Central Pa. mall going strong as its marks 50th year

When a business hits the 50-year mark, it’s a big deal. These days when a mall is going strong in its 50th year, it’s a very big deal.

While other regional malls have struggled mightily or have disappeared altogether, the Capital City Mall in Lower Allen Township keeps plugging along at almost full capacity. It has around 80 tenants and just three vacancies these days.

The mall marked its 50th year in business with a celebration on Thursday night, with giveaways, snacks, music and other activities.

“They come here for Santa. They come here for the Easter Bunny. They come here for back to school. They come here to buy wedding rings and engagement rings. You got a lot of memories here from different years,” says Vince Vizza, vice president, real estate leasing for PREIT, which owns the mall.

• READ MORE: Timeline: Capital City Mall turns 50

In its five decades of operation, it’s had just two owners. Its current owner is Philadelphia-based PREIT. It was built by Johnstown-based Crown American Properties, which was led by Frank Pasquerilla.

“I worked with Frank Pasquerilla as a very young man. He was a mentor to me and a great leader. What he started here, is still going strong,” Vizza said.

PREIT acquired Crown American Properties in 2003.

The mall opened in 1974 with Bowman’s, Murphy’s Mart, Sears, and a movie theater. After Bowman’s left, it became Hess’s. In 1995, Hecht’s took over Hess’s. In 2005, Macy’s opened in the Hecht’s space.

In 1985, G.C. Murphy closed. Two years later Ames took over the space. In 1995, JCPenney moved into the space.

Sears closed in 2017 and was replaced primarily by Dick’s Sporting Goods but also a smaller Sears Appliances and Mattress store, which has since closed, as well as Primanti Bros. and Fine Wine & Good Spirits. Also opening in the former Sears location later this month is Asoul Ramen, a restaurant that will open in a picturesque space that will include honeycomb seating and serve sushi, ramen and ice cream, among other items.

The movie theater closed in 2004 and is later replaced by the Food Court.

Toys R’ Us, which had a store on the mall property closed in 2012. That building was demolished and Field & Stream opened in 2015. Sportsman’s Warehouse acquired the Field & Stream store in 2019.

Providing an “experience”

Arguably, the most important arrival at the mall in recent years was not a store but, rather an experience, something that is needed in this day in age as shopping centers hope to bring people out of their homes.

It was the 28,000-square-foot Dave & Buster’s, an arcade, restaurant and sports bar. It’s a great example of malls looking for a different type of tenant, as shopping centers have had to fight the arrival and increase of online shopping, trying to find other ways to bring people out into the mall.

Vizza said having tenants that provide an experience such as Dave & Buster’s and other restaurants can bring people out to the mall. In return, the malls hope those tenants will bring people out who will patronize other stores and restaurants at the shopping center.

The mall has a large food court that has welcomed Taco Bell, Bonchon and Cinnabon in recent years and is also home to a Sbarro, which has been at the mall for more than three decades.

But, the mall has also added sit-down restaurants like Outback Steakhouse, Primanti Bros., Dave & Buster’s and the soon-to-open Asoul Ramen. While the mall had sit-down restaurants like Garfields Restaurant and Davenport’s Italian Oven, a number of years ago, it was missing the sit-down experience.

“We really didn’t have that dining experience,” Vizza said. “And we really went from having none to four sit-down restaurants.”

Good real estate

When asked how the Capital City Mall has weathered the storm while other malls have not, Vizza pointed to a few things.

• Mall access from area roads

“Harrisburg in general has a great highway system,” he said.

With Walmart’s arrival nearby in 2014, Vizza said it has brought with it a lot of traffic.

“Walmart really turned things around here,” he said.

• Ownership has reinvested in the property

Over the years the mall has renovated the property and relocated the food court and other tenants. It has also developed new buildings in the parking lot that are now home to Outback Steakhouse and Mavis Discount Tire.

“It’s the right size of mall. It’s not too big,” Vizza said.

He said some other malls are two stories and very large, which he says makes them harder to keep up, and harder to redevelop.

Vizza said the mall was proactive in its redevelopment of the Sears store and the addition of new restaurants.

Tenant breakdown

A look at the Capital City Mall’s tenants shows a variety of businesses. Unofficially, mall tenants break down this way: shoes and apparel, 39%; food, 21%; services, 6%; jewelry and accessories, 12%; home, 3%; electronics, 6%; entertainment, 4% and other tenants, 9%. Three years ago, PennLive did a similar breakdown where shoes and apparel made up 29% and food made up 17%. Those two categories have since increased.

The mall’s local effect

About 1,100 people work in the mall; about 45% are full-time.

“It’s like a city in itself,” Vizza said.

And even though many of the tenants at the mall might look like large corporations, many of them are owned by franchisees from Taco Bell to Sbarro, Dairy Queen and Bonchon.

“There’s a lot of entrepreneurs in here,” he said.

And whenever a space is being prepared for a new tenant, local businesses are used from electricians to plumbers.

It hasn’t always been easy

The mall’s parent company, PREIT has been through bankruptcy not once but twice since 2020. After exiting bankruptcy earlier this year, it reduced its total debt by approximately $835 million and is now a private company. From the outside, the bankruptcies didn’t seem to impact the Capital City Mall as it remained open and near full capacity in recent years.

“We went through a really rough time but we came out of it with properties in good shape, well leased,” Vizza said.

Shopping centers like the Capital City Mall have also had to compete with online shopping, big box stores, and department stores going out of business.

“It’s been up and down,” Vizza said. “This mall has weathered that and succeeded.”