The Shoppes at Northway

The Block Northway

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Location	Ross Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA
Coordinates
Opening date	1953 (strip mall) August 1, 1962 (enclosed mall)
Developer	The Rouse Company
Management	LRC Realty, Inc.
Owner	LRC Realty, Inc.
No. of stores and services	To be determined
No. of anchor tenants	To be determined
Total retail floor area	385,000 sq ft (35,800 m2).
No. of floors	2
Website	Official website

The Block Northway is an upcoming shopping mall located in Ross Township, north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Formerly The Shoppes at Northway and Northway Mall, it is currently undergoing redevelopment, with much of the mall being demolished and rebuilt to meet current retail trends. The mall began as a strip mall called Northway Shopping Center in 1953; it was re-opened on August 1, 1962, as Northway Mall, the first indoor mall in the state of Pennsylvania. The mall's proposed anchor stores include The Container Store, DSW, Nordstrom Rack, Saks Off 5th, in addition to Marshalls and PetSmart, both of which currently operate at the mall. A major redevelopment plan for the mall was announced in October 2014.

History

Northway Shopping Center began as a strip mall constructed in 1953. In 1962, an enclosed portion was added above the existing strip, thus creating the renamed Northway Mall. The original mall also included an aviary on the upper floor atrium, which was removed in 1994.

Original anchor stores included Joseph Horne Company, Woolworth, G.C. Murphy, and A&P. Other businesses included Isaly's, a diner and fountain, a flooring and wall decorations shop selling paints, wallpapers and other home decoration materials, a full-service hardware store, local bank branches, independent and chain shoe stores, Heintzelmann's, a specialty and imported foods shop unusual for its time, the Tiffin Lounge and Restaurant, Wlodek's, a specialty butcher, chain bookstores, a Spencer Gifts shop, a National Record Mart store on the upper mall, a men's clothing store and doctors' and dentists' offices on the Mezzanine floor, reached from the front stairwell of the mall. The enclosed lower mall featured large glass windows facing McKnight Road and floors of waxed and polished concrete.

The mall continued to thrive until 1986, when Ross Park Mall opened nearby, causing many businesses to relocate there. Horne's and G.C. Murphy both closed in 1988 (the former being replaced with Erie, Pennsylvania Dahlkemper's Catalog Showroom, which closed in the 1990s) on the top level and Value City on the bottom level. A&P also closed in the 1980s and was replaced with Herman's World of Sporting Goods.

G.C. Murphy was replaced with a discount movie theater, which was later purchased by National Amusements and converted to a first-run theater. A food court was added in 1990, featuring Rax Restaurants among its tenants. Woolworth closed in 1991, with Marshalls opening in its former space in 1995. Herman's World of Sporting Goods closed in 1993, and was replaced with Borders. Dick's Sporting Goods opened in the former Dahlkemper's space in 1994. Old Navy was also added in 1995.

In the early 1990s, the movie "The Jacksons: An American Dream" was filmed right in front of Mama Lucia's current day location.

In 1995, the mall was renovated by McNeil Real Estate of Dallas, Texas, which owned the center at the time. It was then sold to the Archon Group (also of Dallas), who put the mall up for sale again in 2000. At the time, the mall was at 94% occupancy. Since then, occupancy has declined once more, and plans were announced to convert the mall's enclosed upper level to a strip center. Under this plan, the mall would be renamed The Shoppes at Northway, and the movie theater would close. This construction eliminated the movie theater since a whole wall was knocked down. In 2007, new tenants were announced for the planned Shoppes at Northway, including a shoe store and a family play center. Value City and Old Navy closed in 2008, while the family play center (the Kid Company, which replaced the food court) existed only briefly.

Borders closed its store at Northway in 2011 in response to the company's liquidation. Dick's Sporting Goods closed its Shoppes at Northway location on April 8, 2014 as a result of the store's relocation to McCandless Crossing.

As of October 2014, much of the upper level is empty, consisting only of Marshall's, and Shoe Carnival. The lower level is in a similarly depressed state, with PetSmart, Northway Shoe and Repair, a music performance instruction school, and a hair salon still intact. A number of spaces, such as the former Party City, Ritz Camera and Csonka Optical storefronts, remain vacant.

Mama Lucia's, an Italian restaurant located in the mall since 1974, announced their intentions to close effective December 31, 2014. Repurposed, a used-merchandise store, also announced their intention not to renew their lease, which expires in late 2014. A few remaining stores have also closed in recent weeks, leaving just a handful of businesses left.

Redevelopment

LRC Realty, the owner of The Shoppes at Northway since December 2012, announced their intention to renovate and redevelop the mall. The mall will stay open during construction, which is expected to last until mid-2016. Under the redevelopment, the mall will be renamed "Northway Collection". A complete list of new tenants has not been announced as of October 2014, but will include a PetSmart location, along with new retail storefronts and restaurants. The renovation plan will also include a new addition adjacent to the current Marshalls location to accommodate the new PetSmart storefront.

Work on the newly announced PetSmart location started in late 2014 next to the existing Marshall's location.

External links

• The Shoppes at Northway