Fairlane Village Mall
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 South entrance to Fairlane Village Mall | |
 | |
| Location | Norwegian Township, Pennsylvania, United States[1] |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°42′20″N 76°11′23″W / 40.70553°N 76.18982°W |
| Address | 7211 Fairlane Village Mall |
| Opening date | 1974[2][3] |
| Management | Lexington Realty International[4][5] |
| Owner | Pottsville Commons LLC Pottsville Mall LLC[6] |
| Stores and services | 10[7] |
| Anchor tenants | 4[8][needs update] |
| Floor area | 405,000 sq ft (37,600 m2)[9][10] |
| Public transit |  STS bus: 10, 14[11][12] |
| Website | shopfairlanevillage |
Fairlane Village Mall is a shopping mall located just outside of Pottsville, Pennsylvania off Route 61.[8] It is anchored by Boscov's, Dunham's Sports, Kohl's, Michaels, and TJ Maxx.[7]
Development of the mall was delayed by earth moving operations and the discovery of coal.[13] Fairlane Village was built on property owned by the Seitzinger Brothers, with its name coming from the Ford Fairlane car. The mall opened with anchors Boscov's, McCrory, and Woolco.[4][14] Gee Bee opened at the mall in 1983 and was later replaced by Value City in 1993.[15][16][17]
Boscov's outside tent collapsed due to inclement weather in July 1986, with only light injuries occurring.[18] In 1995, the Boscov's store was heavily reconstructed.[19] ERE Yarmouth Retail began running the mall in 1998.[20][21] The Claverton Corp. sold the mall to Equity Investment Group in 2000.[22] EigFairlane Village Mall LLC sold Fairlane Village Mall to A.M. Fairlane Village LLC in 2004.[6] Levin Management took over running of the mall in 2006.[9] Value City's closure was announced in February 2008, postponed in March, but later the store would finally close in November.[17][23][24] Waldenbooks announced in late 2009 its store would be closing when it ran out of items, which it did in January 2010.[25][26] The mall's movie theater (2 screens), after a series of owners including Carmike Cinemas, has been empty since 2010.[27][28]
Dragon Chasers Emporium, a shop in the mall, was raided by police and searched for illegal drugs and associated items in February 2012.[29][30][31] Kohl's replaced the former Value City in March 2012 after a massive renovation, but did not occupy all of its space or have a mall entrance.[32] Michaels opened in August 2012 next to Kohl's.[33][34][35] Fashion Bug closed in 2012, along with the rest of the chain.[2] Village Pretzel closed in December 2012 due to the owner's retirement and poor sales.[36]
Fairlane Village LLC settled a multi-year tax valuation dispute with local townships in 2013.[37][38] Roman Delight restaurant closed nine months before its lease expired due to economic reasons in 2014.[39][40] RadioShack closed in the mall in March 2015.[41] Puppy Luv moved from the mall in late 2015 to Pottsville, and changed its name to Fish and Beyond Pet Center.[42] CVS moved from the mall in April 2016 to a new location in Pottsville.[43] The Hallmark Heritage Shop began its closing sale in May 2016.[44]
Fairlane Village Mall was sold in September/October 2016 for $12,875,000 to Pottsville Commons LLC and Pottsville Mall LLC.[6] Wells Fargo closed in April 2017, merged with another closing branch, and opened a new location at the Pottsville Park Plaza.[45] rue21 also closed at the mall in 2017.[46][47] Benigna's Creek Wine Shoppe and Gertrude Hawk Chocolates opened in 2017, after previously being located at the former Schuylkill Mall.[48][49][50] Littman Jewelers closed in January 2018.[51] Dunham's Sports opened at the mall in December 2018 after also previously being located at the former Schuylkill Mall.[52][53][54]
Lexington Realty International took over management of the mall on May 1, 2019.[4][5] Fairlane Village Mall lost one restaurant and three stores in 2020, two of which closed during the malls COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.[55][56] The mall's ex-Schuylkill Valley Sports served as a COVID-19 vaccination site starting in February 2021.[57] Large portions of the parking lot were paved in fall 2022.[58] TJ Maxx opened at the mall in October 2022, using most of the malls one wing expect for the ex-movie theater.[59][60] Super Shoes began closing at the mall in June 2023.[7]
