FAIRLANE VILLAGE MALL
Pottsville-St. Clair Highway and Tunnel Road
Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania
Pottsville, Pennsylvania is located 97 miles northwest of Philadelphia and 45 miles northeast of Harrisburg. In March 1967, ground was broken on a 17.8-acre portion of a 47-acre site. This was situated 1.2 miles northeast of center city Pottsville, in a unincorporated section of Schuylkill County known as East Mines (Norwegian Township).
Further construction at the site was delayed for several years. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation refused to build an access road to connect the mall site and Pottsville-St. Clair Highway. The impasse was resolved in 1970, with work on the shopping center resuming in August 1973.
FAIRLANE VILLAGE MALL was named after a model of Ford auto sold by a the William and Robert Seitzinger dealership. Their company, Seitzinger Brothers Leasing, Incorporated, developed the mall. The complex was designed by the Lewis Coloracco Association, of Philadelphia.
The mall's first operational store, a 2-level (145,500 square foot), Reading-based Boscov's, was launched on August 13, 1974. A 1-level (100,00 square foot) Woolco discount mart opened for business on March 12, 1975. A J.G. McCrory 5 & 10 and Richard Fox 1 & 2 Theatres were also dedicated at this time.
Store openings at FAIRLANE VILLAGE MALL continued into October 1976. When fully-leased, the complex spanned approximately 421,000 leasable square feet and contained forty-eight stores and services. Charter tenants included A to Z Vacuum Cleaner Mart, The Village Gift Shoppe, American Bank, Fashion Bug, Radio Shack, Singer Sewing Center and Zales Jewelers.
Two mall-type venues competed with FAIRLANE VILLAGE. The 300,000 square foot CRESSONA MALL {4.6 miles south, in Schuylkill County} opened in October 1973. SCHUYLKILL MALL {4.3 miles northwest, also in Schuylkill County} was an 800,000 square foot complex that was dedicated in October 1980.
Woolco's January 1983 shuttering left the center with a sizable vacancy. This was filled by a Johnstown, Pennsylvania-based Gee Bee discount mart, which opened on July 12, 1983. Gee Bee, owned by Johnstown's Glosser Brothers, operated twenty-three stores with the opening of the FAIRLANE VILLAGE location.
The Gee Bee chain was acquired by Columbus, Ohio-based Value City in January 1993. The FAIRLANE VILLAGE MALL unit was reconfigured. It re-opened, as a Value City, on February 25, 1993. A major mall renovation was performed during 1995. Boscov's, enlarged by 65,000 square feet, was re-dedicated on September 30, 1995. The shopping concourse was refurbished with new tile flooring, ambient lighting, ceilings and skylights. Mall entrances were rebuilt and the parking lot repaved. The revitalized mall held a re-grand opening on October 12, 1995.
All Value City stores closed in November 2008; leaving a sizable vacancy at FAIRLANE VILLAGE. The space was filled by two retailers. Wisconsin-based Kohl's opened, utilizing 57,800 square feet, on March 7, 2012. Michaels took the remaining 22,000 square feet, with their arts & crafts emporium making its debut on August 19 of the same year.
Since its initial development, FAIRLANE VILLAGE MALL has been owned by five different entities. Seitzinger Brothers Leasing, Incorporated sold the complex to the Netherlands-based Claverton Corporation on December 31, 1986. The Atlanta-based Equity Investment Group took possession on June 27, 2000. An entity known as the AM Fairlane Village Mall, Limited Liability Company closed on the property on November 12, 2004. A joint venture of the Pottsville Commons, Limited Liability Company and Pottsville Mall, Limited Liability Company -both of New York City- bought the mall on September 15, 2016.
Between 2018 and 2022, vacant store space along the south concourse was gutted and reconfigured as big box stores. A (43,800 square foot) Dunham's Sports commenced operation on December 7, 2018. A (22,000 square foot) TJ Maxx welcomed first shoppers on October 16, 2022. In late 2026, FAIRLANE VILLAGE MALL housed twelve stores and services, with three outparcel structures.
Sources:
The Shenandoah Evening Herald (Shenandoah, Pennsylvania)
https://lexingtonco.com / Lexington Realty International
http://schuylkillhistory.org
http://www.shopfairlanevillagemall.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://www.shopfairlanevillagemall.com
https://services.co.schuylkill.pa.us / Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Geographic Information Systems Map Viewer
https://www.skooknews.com
"Fairlane Village Mall" and "Gee Bee" articles on Wikipedia
