Northern Lights Shopping Center facts for kids
The site of the former J. C. Penney in 2014, now a road connecting to Walmart. Note the Walmart sign in the background.
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| Location | Economy, Pennsylvania, United States |
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| Coordinates | 40°39′24″N 80°14′08″W / 40.65668°N 80.23566°W |
| Address | Ohio River Boulevard (PA 65) |
| Opening date | 1957 |
| Owner | Zamias Services, Inc. |
| No. of anchor tenants | 3 (two vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 450,000 square feet (42,000 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 |
| Parking | 974 spaces |
| Public transit access |  BCTA bus: 1, 3 |
The Northern Lights Shopping Center was a large outdoor shopping area, like a long row of stores, in Economy, Pennsylvania. It was close to Pittsburgh. When it first opened, it was a very popular place to shop. A big Walmart store opened right next to it in 2014. Later, in 2018, parts of the old shopping center were torn down.
Contents
A Look Back: Northern Lights Shopping Center's Story
Northern Lights Shopping Center first opened its doors in the late 1950s. It was built along Pennsylvania Route 65. For many years, it was the main shopping spot for people living in the Beaver Valley area.
Big Stores and Busy Aisles
For a long time, J. C. Penney was the main "anchor store" here. An anchor store is a very large, well-known store that helps attract shoppers to a mall or shopping center. J. C. Penney had a huge three-story building at Northern Lights. Other big stores included Sears, the local supermarket Giant Eagle, and the discount store Hills.
The shopping center had three main buildings. J. C. Penney and Hills were in the eastern part. Sears was in the northern part. Later, the Sears spot became a Big Lots, and now it's a Giant Eagle. All three buildings also had many smaller shops.
Facing New Competition
In 1970, a new shopping center called the Beaver Valley Mall opened nearby. Even with this new competition, Northern Lights stayed busy. However, Sears did move to the Beaver Valley Mall around this time.
But things started to change in the 1980s. The steel industry, which provided many jobs in the area, began to decline. Also, the Beaver Valley Mall was easier to get to from a major highway. New towns like Center Township and Cranberry Township were growing fast. All these changes slowly led to fewer shoppers at Northern Lights.
In 1998, J. C. Penney also moved to the Beaver Valley Mall. Around the same time, Hills was bought by another company called Ames. But Ames had its own problems. In 2002, Ames closed all its stores. This left Giant Eagle as the only big store left at Northern Lights. Over time, many of the smaller shops also left. By 2013, only a few stores and some small businesses like doctor's offices remained.
The Roof Collapse and Demolition
In 2006, the roof of the old J. C. Penney building collapsed. This was a safety concern. The new owners, Zamias Services, Inc., decided to tear down the J. C. Penney building. This left a big empty space in the middle of the shopping center. It also removed a lot of space that could have been rented out to stores.
The owners thought about moving the remaining stores into the smaller buildings. This would have allowed them to redevelop the larger, empty parts. However, this plan didn't happen. The owners later said they wouldn't have bought Northern Lights if it wasn't part of a bigger deal with other properties.
Efforts to Bring Back Shoppers
After the J. C. Penney building was torn down, Walmart showed interest in building a store at Northern Lights. The owners, Zamias, liked this idea. But Giant Eagle had a special agreement in its lease. This agreement gave Giant Eagle the only right to sell groceries there. This meant Walmart couldn't build its store on that spot.
Walmart Finds a New Spot
After being turned down, Walmart noticed a large hillside behind the shopping center. This hillside became more visible after the J. C. Penney building was gone. Walmart decided to buy this land from its owners.
With help from Economy Borough, Zamias gave up part of its parking lot and the old J. C. Penney site in 2007. This was done through a process called eminent domain. Eminent domain allows the government to take private land for public use, even if the owner doesn't want to sell it, as long as they are paid fairly. This land was used to build a road connecting Route 65 to the hillside where the new Walmart would be. Giant Eagle tried to stop this in court, but they lost.
The New Walmart Opens
After getting the necessary permits, Walmart started building the road and its new store in late 2012. The new Walmart opened on May 21, 2014. The owners of Northern Lights hoped that the new Walmart would bring more customers to their shopping center. This was because Walmart customers would have to drive through Northern Lights to get to Walmart.
This new Walmart was the third one in Beaver County. It served towns like Aliquippa, Ambridge, Baden, Conway, and Economy. Other Walmarts in the area served different towns.
More Demolition at Northern Lights
On June 26, 2017, Zamias announced that the entire southern part of Northern Lights would be torn down. This included the old Hills/Ames building. Economy borough had recently told Zamias that many parts of the unused shopping center were unsafe. Demolition of these parts began in January 2020.
