Ross Park Mall

Ross Park Mall is an upscale, two-level "super-regional" complex located convert|9|mi|km north of downtown Pittsburgh in Ross Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania on McKnight Road and I-279. The complex opened in 1988 and offers more than convert|1200000|sqft|m2 of retail space. It attracts more than 10 million shoppers annually and sales per square foot are in excess of $400.

Anchor stores

Anchor tenants include Sears serving as the center's west entrance, JC Penney as its north, and Macy's having the eastern end of the mall. Nordstrom has announced that it will be opening in 2008 in the former Macy's location.

The anchor location where Nordstrom will be building its new store has a very full history. It was built to be a Gimbel's but was never occupied because the chain was sold and liquidated around the time the mall opened. The spot was then taken over by The Joseph Horne Company (owned by the New York City based Associated Dry Goods Corporation) , the second largest of Pittsburgh's three department stores chains. It operated as Horne's from 1987 to August 1994. In 1994, it changed names again when Federated Department Stores purchased Horne's and converted the chain's locations into its own Lazarus regional nameplate. On March 6 2005, Federated converted all of its own regional nameplates, including Lazarus, into Macy's as part of nationwide rebranding program. This location was assigned to the Macy's. On July 18 2005, Cincinnati based Federated Department Stores purchased the St. Louis based May Department Stores Company which operated the Kaufmann's chain, which was the largest of the three Pittsburgh based department store chains. Kaufmann's operated a large anchor store at the opposite end of the mall. After the merger, Macy's closed its original store on March 31 2006 and moved to the much larger Kaufmann's site on Sept. 9, 2006 which was renamed Macy's. Nordstrom announced in March 2006 that they will open a new store in the old Macy's site after tearing down the existing building (the former Gimbel's, Horne's, Lazarus, Lazarus-Macy's, Macy's), as well as the two-level parking structure and building their own custom building.

When the mall was built, Kaufmann's moved in from a location about a mile north on McKnight Road that is today a Giant Eagle, Dunham's Sports, and Stein Mart. Horne's was the former anchor of nearby Northway Mall until it moved in, and the two locations coexisted for about a year.

Square footage

* JCPenney (182,861 sq ft.)
* Macy's (218,751 sq ft. in former Kaufmann's)
* Nordstrom formerly Gimbles Hornes and Lazurs (144,000 sq ft.) opening October 24th, 2008 with new building [ [http://about.nordstrom.com/ourstores/openings/openings.asp New Store Openings - Nordstrom ] ]
* Sears (174,614 sq ft.)

Mall expansion

Ross Park Mall has over 150 stores, and an expansion of the mall, which includes a convert|65000|sqft|m2|sing=on lifestyle addition and a new Nordstrom department store will increase the square footage of the mall to over convert|1300000|sqft|m2. In addition, the area where Media Play had closed (this space was originally a Service Merchandise) has become a Forever 21 and H&M and the former DSW Shoe Warehouse above the former Media Play, has become Old Navy. The lifestyle expansion will add about four or five new stores, including one eatery, and all stores will be accessible from the outside. The lifestyle addition currently houses The Cheesecake Factory and is soon to include upscale jeweler Tiffany & Co. who announced plans to open a convert|5700|sqft|m2|sing=on store [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07346/840864-28.stm] and an L.L. Bean store which currently is being built and is scheduled to open in November

Coming Soon

The following stores are to open in addition to the new Nordstrom store under construction. Most establishments are currently not represented in the Pittsburgh retail market. They are BCBG Max Azria] , Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, L.L. Bean, Lucky Brand Jeans, Martin + Osa, Michael Kors, Teavana, Tiffany & Co., and True Religion.

Apparel Stores

Ross Park features some of Pittsburgh's northern suburbs' most exclusive stores including Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Banana Republic, Express, Gap, Hollister, American Eagle Outfitters, J.Crew, Abercrombie & Fitch, H&M, and Men's Wearhouse. For women, the mall has such high-end retailers as bebe, New York & Company, Charlotte Russe, Ann Taylor Loft, Wet Seal, White House Black Market and Victoria's Secret.

Specialty Stores

Everything from Build-a-Bear Workshop to General Nutrition Center and EB Games. The most exclusive stores at the mall include Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Bare Escentuals, Coach, Sephora, Aveda, Swarovski, Aldo, Godiva Chocolatier, and Talbots. Spencer Gifts, LensCrafters, and Victoria's Secret have long been popular tenants in the mall.

References

External links

* [http://www.simon.com/mall/default.aspx?ID=158 Ross Park Mall]
* [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07346/840864-28.stm Tiffany Co. chain finds local home at Ross Park Mall]