Christmas 2019 at Neshaminy Mall - Raw & Real Retail

Описание: This is our walkthrough of the Neshaminy Mall in Bensalem, PA from December 3, 2019. This is a struggling mall just outside of Philadelphia that was our local mall for a long time. Until very recently it was still doing pretty good, despite losing Macy's in 2017 and Sears earlier this year. Our last visit didn't find the mall quite so well. Vacancies are becoming evident, and aren't isolated to the problem anchor spots. It felt very sluggish and sparse for the main holiday season, especially for that mall. It was very sad walking around Neshaminy Mall this time.


Songs used in this video (in order):

Mannheim Steamroller - Hallelujah
Mannheim Steamroller - Hark the Hearld Angels Sing
Mannheim Steamroller - Angels We Have Heard on High
Mannheim Steamroller - Little Drummer Boy
Steve Gray - Wonder Groove
Steve Gray - Reach Out


Here's the ever reliable SkyCity2 blog yet again:

http://skycity2.blogspot.com/2017/12/...

The sixth mall in the Philadelphia metro area was a one-story mall in Bensalem Township, a fairly typical suburban mall with a few special touches that make it stand out above the rest. Named Neshaminy Mall, the mall was named for nearby Neshaminy Creek. Meaning "double drinking place", the name was derived from the language of the Lenni Lenape tribe of Delaware Indians. From the beginning, the mall lived up to its name constructing a large fountain as its centerpiece. Constructed in 1968 by a partnership between The Korman Company and Strouse Greenberg, the original mall looked impressive for one level with very high courts over two stories tall both in front of its original two anchors and in the center court. Those original anchors were Strawbridge & Clothier and Sears.

As an ode to the tribe that the mall was named for, the original fountain was replaced within two years of the mall's opening with a much larger fountain that was paid for by one of the mall's two original anchors: Strawbridge's. Sears may have also had a fountain, but it was probably similar to the original one in front of Strawbridge's and later removed. Apparently Strawbridge's wanted to showcase their store with a much showier fountain with historic precedent to replace the more basic concrete fountain that was put there when the mall opened. The newer fountain features a waterfall, a pool, trees, plants and a statue of Tawanka, chief of the Lenni Lenape tribe for which the name Neshaminy was derived. It was dedicated on September 9, 1970. Strawbridge's was a family-run store until the 1990's, and the family loved to pay homage to the area's history both on the exterior and at the mall entrances. This was their contribution to Neshaminy Mall.

An expansion was undertaken in 1975 to help the mall better compete with more popular Oxford Valley Mall. Oxford Valley Mall had opened in 1973 a mere six miles away with a bigger, better mall and was stealing customers from the older mall. The newer mall had the same anchors as Neshaminy, and the expansion of Neshaminy Mall added a northeast wing that included Lit Brothers department store and between 15-25 more inline stores.

Philly-based Lit Brothers, however, was a lower-end department store that was no longer able to compete after competition from larger chains cut into their business. The entire chain was liquidated in 1977. Pomeroy's, a division of Allied Department Stores replaced Lit Brothers the same year. Ten years later, Bon-Ton would take over Pomeroy's when the chain was spun off as part of the sale of Allied Stores to Federated. Bon-Ton itself would itself prove to struggle in the market, closing in 1994. Boscov's would take over the location in 1995 and ultimately outlast all the other previous tenants.

Since the initial 1975 expansion, the mall was expanded two more times. The first was the addition of a food court in 1989 that was further expanded in 1990. After a 1995 renovation, the mall was expanded again adding a northwest wing ending at a 24 screen AMC theater in 1998. Throughout the years, the mall also changed ownership several times. The first ownership change came with the sale of the mall from Mutual of New York (now known as AXA) to Homart Development Company, the real estate development arm of Sears. The mall was sold again to General Growth Properties (GGP) in 1995 when Sears sold off Homart properties and shut down the subsidiary. GGP continued to own the mall until 2018, when Brookfield Properties purchased GGP.