Crate & Barrel to bolster tourist draw at Ross Park Mall
When Crate & Barrel moves into Ross Park Mall this fall, the shopping complex will count 15 retailers that have established their only Western Pennsylvania store there.
Construction has started on the 26,800-square-foot, free-standing furniture and home products store that will sit between L.L. Bean and Macy's at the mall off McKnight Road. Crate & Barrel will open in November, as the holiday shopping season begins, mall owner Simon Property Group Inc. said Thursday.
"Yet another reason for Pittsburghers to leave their neighborhoods, and come up to Ross Park," Simon spokesman Les Morris called it. "This has become a regional shopping destination."
Shoppers venture to Ross Park from far beyond other Pittsburgh area communities.
Mall officials are noticing more visitors coming from western New York, Ohio and West Virginia, including tour bus groups who stop for a meal and a shopping, Morris said. On a typical weekday, about 70 percent of the mall's visitors are from Ross and other north suburban areas, compared to 54 percent on weekends.
Breakaway Tours recognizes Ross Park as an attraction. Since it was founded 18 years ago, the New Castle-based company has been running tour bus stops at the mall, said Charlene Troggio, one of the owners.
"We love the changes" in recent years," she said, "especially the Cheesecake Factory and the Nordstrom."
Travelers from Youngstown, Ohio, and Ellwood City, along with New Castle, ride Breakaway's 46-seat buses to Pittsburgh for shows and other events. A 2 1/2-hour stop at the mall typically precedes or follows the event, she said, adding that a special holiday shopping trip provides an afternoon at Ross Park.
Chicago-based Crate & Barrel is known for furniture, kitchenware and exclusive stemware and dinnerware, as well as seasonal items.
"Pittsburgh is a strong market for our catalog and Internet business," CEO Barbara A. Turf said in a statement, adding the company looks forward to "welcoming those customers and others new to our brand" to the new location.
The closest store to Pittsburgh is in Cleveland. The retailer's Web site yesterday featured a range of home decor and utility items, from bedding and towels to toasters and mixers. As to furniture, a 1960s style "Petrie" sofa was priced at $1,599. A 48-inch walnut dining table was $999.
Spokeswoman Vicki Lang said Crate & Barrel has been eyeing the Pittsburgh market for a long time. The company typically opens six to eight new stores a year, and operates more than 160 Crate & Barrel and CB2 stores, geared for young adults, in North America.
Each Crate & Barrel incorporates stone, wood and other features to reflect the area it's in. "We're a national brand, but we like our stores to have a local personality," Lang said. About 40 employees staff each location, with more added for the holidays.
The store isn't Ross Park's only new coming attraction.
An Apple store, the third in the Pittsburgh region, will locate inside the mall, according to Ross officials, citing building plans submitted to the township. Morris and Apple representatives declined to comment. Other Apple stores are at Simon's South Hills Village and in Shadyside.
A Vision Works optical store will open in about a week. And a California Pizza Kitchen is planned for space close to a mall entrance near the Cheesecake Factory, said Dennis Schack, a building inspector with Ross. The restaurant chain features hearth-baked pizzas with a variety of international flavors, such as Thai.
Morris said 28 new tenants have been added to the mall in the past 18 months.
