Parkway Center Mall, Pittsburgh, PA

[TheFugitive]

Some photos of the nearly abandoned Parkway Center Mall in Pittsburgh.
The mall closed 2 yrs. ago after losing it's Kmart anchor tenant.  The only tenant
remaining is a Giant Eagle store, which has a separate entrance at the far end of the mall.




This requires shoppers to drive completely around the abandoned mall when entering from
Green Tree Road.





Since the store cannot be seen from any of the surrounding roads, they've had to resort to
extreme lengths to let customers know they are open.



There is talk that a new Giant Eagle store will be built on one of the outparcels.
Then the mall will be demolished and replaced with a mixed use development.
That is the talk anyway.

My first retail gig was in this mall in 1985.

[ynkeesfn82]

That's crazy that Giant-Eagle had to put up a sign that says we're open. Do they even do any business?

[TheFugitive]

That's crazy that Giant-Eagle had to put up a sign that says we're open. Do they even do any business?

Believe it or not, yes.   Largely due to the lack of grocery stores in adjoining neighborhoods.

Mount Washington - Giant Eagle closed their store on Sweetbriar Street about 15 yrs. ago.  They always toss in a deed restriction that prevents the building from ever being re-used as a grocery store.  It has since been demolished and a condo development occupies the site.  The only other grocer in this neighborhood was a very small onetime Kroger, which became a Foodland, and is now a Shop & Save.

West End - no grocery stores

Sheraden - no grocery stores

Green Tree - the Noblestown Shop & Save where I worked years ago is the only one.

Beltzhoover, Mt. Oliver, Arlington - three of the roughest neighborhoods south of the rivers, with no grocers.

Beechview - just a small IGA store on Broadway

So Giant Eagle has a near-monopoly spread over a couple of square miles of densely populated area.
Locals all know where to find this store.  But if you were new to the area or were just passing through
likely you never would without those huge signs.

Next closest stops for groceries are Crafton (another Giant Eagle and a Save-a-Lot in the Crafton-Ingram Shopping Center), Banksville (Kuhn's) or Scott Township (another GE).

[TheFugitive]

The next-to-last remaining tenant in Parkway Center Mall is going out of business.

The mall closed two years ago.  Only the Giant Eagle store shown above in my photos
is still open there.  However, one other merchant, The Sports Deli, moved across the
parking lot when the mall closed and has remained open in a former Hollywood Video
location on an outparcel.

Not an actual deli but a sports clothing and memorabilia store.  Think everything
Pirates, Penguins and Steelers.  The owner is retiring due to health problems, plus
(and this is the interesting part) he claims the mall's owner is planning to demolish
it, and when it does he will lose all of his utilities.

http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/9506872-74/mall-sports-autieri

The Going Out of Business Sale was supposed to end on February 29, but I was just
by there and it is still going on.  In fact it is still being advertised on radio locally.

[Pikapower]

I think I see a GCC labelscar on there! ;)

[TheFugitive]

That labelscar is from a former "PCM" logo for Parkway Center Mall.

[Pikapower]

That labelscar is from a former "PCM" logo for Parkway Center Mall.

O.K. I though maybe at one Parkway Center Mall had a GCC movie theater in it.

[TheFugitive]

No, Parkway Center never had a movie theater.

[TheFugitive]

Demolition of the mall has begun.

http://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2016/08/12/Parkway-Center-Mall/stories/201608120105

The plan is to convert the Giant Eagle into a stand-alone store and then redevelop
the rest of the property.

My first retail gig was in the David Weis store at this mall where I sold VCR's.
Sold 350 of them myself between Halloween and Christmas Eve in 1985.

In August they started tearing the mall down, and the last VCR maker on the planet
ceased production.   Guess times do change.

[TheFugitive]

The former site of Parkway Center Mall is said to be on the
shortlist of sites for the new Amazon 2nd. Headquarters should
Pittsburgh be the successful bidder.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/video/3737800-parkway-center-mall-owner-makes-bid-to-amazon/

[JJBers]

Can you post some non-photobucket photos. I really want to see what the mall looked like.

[TheFugitive]

I did post Photobucket photos, but then Photobucket terminated hosting for third-party sites, unless you pay for a premium account.  If I can find some other site where I can host them
for free I will repost them.

[JJBers]

I did post Photobucket photos, but then Photobucket terminated hosting for third-party sites, unless you pay for a premium account.  If I can find some other site where I can host them
for free I will repost them.

Flickr if you have mostly your own photos, or imgur/attachment for non-self photos.