Monica Persuha and daughter Nicole arrived at their moment of truth just past the book store. Facing a row of empty storefronts at the very tip of Georgian Place, they did a slow, 360-degree turn. Could this shell of a place in the heart of Somerset County be the same vibrant shopping mecca they once so joyfully visited?
Monica looked bewildered.
"It's sad," she said finally. "I don't know how this could have happened."
Elsewhere at Georgian Place -- formally, The Factory Shops at Georgian Place -- manager Tonya Spangler was drumming up business with several prospective business clients. Spangler came onboard five years ago, at nearly the precise moment Georgian Place began its decline.
"Obviously, we have problems," Spangler said. "It's a tough area, a tough market. But we're working on it."
Georgian Place was like a shiny new star at the time it opened for business. That was in 1990. Shoppers were about to become flush with cash and Georgian Place was poised to give them what they wanted: upscale merchandise at bargain -- outlet -- prices.
Shoppers breezed in and out of the Guess Factory store, Socks Galore, Bugle Boy, Brooks Brothers, Ralph Lauren, Carter's, Gitano, the 9.99 Stockroom, and dozens of other brand-name shops. There were shoe stores, coat stores, leather goods stores, kitchen and bathroom accessory stores. The final complement of stores totaled 55 or so.
Georgian Place looked like the future, the embodiment of the '90s shopping splurge.
Today, 27 storefronts are open for business. But it's not the same as before. In addition to Van Heusen, Banister Shoes, Bass Shoes, the Dress Barn, the Book Warehouse, L'eggs and one or two other standbys, there's the Somerset Dance Company, American General Finance, Somerset Trust and the New World Gym.
What once glittered appears now to be in tatters.
As to what happens next, there seems to be as many answers as there are cracks in the Georgian Place sidewalk.
Spangler, who works for Horizon Group Properties, Inc., which recently sold, for $1.98 million, its partnership in Georgian Place to an investment group that includes Horizon CEO Gary Skoien, had several explanations.
The first was the size of the market in and around Somerset. Not big enough, she said.
Second, and most importantly, Spangler said, Georgian Place was literally caught in the middle between two giant outdoor mall venues -- referred to as "power centers" in the trade -- one in Grove City, north of Pittsburgh on Interstate 79, the other to the south of Somerset, in Hagerstown, Md., along I-70.
Such a combination for a shopping plaza that was positioned to take advantage of the east-west traffic on the Pennsylvania Turnpike has proven, if not fatal, then crippling.
Gina Slechta, director of field marketing for Horizon, mentioned several other reasons for Georgian Place's decline. She pointed to the sputtering economy as well as to the state of the retail industry, plagued by overstocks and bankruptcies, primarily as a result of the economic slowdown.
One other factor may have had a hand in halving the number of occupied storefronts at Georgian Place. There is a sense, expressed by some though not by all observers, that the mall owners failed to cater locally, failed to invite Somerset County shoppers into the place.
It is not uncommon to hear county residents complain about the paucity of shopping places available to them, despite the many shops that are still available at Georgian Place. The failure to communicate may help explain the buzz concerning the coming of a Super Wal-Mart to Somerset, which will replace the regular-size Wal- Mart, two miles or more from Georgian Place, on Route 601.
Denny Barker, owner of Colonial Outdoors, a store that specializes in small watercraft and occupies several storefronts back where Monica Persuha was looking, in vain, for a remaining jewelry store, expressed concern about the Super Wal-Mart, saying he's aware of the impact the nation's largest retailer has had on competing businesses in small- to medium-size towns across the country.
Barker, who moved from Williamsburg, Va., to set up shop in Somerset County, said Georgian Place is a perfect location for his store, which is an adjunct to his nearby canoe- and kayak-manufacturing facility.
The rental fee is reasonable, he said. Parking is superb. And the Pennsylvania Turnpike, within sight of Barker's back door at Georgian Place, provides a steady stream of potential customers. Barker believes in the power of the turnpike to bring customers to his door. About a mile from the Somerset exit in either direction, drivers can avert their eyes to billboards touting Colonial Outdoors at Georgian Place.
While Slechta was largely silent about future plans, remarking that market conditions will determine what can and can not be done, Barker, Spangler and Hank Parke, executive director of the Somerset County Chamber of Commerce, expressed enthusiasm for "mixed" use of the facility -- national retailers interspersed with local businesses, including some from the service arm of the economy.
Clearly, this is already happening, with the addition of places like Jill's Total Body Workout and the Somerset Dancewear Shop to a lineup of stores that includes the Dress Barn and Bon Worth, a women's clothing store.
Spangler was especially enthusiastic about an 8,000-square-foot antique center -- Cottage Pine Antiques -- featuring 30 antique dealers, which is scheduled to open in mid-July. "It's going to be spectacular," she said.
Jane Williams, on a shopping trip from Cumberland, Md., said she hopes something helps to bring Georgian Place back to life. Living equidistant from Georgian Place and Prime Outlets in Hagerstown, Williams chose to come to Somerset. She was looking, she said, for "a dressy dress" for an upcoming wedding. She couldn't find one. "I'm really disappointed. It would be nice to come here and find something," she said.
Rick Strenko, of Latrobe, was waiting on the sidewalk while his wife shopped. "We came here frequently," he said. "This is the first time we've been back in two years.
"They started closing the stores," Strenko explained. "That's why we stopped coming. If they open more stores and keep prices down, we'd probably be back."
