When Pittsburgh Mills, nearly 25 years in the making, finally throws open its doors on Thursday, it will enter a retail landscape dramatically different from when it was first proposed.
George and Damian Zamias, a father and son tandem from Johnstown, began lining up the 300 acres for a mall in Allegheny County's northeast hinterlands in 1981.
At that time, what would soon be Ross Park Mall was still a pasture.
Steel mills stood on the land where The Waterfront and the SouthSide Works mixed-use retail developments now reside, and a movie theater and a few restaurants were nearly the only places to go in Robinson.
Nearly 200,000 more people lived in Allegheny County.
The Mills' challenge is to differentiate itself from other regional shopping destinations in order to grab its share of a relatively static amount of disposable income.
To dissuade consumers from viewing Pittsburgh Mills as another large-scale, cookie-cutter mall, Mills will combine its retail offerings with fresh entertainment destinations including the NASCAR SpeedPark and PBS Kids Backyard, and a 16-screen movie theater, including the region's only commercial iMAX screen.
Stores and restaurants making their debut in Pennsylvania include Sears Grand, the Sears version of a Wal-Mart Supercenter; juniors clothing retailer Forever 21; 1950s-style diner Johnny Rockets; Lucky Strike Lanes, a combination bowling alley and restaurant/lounge; and ice-cream chain Marble Slab Creamery.
When the mall is completed, it will boast about 200 stores and 1.1 million square feet of retail space.
Officials at malls such as Ross Park and Monroeville expect their customer base to dwindle somewhat once Pittsburgh Mills opens.
But once the novelty wears off, they expect to get those customers back.
"It's always a novelty to see the new kid on the block," said Cindy McIlnay, Ross Park Mall spokeswoman. "But we've seen a lot of competition come into the area, and we still believe we're the premiere mall in the Pittsburgh region."
McIlnay said the majority of Ross Park's customers come from within a 10-mile radius of the mall. A substantial portion of the customer base also comes from the Cranberry area, she said.
Those core customers will continue to travel to Ross Park, she said.
Monroeville Mall spokeswoman Mindy Suhoza said she believes there's a better tenant mix in Monroeville than there will be at Pittsburgh Mills.
"We're hoping our customers stay loyal to us," she said.
Suhoza also predicted that, initially, Pittsburgh Mills will draw some customers from Monroeville.
But Monroeville Mall has been working to stay competitive with new construction and by negotiating with a handful of potential tenants, she said.
And for people who live in the Monroeville area, it just doesn't make sense to drive to Frazer, she said.
"People typically don't cross bridges or drive through tunnels to shop," Suhoza said.
William Badger Jr., an economic development official in Ann Arundel County, Md., home of the Mills Corp.'s Arundel Mills mall near Baltimore, said shoppers like to visit new malls.
But that after an initial visit or two, they go back to the mall they've been shopping at for years.
"When the novelty wears off, people return to their normal retail habits," Badger said. "People go because it's new and exciting."
Delmont resident Mary Meyers thinks developers have outdone themselves by oversaturating the Pittsburgh area with shopping malls.
"Do you really need that many malls?" Meyers asked, adding that most of the stores on the current Mills lineup -- including Kaufmann's, Bath and Body Works, Starbucks, Victoria's Secret, Wal-Mart and Eat 'n Park -- can easily be found anywhere else.
"There's like 18 million Eat 'n Parks around Pittsburgh," Keenan said with a laugh.
Experts say the Mills will be able to generate some new spending from outside the region, but said it will mostly steal from existing retailers.
"When you build a big mall somewhere, you're going to take away from somewhere else," said Chris Briem of the University of Pittsburgh Center for Social and Urban Research.
According to census data supplied by the center, the six-county Western Pennsylvania region had a population of about 2.34 million in 2002, about 2 percent less than in 1997.
During that same period, as shopping centers like The Waterfront in Homestead, and the Pointe at Robinson Town Centre opened, retail sales grew 2.5 percent to $24.6 billion.
Officials in the oft-forgotten Allegheny Valley along Route 28 are counting on the Mills development to be an economic generator.
Philadelphia Deputy Director of Commerce Duane Bumb said Franklin Mills, just outside the city, has generated both commercial and residential development.
"Since it's opened, there's been additional commercial development in areas immediately surrounding the mall," he said. "The area had very little prior to that. It didn't change retail development in the area, it created it."
Now there's an increased need for residential development, Bumb said.
"We're seeing substantial development pressures, especially in regard to residential development in large parts of the city, certainly within 10 miles of the development," he said.
Additional Information:
Pittsburgh Mills history
The development of Pittsburgh Mills started nearly 25 years ago as a proposal by George and Damian Zamias, a father and son from Johnstown who wanted to build a $50 million mall in Frazer, in northeast Allegheny County. Here are some key dates:
