http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06082/675160.stm
Ross Park Mall officials are expected to unveil plans today for a makeover for the 20-year-old shopping center that will include a Nordstrom department store.
Dignitaries and the newsmedia have been invited to a gathering this morning at the 1.2 million-square-foot mall that long has been among the best sales locations in the region.
Mall officials did not return phone calls for comment yesterday, but real estate and township sources said tony Seattle-based retailer Nordstrom has been named as the replacement for the Macy’s department store – formerly a Lazarus and initially a Joseph Horne store – that closed there earlier this week.
In addition, Dick’s Sporting Goods is expected to take the empty Media Play location as the base for a new two-level store.
Mall owner Simon Property Group, of Indianapolis, may also find space for new smaller stores extending out from the enclosed center, similar to expansions done at South Hills Village and Monroeville Mall in recent years.
Nordstrom’s arrival at Ross Park Mall would end years of effort to bring the prized retailer into this market, the latest a failed attempt to get the store to anchor a massive Fifth and Forbes makeover under former Mayor Tom Murphy. Those hopes fell through at a time when Nordstrom itself was slowing new store development to turn around its own business.
Even if the mall industry weren’t constantly working to stay competitive with new shopping choices from online stores to mass discounters, mall owner Simon would have been out looking for a new anchor for Ross Park Mall.
The merger last year of Macy’s owner Federated Department Stores and Kaufmann’s owner May Department Stores created overlap in some malls, including Ross Park, which had been home to a Kaufmann’s and a Macy’s. The current Kaufmann’s is slated to become a Macy’s next fall, and the closed Macy’s would become a Nordstrom.
Elsewhere, two Kaufmann’s stores have closed at Monroeville Mall, which is owned by CBL & Associates, and at Simon’s own South Hills Village. They are being replaced by Boscov’s, a Reading, Pa., chain that is entering Allegheny County and operates more traditional department stores with toy and electronics departments and appliance repair services.
Speculation in the market was that Simon was holding out for a more upscale tenant for Ross Park. The mall operator just completed a $14 million renovation of its North Hills mall in 2000, and its own leasing materials say the property hosts 10 million shoppers annually and has sales above $400 per square foot, among the best in the region.
“It’s upscale family shopping at its finest,” according to the company’s leasing information. Existing mall tenants include Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Aveda and Le Gourmet Chef. Handbag retailer Coach is coming soon. In addition to the Kaufman’s/Macy’s anchors include J.C. Penney and Sears.
In other tinkering of its Pittsburgh-area properties, Simon has put its third area mall, Century III Mall, up for sale.
First off, who the hell is Nordstrom? 2nd do we need another dicks? If i had money i would definitly invest in them. 3rd bye bye century III.