siphoned away some business, and the renovations it received 10 years ago were half-assed, so the mall has seen better days, but I don't believe it to be at risk for two reasons: One, it's the epicenter of the only major shopping area in Pittsburgh's eastern suburbs, which gives it some extra gravity. Two, the north end of the mall was recently reconstructed to include an H&M and a Cinemark theater, which means the mall is adapting.
6. Westmoreland Mall - Serves Westmoreland County and the Laurel Valley. Westmoreland County is the largest and second-most populous county in the metropolitan area, so Monroeville Mall is not an option for everybody there. Westmoreland Mall has all the standard mall stores, and is the largest shopping mall in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area outside of Allegheny County. It's also the only major shopping destination in the heavily populated Laurel Valley, which includes parts of Fayette and Indiana Counties as well. One potential disadvantage that the mall has to deal with is that the area it serves has been rapidly declining in population despite an influx of people from Allegheny County.
7. Pittsburgh Mills - Serves the Allegheny River Valley, and is the newest mall in the Pittsburgh area. It was the last mall built in the United States by the Mills Corporation before they declared bankruptcy. I was skeptical of the plans for this mall, being that it's located in a rather thinly populated area of Allegheny County with relatively low incomes, but it seems to be treading water, and my guess is because it gets a fair amount of business from the "Kiski" area of northern Westmoreland and southern Armstrong Counties. One potential advantage is the reconstruction of PA 28 in the city of Pittsburgh, which could open up more of the Allegheny Valley to future development, but I still get the sense that the mall was overbuilt, and it wouldn't surprise me if an anchor gets whacked eventually.
8. Beaver Valley Mall - Serves Beaver County and the Ohio and Beaver River Valleys. Beaver County has just enough population to support its own mall, though it's beginning to show some signs of weakness. All the standard mall stores can be found here, but there are a handful of vacancies, a couple of nail salons, and a few atypical tenants as well. Its location halfway between Pittsburgh and Youngstown sounds ideal, but it's no long as ideal as it'd seem. The Mall at Robinson has siphoned away some business, and so have The Shops at Boardman Park near Youngstown, albeit to a lesser extent. The population of Beaver County is slowly declining, but the more pressing concern is relatively low incomes in the area. Because of this, it's in the most danger of all the stable malls in the Pittsburgh area.
9. Washington Crown Center - Serves Washington County. Despite having four anchors and being relatively small, this mall still has a disconcerting number of vacancies and atypical tenants. The main problem is its location in the city of Washington, which itself is not large enough to support a shopping mall. TO make matters worse, there's nothing but sticks to the south and west, and the wealthy suburbs up I-79 and U.S. 19 are closer to South Hills Village. At least the owners of the mall haven't given up on it yet, getting a deal done with Ross Dress For Less to open there later this year, but we'll have to see if that helps stabilize business. As it is right now, it's down, but not out.
10. Century III Mall - Serves Pittsburgh's downtrodden southern suburbs along PA 51, plus the mid-Monongahela River Valley. When it opened, this was one of the largest malls in the United States, but little did anybody realize that the nearby Monongahela River Valley would soon become ground zero for the deindustrialization of the United States. The southern suburbs away from the valley still had enough population to support the mall for another 10 to 15 years, but three things happened that ultimately sealed its fate: One, the economic collapse of the Mon Valley resulted in severe population decline and ghettoization, which led to income destruction and an increase in crime. Two, the renovation of South Hills Village siphoned away the remaining middle- and upper-middle-class shoppers. Three, the opening of The Waterfront siphoned away several tenants. Today, the mall is literally half-empty, with many atypical tenants to boot. This mall is moribund, and there's likely no saving it.
11. Washington Mall - Serves Washington County. Now that the last anchor has closed, this mall is effectively dead. The renovation of nearby Washington Crown Center was the beginning of the end, and the only reason this mall didn't die last decade is because JCPenney had to move back in after relocating to a shopping plaza built on unstable ground. I expect this mall to eventually be torn down and converted into a "power center," which is basically a strip mall with a large number of big-box retailers.
Class A malls, shaded in BLUE, are upscale and highly profitable. Class B malls, shaded in GREEN, are solid performers, steady as they go. Class C malls, shaded in YELLOW, are still viable but have challenges. Class D malls, shaded in RED, are dying.
Dead and gone malls include Allegheny Center Mall, Parkway Center Mall, Eastland Mall and Greengate Mall.