Exton Square Mall

The Exton Square Mall is a 1086859 sqft shopping mall located in the community of Exton in West Whiteland Township, Pennsylvania, roughly 25 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The mall originally opened in 1973, and underwent a major expansion from 1997 to 2000. It is currently owned by Abrams Realty & Development.

The mall is shaped as a square, with the southern half of the mall having two floors and the northern half having one floor. The original anchor space (most recently occupied by Macy's) is located at the center of the mall, while the three other anchor spaces and the food court are on each of the four corners of the mall.

Since the 2010s, the mall has suffered a major decline, leaving most retail spaces vacant. As of 2023, the facility has been cited among lists of "dead malls" in Pennsylvania.[2]

Location

The Exton Square Mall is located in the unincorporated community of Exton in West Whiteland Township, Pennsylvania, at the northeast corner of the intersection between east–west U.S. Route 30 Business and north–south Pennsylvania Route 100.[3] The intersection is known as the "crossroads of Chester County" due to the heavy daily usage of both routes.[4] The mall is also located near the U.S. Route 30 bypass of Exton, the U.S. Route 202 expressway, and the Downingtown Interchange of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.[1] SEPTA bus routes 135 and 204 stop at the mall at the Exton Transportation Center, providing access to West Chester, Coatesville, Eagleview, and Paoli.[5][6] The mall is also located near Exton station, which is served by the Paoli/Thorndale Line of SEPTA Regional Rail and Amtrak's Keystone Service and Pennsylvanian.[5] The Exton Square Mall has a market area that covers most of Chester County along with the western portion of Delaware County, the western portion of Montgomery County near Pottstown, the extreme southern portion of Berks County, and the extreme eastern portion of Lancaster County.[7]

The Exton Square Mall complex also contains several facilities, including the Chester County Library.

History

The Exton Square Mall was developed by Exton Square, Inc., a subsidiary of The Rouse Company[8] and opened its doors on March 15, 1973. The mall had one anchor store, Strawbridge & Clothier, surrounded by a ring of smaller stores.[9] It was also home to Pennsylvania's first Chick-fil-A restaurant, which opened in 1973 and remains part of the food court today.[10] In developing the Exton Square Mall, The Rouse Company was responsible for restoring the Zook House, a historic 18th century farmhouse that existed at the site of the mall.[11]

By the 1990s, the mall, which had no major renovations, was starting to show its age. Additionally, developers had been looking to build a competing malls in neighboring Uwchlan and East Caln townships.[9] As a response, in 1992, The Rouse Company proposed adding two anchor stores.[12] In 1995, plans were modified to not only add three new anchor stores, but also double the size of the mall as a whole. The Rouse Company purchased 12 acres near the mall to be used for the expansion.[13] Boscov's and JCPenney signed leases to open locations at the Exton Square Mall in 1996, with Sears following in 1997.[14][15] In September 1997, West Whiteland Township supervisors approved the expansion of the Exton Square Mall.[16]

Groundbreaking for the expansion took place in December 1997.[9] In 1998, the Zook House, which had served as the mall management office, was relocated to make way for the new Boscov's store.[17] The expansion added three new anchor stores, a new food court, two parking garages, and a completed second level. The expanded mall was designed to reflect the agricultural heritage of Chester County.[9] In addition to expanding the mall, The Rouse Company improved US 30 Bus. and PA 100 near the mall at a cost of $3 million.[18] Boscov's, Sears, and the new food court opened in 1999.[19] Construction concluded in May 2000 with the opening of JCPenney and 48 new stores; a grand reopening was held to commemorate this. The expansion of the mall cost $125 million. The number of stores in the mall increased from 95 to 150 and retail space expanded from 435000 sqft to 980000 sqft. The expansion turned the Exton Square Mall into the first regional mall in Chester County.[20]In 2003, The Rouse Company sold the Exton Square Mall, along with the Cherry Hill Mall, Echelon Mall, Moorestown Mall, Plymouth Meeting Mall, and The Gallery at Market East to the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) for $548 million.[21] In 2005, Federated Department Stores purchased May Department Stores, the owners of Strawbridge's, and planned to convert several Strawbridge's locations to Macy's, including the store at Exton Square Mall. Strawbridge's became Macy's in 2006.[22] In January 2014, Main Line Health opened a 32000 sqft healthcare facility on the first floor.[23][24][25]

Decline and redevelopment

Economic impact

The opening of the Exton Square Mall helped spur rapid growth in West Whiteland Township, with the population increasing from 7,900 in 1973 to over 16,000 by 2000. Since the opening, many shopping centers and office parks have been built in the township. Following the opening of the mall, the West Whiteland Township Police Department was created to patrol the township as the demand from the mall would be too much for the Pennsylvania State Police to handle.[4] When the Exton Square Mall first opened, several stores in downtown West Chester closed.[37] In 2011, the Exton Square Mall saw sales per square foot of $332.

In popular culture

On September 10, 2015, director Kevin Smith announced that the Exton Square Mall would be used in the filming of MallBrats, the sequel to his 1995 film Mallrats. MallBrats was originally intended to be filmed at the Granite Run Mall, but the plan fell through due to that mall's impending redevelopment.[38] In February 2017, plans for filming MallBrats were cancelled.[39]

Gallery

External links

• Exton Square Mall