SHENANGO VALLEY MALL AND CLOSING JC PENNEYS- HERMITAGE PENNSYLVANIA

Like a long time friend or loved one we at some point have to say goodbye. Everything dies including the mighty giants of retail we call malls. Today we say farewell to a good friend many of us grew up at. This is the final moments we had at the Shenango Valley Mall in Hermitage Pennsylvania. Unfortunately that’s not all because this community was hit with a double whammy when the JC Penny’s announced it would also be closing along with the mall. So here we go getting to see and say goodbye for the final time to these once mighty places.
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[@Doohickeydongle]

As kids hanging out at the mall, you used to be able to pry open the doors to that elevator and stop it between floors. There was all kinds of writing on the walls of the elevator shafts.

[@TiltedTripodMedia]

Wow that’s some cool secret agent stuff 😊

[@rjmultari]

Eastwood Mall in Niles, Ohio is roughly 25 minutes from Shenango Valley Mall (pretty easy access via the expressway that connects Sharon/Hermitage to Warren/Niles). Southern Park Mall in Boardman, Ohio is roughly 40 minutes from the Shenango Valley Mall. Until the 2020 census, Youngstown/Warren/Hermitage were 1 metro area, and are still 1 media market.

[@mikee2923]

I used to do HVAC work for JCP. This store, believe it or not was a top performer in sales in that district. This was about 10 years ago when JCP first started to have serious financial problems. I also live near here. The new owners of the mall plan to demolish the mall. JCP went to court to try to stop their plans but lost. Based on that I’d still have to assume this location has remained a top performer. I do agree that this store hasn’t had any updates in a long time compared to other locations. I’ve done HVAC work for over 30 years and most of it had been large retail stores. A lot of people blame online shopping for the downfall of retail stores. When these stores were at their peak in the 90s, these stores decided to pocket their profits instead of reinvesting in their stores.

[@TiltedTripodMedia]

Totally agree that online shopping is not the sole reason stores are dying greed, and a lot of other issues

[@jamesgurksnis4392]

My mom used to work for the old Waldenbooks chain and helped open a store up here in the 80s.

[@TiltedTripodMedia]

That’s cool

[@KatlamosQuickdraw]

Just so you know, JCPenny in the mall closes on May 5th. The whole mall closes on May 10th (2024), and the mall itself is set to be demolished later this year. One other thing, the reason JCPenny is still there is because it was an anchor store, and part of the companies that helped build the building. There was actually a multi-year legal battle against the store as they prevented basically all efforts to revive the mall. The last battle went to the state Supreme Court, and they ruled that the current owners could evict JCPenny to complete the closure of the mall. There plans to be a mixed-use town center built on the lot, as part of the 2030 revitalization effort. The plan is for commerical store fronts as well as businesses to occupy the location. The local councillor would also like to see housing and an amphitheatre be built there too.

[@TiltedTripodMedia]

I knew some of that info but thanks I really appreciate what I don’t know. 😊

[@KatlamosQuickdraw]

@@TiltedTripodMedia Given that it's local to me and I've lived here my whole life, it's something I've keep an eye on. The mall really was nice back when I was a kid and all the storefronts were full, except the 70s wing, I am honestly unsure if anything has occupied that area in a very, very long time. Mostly you just went down the slender corridor if you needed to get to the restrooms LOL

[@LisaZ-nk6ev]

The wing wasn't hidden. It was called the North Mall and KB Toys was there, I worked there one Christmas and On The Bun, where my friend worked and I would buy a pineapple slushie.

[@TiltedTripodMedia]

I said it was hidden because nowadays people that didn’t grow up going to the mall when it was popular wouldn’t know about this wing. I sure didn’t on my first few visits.

[@RENTnerd87]

KB Toys was in the main concourse, at least by the 90s it was. Maybe in the 80s?

[@HissyFitsSnakeRescue]

That old wing used to house the JCP restaurant, an arcade, a toy store, and a drug store. In its heyday, it was a beautiful bustling mall. And yes, the whole mall used to reflect that look. It was built and opened in 1969.

[@rounduprodeo7893]

Amazing the history of what all has happened

[@HissyFitsSnakeRescue]

@@rounduprodeo7893 it really is. I’m so sad to see this slice of history go away. But I’m so very thankful for all the memories.

[@TiltedTripodMedia]

Awesome thanks for that 👍

[@HissyFitsSnakeRescue]

@@TiltedTripodMedia you’re welcome! Glad I came across your channel. Good stuff. Thank you for documenting a place that means so very much to me!

[@TiltedTripodMedia]

@@HissyFitsSnakeRescue it’s my pleasure to preserve these pieces of history that mean so much to so many people

[@elainem.chigbo623]

Thanks for this video! I used to live in Greenville, PA. A small town not too far from Hermitage around 10 years ago. This mall was more alive then, but still halfway dead. I never knew about that secret wing, very cool to see.

[@TiltedTripodMedia]

Glad I could show you it 🙂

[@KatlamosQuickdraw]

I'm from Greenville too. My mom's told me in the past that it used to be a more used entrance into the mall proper. But the fact that it's basically never left the 70s has always been cool.

[@charlestonpinballarcade]

Great vid as always! You choose good music and edit very well! Please take a moment in future vids filmed along the 80 corridor and the rest of the steel belt to just let your viewers know this town and almost all of the towns like this that boomed had malls constructed because of the resource mining and steel / iron industries. People had hard jobs and the communities were all similar with downtown areas, multiple churches, barber shops, 5 and 10 stores, essential services and then the malls also became part of the financial good times. We are starting to lose sight of what happened in these towns only a few decades ago and dead mall vids can help keep that story and background alive. Keep up the great content!

[@TiltedTripodMedia]

Thanks for the kind words. I have filmed many malls along the 80 corridor

[@charlestonpinballarcade]

@@TiltedTripodMedia yes, I have probably watched the majority of your vids and appreciate you posting all of them. I’m just trying to add a layer of “why is the mall here?” many watchers probably won’t think about. A lot of viewers will probably never see the steel / rust belt and not understand why these towns grew, thus why the malls are there “in the middle of nowhere”. Most residents of Sharon probably would not trek down to Pittsburgh or over to Ytown decades ago because the drive would have to be a “day trip” for many they had their own little awesome mall when times were good. Ha. Thanks for the reply and best wishes, stay safe filming!

[@michaelwilson2340]

I miss FYE. I bought CD's there and when it was having it's going out of business sale I bought vinyl copies of 'A Love Supreme' by John Coltrane and The Velvet Undergrounds' third album cheap. Still have them.

[@user-fy1qi5lp8t]

Very dead 1970 sided area thanks for sharing Chris

[@TiltedTripodMedia]

Your welcome friend

[@user-cu8sn7cl8s]

I am surprised how most malls have crashed from online sales. If I go to a department store to buy new clothes I maybe buy 1 out of 4 things I thought I might like before trying on. So how do people order clothing from looking at pictures on their phone and are satisfied with fit and the way it looks without sending it mostly all back all the time. I want to see and feel the product in front of me before I spend money on it and I am not a mall person.

[@TiltedTripodMedia]

Totally agree and online isn’t what is or has killed malls. It’s many things. Also many malls are thriving and others evolving.

[@TiltedTripodMedia]

Yes, I find it annoying having to order five pairs of pants from Amazon just to find the one that might fit and then having to return them all just to hear Amazon bitch about how much crap I’m sending back and now they’re trying to charge restocking fees to make up for the fact that people have to return so much craponline shopping is not feasible or economical

[@user-cu8sn7cl8s]

Some malls are doing well and most I come across are not. Very interesting.

[@TiltedTripodMedia]

@@user-cu8sn7cl8s thanks 🙂

[@Lisa-sz8ms]

Onlineshoppingkilledthemalls

[@TiltedTripodMedia]

Yeah that’s what most blame for the decline of malls but it’s only a small part. There are many malls that are actually thriving.

[@icontrolthesun]

Sad. This is happening to all of America now

[@bentleyadkins1768]

Hi