West Manchester Town Center facts for kids
| Location | West Manchester Township, York County, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Address | 415 Town Center Dr, York, PA 17408 |
| Opening date | 2014 |
| Owner | M&R Investors |
| Public transit access |  rabbittransit bus: 1W, 13 |
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West Manchester Town Center is an open-air shopping center in West Manchester Township, York County, Pennsylvania. It is located west of the city of York. This modern shopping area replaced an older, enclosed shopping mall called West Manchester Mall.
Contents
History of the Mall
The original West Manchester Mall opened in 1981. It was built by a company called Crown American. When it first opened, it had three main "anchor" stores. These were big stores like Hess's, The Bon-Ton, and Gee Bee Department Stores. The mall also had popular places to eat, such as Chick-fil-A, Orange Julius, and McDonald's.
Over time, some stores changed. Gee Bee became Value City in 1992. A new large store, Hecht's (which later became Macy's), was added in 1995. However, another mall, the York Galleria, opened on the east side of York. After that, the West Manchester Mall started to become less popular.
Changes and Challenges
In 1993, Hess's closed its store. Walmart took over that space in the same year. To try and attract more shoppers, the mall added new places in the late 1990s. These included Auntie Anne's, Subway, and a movie theater, Regal Cinemas.
In 2003, the Walmart store became much bigger. It changed from a regular store to a SuperCenter. This expansion meant that a hallway in the mall was removed, and Walmart's entrance from inside the mall closed. This made it harder for shoppers to get to other stores on that side of the mall.
Throughout the 2000s, many stores left the West Manchester Mall. A lot of these stores already had locations at the newer York Galleria. Value City closed in 2008. In 2010, Kohl's opened in that space. In 2011, a small tornado hit the mall. It broke a skylight, blew things around, and caused power outages. Also in 2011, Bon-Ton announced that its store at West Manchester would close in January of the next year.
Redeveloping the Shopping Center
Many people felt that the mall, which was mostly empty, needed a big change. In September 2012, a company from Texas called M&R Investors bought the West Manchester Mall. They paid about $17.5 million for it.
The new owners had a big plan to spend $47 million to make the mall new again. Their idea was to keep the main anchor stores that were still there. Then, they would tear down the rest of the mall. In its place, they would build a new outdoor shopping center. This new center would be called the West Manchester Town Center. It would be similar to other outdoor shopping areas, like the Hunt Valley Towne Centre in Hunt Valley, Maryland.
New Stores and Improvements
The goal of this project was to bring in new national stores and restaurants. These new businesses would fill the space where the old mall used to be. Other improvements were also planned. These included making the center easier to see from US 30, adding another entrance, and building a new street for cars to drive through to reach the stores.
A permit to tear down the mall was approved. The West Manchester Mall officially closed for good in 2014. This allowed the work to begin on turning it into the new town center. In August 2014, Macy's announced that its store at West Manchester would also close. However, new stores were confirmed to be coming. These included Petco, Burlington Coat Factory, and DSW Shoe Warehouse.
