Greengate Centre

Infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Greengate Centre


image_width =
caption =
location = Greensburg, Pennsylvania, flag|USA
address =
coordinates =
opening_date = 2005
closing_date =
developer = THF Realty
manager = THF Realty
owner = THF Realty
number_of_stores = 45+
number_of_anchors = 4
floor_area = convert|430000|sqft|m2
floors = 1
parking = 2,000+
website =

Greengate Centre is an expansive open-air shopping complex in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located on U.S. Route 30. The center opened in 2005 on the site of the former Greengate Mall, a dead mall which opened in 1965, closed in 2001, and was demolished in 2003. Greengate Centre currently encompasses over convert|430000|sqft|m2 of retail space, and more than forty-five stores and restaurants. Anchor stores include Jo-Ann Fabrics, Linens 'n Things, Petco and Wal-Mart Supercenter. THF Realty of St. Louis, Missouri owns and manages the shopping center.

Greengate East

Greengate East is a 71,576 square foot strip shopping center adjacent to Greengate Centre. It was built in the 1970s and originally was anchored by a Giant Eagle supermarket, which moved less than a mile west to the Hempfield Square development in 1997. Currently, Greengate East is anchored by a Big Lots discount store, and features a Wines & Spirits liquor store, Snap Fitness, ClearWaterz bar and nightclub, M&M Leather and Play It Again Sports.

Greengate North Plaza

Greengate North Plaza is an ancillary office and retail building at Greengate Centre. It sits on the bottom of the hill behind the Wal-Mart Supercenter and was once part of the Greengate Mall complex. It was once home to a General Cinemas triple-screen movie theater, later to become part of Carmike Cinemas. It closed in 1999 when the larger Carmike 15 multiplex opened at Westmoreland Mall, five miles to the east. Today, tenants include a branch of First Commonwealth Bank, La Bliss bridal boutique and travel agency, Heartland Hospice and a number of chiropractic, physical therapy and medical offices.

Greengate Mall

Infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Greengate Mall


image_width =
caption =
location = Greensburg, Pennsylvania, flag|USA
address =
coordinates =
opening_date = 1965
closing_date = 2001
developer = Rouse Company
number_of_stores = 100+
number_of_anchors = 3
floor_area = convert|651000|sqft|m2
floors = 2
parking =

Greengate Mall was developed by the Rouse Company in 1965 as an enclosed shopping mall. Original anchor stores included Horne's, JCPenney, and Montgomery Ward.cite web |url=http://deadmalls.com/malls/greengate_mall.html |title= DeadMalls.com Feature: Greengate Mall: Hempfield, PA |accessdate=2007-09-07 |last=Nelson |first=Gary |coauthors=Brian Florence |work=Deadmalls.com] Other major tenants included a G. C. Murphy dime store, Burger King, Big Boy, Waldenbooks, Radio Shack, Kay-Bee Toys, Spencer Gifts; in addition, the mall was home to the first mall-based off track betting center.

Sears and Kaufmann's, two other department store chains, had both expressed interest in opening a store at Greengate Mall since the mall's opening in the 1960s. Rouse, however, did not want to spend additional money to build additional anchor spaces at Greengate Mall.cite web |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2001/08/13/focus2.html |title=Greengate's demise all but official (page 1) |accessdate=2007-09-07 |last=Elliott |first=Suzanne |date=2001-08-10 |work=Bizjournals.com] As a result, Westmoreland Mall opened across town in 1977, with Sears and Kaufmann's (turned Macy's) as it's original anchor stores, joined later by The Bon-Ton and, from Greengate itself, JCPenney (see below).

JCPenney's departure in 1994 left a gaping hole at Greengate that, along with competition from a nearby Wal-Mart and the aforementioned rival mall, caused it to start slowly withering away. The Joseph Horne Company was acquired by Lazarus in 1994,cite web |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2001/08/13/focus2.html?page=2 |title=Greengate's demise all but official (page 2) |accessdate=2007-09-07 |last=Elliott |first=Suzanne |date=2001-08-10 |work=Bizjournals.com] and the Horne's store at Greengate Mall was among those converted to the Lazarus name. Lazarus closed two years later, however, and the mall was sold to new owners in August 1998 for $1.6 million.

In 2001, Montgomery Ward closed with the chain's bankruptcy; shortly afterward, an attempt was made to convert the largely vacant mall to a telecommunications center. This plan failed, and the last of the mall's tenants were evicted in the summer of 2001. Greengate Mall remained vacant until 2003, when THF Realty acquired the property. The mall was demolished for Greengate Centre, which opened in 2005.

References

External links

* [http://www.greengatemallrevisited.com/ Greengate Mall Revisited - nostalgia site]
* [http://www.greengatemall.com/ Greengate Mall - upcoming historical site]
* [http://www.ryse.rotteneggs.com/r3/show/se/398542.html A reader's view on the destruction of Greengate Mall]