Beaver Valley Mall facts for kids
| Location | Brodhead Rd. (PA 18) Center Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Opening date | 1970 |
| Developer | Cafaro Company |
| Owner | Namdar Realty Group |
| No. of stores and services | 50+ |
| No. of anchor tenants | 5 |
| Total retail floor area | 1,153,000 square feet (107,000 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 (2 in Boscov's, JCPenney, and U-Haul, closed 2nd floor in Rural King) |
| Parking | 4,391 spaces |
| Public transit access |  BCTA bus: 2 |
The Beaver Valley Mall is a large shopping mall in Center Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania. It first opened its doors in 1970. Today, it has over 50 stores and services for shoppers.
The main stores, called "anchors," are Boscov's, Dick's Sporting Goods, JCPenney, and Rural King. You can also find a U-Haul storage center there.
Contents
History of Beaver Valley Mall
Early Years and Original Stores
When Beaver Valley Mall first opened in 1970, it had three big anchor stores. These were The Joseph Horne Company, Gimbels, and Sears.
A company called BATUS bought the Gimbels chain that same year. In 1986, BATUS decided to close all Gimbels stores in the Pittsburgh area. Some of these locations, like the one at Beaver Valley Mall, were taken over by another company.
Kaufmann's and Macy's Take Over
The St. Louis-based May Department Stores Company bought the Gimbels spot. They renovated it and reopened it as Kaufmann's. The original Kaufmann's store in nearby Rochester was then split into a Giant Eagle grocery store and a Kmart.
Later, in 2006, Federated Department Stores bought The May Department Stores Company. Because of this, the Kaufmann's store at the mall was renamed Macy's.
Changes for Joseph Horne Company
The Joseph Horne Company was another original anchor. It was owned by Associated Dry Goods Corporation. In 1986, May Department Stores Company merged with Associated Dry Goods. May then sold The Joseph Horne Company to local investors.
In 1995, Federated Department Stores bought Horne's. They changed all Horne's stores, including the one at Beaver Valley Mall, to their own Lazarus name. After a few years, in 1998, Federated closed several Lazarus stores, including the one at Beaver Valley Mall. This spot was then bought by and reopened as Boscov's.
New Anchors Join the Mall
JCPenney became the fourth anchor store in 1998. They built their new store right in front of the mall's food court. JCPenney moved from the Northern Lights Shopping Center because of flooding issues there.
In 2007, Dick's Sporting Goods became the fifth anchor. Their store was built between JCPenney and Boscov's.
Recent Changes and Closures
The Sears store at Beaver Valley Mall closed in June 2016. In January 2017, a company called Namdar Realty Group bought the mall. Soon after, Macy's closed its doors on March 26, 2017.
In December 2017, Rural King announced they would open a new store in the former Sears spot. Rural King had its grand opening on March 25, 2018.
U-Haul bought the former Macy's location in January 2018. They now use it as a storage center and showroom.
In June 2020, it was announced that JCPenney might close its store. This was part of a plan to close many stores after the company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. However, in July 2020, the Beaver Valley Mall JCPenney store was removed from the closing list and stayed open.
Current Anchor Stores
These are the main stores you can find at Beaver Valley Mall today:
- Boscov's (This used to be Lazarus and before that, The Joseph Horne Company)
- Dick's Sporting Goods
- JCPenney
- Rural King (This store is in the old Sears spot)
- U-Haul (This store is in the old Macy's, Kaufmann's, and Gimbels spot)
Chi-Chi's Restaurant Incident
In 2003, a serious health incident happened at the Chi-Chi's Mexican restaurant inside the Beaver Valley Mall. During October and November, 660 people became sick with hepatitis A. Sadly, four people died.
After a long investigation, experts found that green onions (scallions) imported from Mexico were the cause. This event did not affect other restaurants not connected to the mall. However, it did impact the mall's food court for a while. The incident also led to all Chi-Chi's restaurants eventually closing down.
