![]() Penney's), a distribution center for Xerox, the local magistrate's office, a professional wrestling center (PWX, owned by James Miller), a bingo parlor (Eastland Social Hall Bingo), and a low power TV station, WBYD-CA. įor the next 20 years Eastland tried to stay afloat with a variety of unique tenants - including a PennDOT state driver's license testing center, a beer distributor (Beer World, located in the old J.C. Benderson Development Company of Buffalo, NY purchased the mall from the bankrupt Gimbels department store two years later. This demographic change took with it potential customers and employees of Eastland Mall.Īfter Eastland Mall had already filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, its most devastating blow came in September 1986 when Gimbels, which had developed and owned the mall, went out of business, taking most of Eastland's tenants along with it. By the mall's close in 2005 it had fewer than 3,000. Braddock, which East Pittsburgh-McKeesport Blvd leads directly into two miles (3 km) away, had approximately 12,000 residents in 1963. Many of these communities lost vast amounts of population during the lifetime of the Eastland Mall. In 1979, Century III Mall, the third largest enclosed shopping center in the world (at that time), opened 10 miles (16 km) away in West Mifflin to further speed the decline of Eastland.įurthermore, whereas these four malls were located in and around more affluent suburbs, Eastland was located primarily around old mill towns. Greengate Mall (now Greengate Centre) in nearby Greensburg, Westmoreland County would also open the very same year as South Hills Village. ![]() Four years earlier, Eastland saw competition from South Hills Village, the country's largest (and first two-story) enclosed mall, in Upper St. Just six years after its opening Eastland faced competition from all-enclosed Monroeville Mall, then billed as the largest mall in the United States, located under six miles (10 km) away. At this time the "Shopping Plaza" in Eastland's name was changed to "Mall" and a Gee Bee discount store was opened. After a fire destroyed much of the property and caused $1 million worth of damage on June 6, 1973, a roof was added and the entire mall was enclosed. The upper level of Eastland was originally an open-air marketplace. At its peak in the 1960s, Eastland Shopping Plaza employed 800 people. Three other McKeesport retailers, Immel's, Wander Sales, and Richard's Shoes, opened stores in Eastland. Penney moved from McKeesport into Eastland Shopping Plaza. When Eastland Shopping Plaza opened, downtown McKeesport suffered as J.C. Penney, National Record Mart, May-Stern, Kinney Shoes, Thom McAn, and F.W. In addition to a 200,000-square-foot (19,000 m 2) Gimbels, some of the nation's largest stores, J.C. After approximately two years of construction and $12 million of construction costs, Eastland Shopping Plaza opened on August 15, 1963. ![]() The Gimbels department store chain began construction on Eastland Mall in 1961.
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