Franklin Mall

Background

The Franklin Mall site was formerly home to Liberty Bell Park Racetrack.^[4] It was located about a mile west of Interstate 95, at the intersection of Woodhaven Road (Pennsylvania Route 63) and Knights Road.

Liberty Bell Park Racetrack, opening in 1963, was a popular venue for horse harness and thoroughbred racing throughout the 1970s, drawing crowds of over 20,000 spectators. However, the track faced stiff competition from Keystone Racetrack (now Parx Racing) in Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania. In 1985, Liberty Bell Park Racetrack closed permanently amid decline in the racing market, clearing the way for redevelopment.^[5]

Development and opening

In the late 1980s, Western Development Corporation, later to become The Mills Corporation in 1994, announced that they would develop a massive outlet mall on the Liberty Bell Park Racetrack site. This would be the company's second Mills mall following the successful Potomac Mills in Woodbridge, Virginia.^[6]

Despite concerns from local retailers about competition, the project was approved due to the promise of drawing tourists and bus tours from New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. When construction began in around 1988, the Liberty Bell Park Racetrack was demolished.^[6]

Franklin Mills had a massive grand opening celebration on May 11, 1989, titled The Mall to End Them All, and was the world's largest outlet mall that was not solely a shopping destination, but also later became one of Philly's largest tourist attractions.^{[7] [8]}

Franklin Mills' original anchors were JCPenney Outlet Store, Sears Outlet, Ports of the World, 49th Street Galleria, Reading China and Glass, and Phar-Mor.^[9][10]

Branding and design

Franklin Mills was (and still is) designed in the shape of a thunderbolt in commemoration of Benjamin Franklin's kite-and-key experiment. The mall's former logo included a red kite with a lightning bolt on the right side and the string ending on the letter "A" of "FRANKLIN". The mall is separated by its four Neighborhoods: Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green, and has six main entries including its neighborhood color entries, plus Aqua at the Grand Court and the Orange entry in its Green Neighborhood near the former Steve & Barry's.^[11]

Franklin Mills was the first Mills mall to have two food courts. Cafe Court, at Red Neighborhood 1, is anchored by Gap, along with Cafe Freedom, a larger food court at Green Neighborhood 4.^[11]

After opening

Franklin Mills also featured two video courts; however, one of them was removed in 2000.^[11]

In February 2007, Mills Corp.'s portfolio, including Franklin Mills, would be acquired by the Simon Property Group and Farallon Capital Management for $25.25 per share.^[12]

On December 15, 2011, it was announced that JCPenney would be returning to Franklin Mills as a department store. The original JCPenney Outlet Store had been closed as part of a nationwide realignment by the retailer of all its outlet stores to focus on its core retail operations and online businesses. Franklin Mills was one of the two JCPenney Outlet locations selected to be converted into a traditional anchor, the other one being the Potomac Mills location.^[13]

From the mall's opening until 2012, an animatronic likeness of Benjamin Franklin's face hung from the ceiling at the Grand Court between Neighborhoods Blue & Yellow, which would announce the time hourly. Almost all main mall entries have a graphic at its entry. Throughout the mall, there were several sets of projection TVs hanging from the ceiling known as Mills TV, showing video loops of music videos and advertisements. In the early 2010s, they were replaced by double-faced Daktronics LED boards.^[14]

2014–2016 renovation and rebranding to Philadelphia Mills

Franklin Mills' last remaining video court was removed in August 2014.^[11]

On September 16, 2014, Simon Property Group renamed the mall from Franklin Mills to Philadelphia Mills, alongside a massive renovation to transform Franklin Mills into a luxury center. Interior work was scheduled to begin in early 2015, with a grand reopening celebration initially slated for fall 2015. Exterior work has already been completed.^[15] It was also noted that a new Walmart Supercenter would open at the site just one week after the renovation announcement.^[16]

In early 2016, the Cafe Freedom food court was renamed Dining Pavilion, and the entire mall and food court was renovated to include contemporary aesthetics, including a white, gray, and brown color palette. This involved new LED lighting and wooden floors. The graphics Franklin Mills once had on its ceiling were also removed. The renovation was met with mixed reactions. Locals felt that the renovations were "boring" and "sterile", as Simon got rid of many attractions and aesthetics Franklin Mills once had. The new name, "Philadelphia Mills", was so controversial to the point where almost nobody—particularly locals—referred to the mall under that name.^[11]

Store closures and ownership change

On March 17, 2017, JCPenney announced that its Franklin Mills store would be closing again as part of a plan to close 138 stores nationwide;^[17] the store closed on July 31, 2017.^[18] This was the second time JCPenney left Philadelphia Mills following the permanent closure of its older outlet store in 2011, and this time, JCPenney did not come back.

After the renovations, Philadelphia Mills' 1,600,000-square-foot (150,000 m²) space primarily consisted of factory outlet stores.^[2] In early 2021, the surviving major anchor tenants included Marshalls and Burlington.

Over time, the Ports was re-branded as Boscov's, and was later replaced by Steve & Barry's, and then Walmart. Reading China & Glass closed, and its building was split between Marshalls and OfficeMax. Sears Outlet left the mall for the first time and was replaced by General Cinema, itself acquired by AMC Theatres. OfficeMax later left the mall, and Sears Outlet returned, taking the OfficeMax space. In September 2020, Sears Outlet rebranded as American Freight.^[19]

In 2023, Philadelphia Mills had a reported net operating income of $10.3M, the lowest it has ever been under Simon's ownership. Additionally, the property was appraised by the City of Philadelphia, and its value is only $101 million, a major decrease from its 2007 assessment of $370 million at the time of The Mills Corporation portfolio acquisition.^[20]

In November 2024, American Freight filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closed all of its stores, including Philadelphia Mills.^[21]

Sam Ash Music, an instrument company, shuttered its Philadelphia Mills store in May 2024 after filing for bankruptcy.^[22]

Simon Property Group was looking to cede the mall to its debtholders due to a $278.2M loan that was due in June 2024. Simon still owed $258.5M to its debtors, and the remaining loan amount has gone into special servicing.^[23][24]

Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) acquired and renamed the mall from Philadelphia Mills to Franklin Mall in December 2024 in response to the backlash the mall's "Philadelphia Mills" name got, and the fact that Simon trademarked the "Mills" name.^[25]

In addition, all Simon branding and insignia (including the Simon logo and the "A Simon Center" catchphrase) have been removed from all exterior signs and entrances, which further points to a change in the property's ownership. The removal left label scars on the mall's entrance.^[26]

In January 2025, AMC Theatres, operating as AMC Philadelphia Mills 14 (formerly AMC Franklin Mills 14), permanently closed its doors because its lease expired. The company posted an "AMC Philadelphia Mills 14 Has Permanently Closed" notice on both the theater's entrance and its website, redirecting visitors and staff members to its larger AMC Neshaminy 24 at the competing Neshaminy Mall.^[27][28][29]

In February 2025, Forever 21 vacated Franklin Mall as part of a plan to close all U.S. stores after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.^[30]

Saks Off 5th closed two Philadelphia stores in November 2025. One of them was the Franklin Mall location.^[31]

Future redevelopment

In December 2025, JLL put the struggling Franklin Mall up for sale, and hired OPEX CRE Management to handle the mall's day-to-day operations while they find a new buyer. JLL noted that Franklin Mall, with 68% occupancy, had a "strong candidate for redevelopment into a modern industrial facility."^[32][33]

Burlington closed its Franklin Mall store permanently on February 20, 2026.^[34]

As of March 2026, Franklin Mall remains a dead mall, without a new owner and without a redevelopment plan. It only features a few major tenants left, including Walmart and Dave & Busters.^[35]

2013 Black Fightday

On Black Friday 2013 at around 2:30 a.m. EST, a fight broke out in Franklin Mills involving a taser gun and two women. Nobody was injured; however, the two were kicked out of the mall shortly after security broke up the fight.^[36]

2016 teenager disturbance

In late 2016, in the wake of violent flash mobs happening around the country, one of them occurred in the mall on December 27, 2016, when a group of around 30 teens flash-mobbed and started fights in the food court, reportedly attacking a police officer. Four teens ended up getting arrested.^[37]

May 2020 raiding

In May 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd protests, police surrounded the areas of the mall and barricading it to prevent any looting or raids after it was learned that a group of people were planning to raid the mall.^[38]

February/March 2021 shooting

During early 2021, two shootings occurred in the mall. One of them occurred on February 7, 2021 when a 21 year old man was shot in the neck at around noon. The cause of the shooting was unknown and the victim was reported to be in "stable condition" after being taken to a local hospital.^[39] Another one occurred on March 29, 2021 when a fight broke out in the mall's Dining Pavilion food court which resulted in a shooting, killing one person. The mall was placed on lockdown following the shooting.^[40] The stepson of a local detective was killed.^[41]

February 2026 fire and temporary closure

On February 21, 2026, a fire occurred in one of the stores at the mall, resulting in the entire mall being closed while the mall was being inspected to determine when it would be safe to reopen. After passing safety inspections, Franklin Mall reopened on February 27, 2026.^[42]