Granite Run Mall is NOT Closing

The Granite Run Mall is not closing. The rumor mill can come to a halt…almost.

According to representatives at both Granite Run Mall and Simon Property Group, the Granite Run Mall is not closing. However, when asked to expand on that topic, no further information was given.

"There is no basis to rumors about the mall closing. We are open for business as usual," a statement from Granite Run Mall Marketing Director Aubrey Proud said in an email message.

Several upcoming mall events were then given that were scheduled for February, March and April.

However, when asked to discuss the topic further the request was declined and it was said that that was all of the information they had to share.

On a recent trip to the mall, 29 stores sat vacant inside the mall, 15 on the second floor and 14 on the first floor. The empty stores with the cages down over the entrances did not look appealing.

Sears, JC Penney and Boscov’s department stores are the anchor stores at the mall. Inside the mall there are 83 businesses, restaurants, services and stores listed on the mall’s Web site, which include the kiosks that sit in the mall's inner areas. Then there are Kohl’s Department Store, ACME Markets, Sears Auto Center and the AMC movie theater all surrounding the mall outside. 

So yes the basic question as to whether the mall is closing has been answered but there are still many unanswered questions. For instance, why is the rumor floating around in the first place? Could it be because 29 stores sit vacant inside the mall?

The rumor is no longer staying local to the Media area. It was even recently discussed on the Philadelphia morning radio show Preston and Steve on 93.3 WMMR (listen at the 1:13:20 mark) and many listeners called in to discuss the topic but no one seemed to have many facts.

Perhaps mall representatives should make a larger public relations move in order to ease consumer and resident concerns and completely dispel this mall rumor.