By 2025, the complex is promoted -once again- as FAIRLANE VILLAGE MALL. The south wing has been reconfigured, with new big box stores installed. One of these is the aforementioned Dunham's Sports.
FAIRLANE VILLAGE MALL
Pottsville-St. Clair and Tunnel Roads
Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania
Pottsville, Pennsylvania is located 97 miles northwest of Philadelphia and 45 miles northeast of Harrisburg. In March 1967, ground was broken at a 17.8-acre site, lying 1.2 miles northeast of center city Pottsville. The tract was located in Schuylkill County and straddled Norwegian and East Norwegian Townships.
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-Saint Clair Highway. The impasse was resolved in 1970. Work on the shopping center re-commenced in August 1973.
FAIRLANE VILLAGE MALL was named after a model of Ford automobile sold by the dealership owned by William and Robert Seitzinger. The Seitzinger Brothers were also the developers of the mall. Its 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. Also holding grand openings were a J.G. McCrory 5 & 10 and the Richard Fox 1 & 2 Theatres.
Store dedications 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. On the exterior, entrances were rebuilt and the parking lot repaved. The revitalized mall held a re-grand opening on October 12, 1995.
With the shuttering of all Value City stores, in November 2008, the mall was left with a sizable vacancy. 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 in 1973-'74, FAIRLANE VILLAGE MALL has been owned by five different entities. The most recent sale, to a joint venture of Pottsville Commons and Pottsville Mall, Limited Liability Company, closed in October 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. With these modification, FAIRLANE VILLAGE MALL housed sixteen stores and services and featured three outparcel structures.
Sources:
The Republican & Herald (Pottsville, Pennsylvania)
The Shenandoah Evening Herald (Shenandoah, Pennsylvania)
https://lexingtonco.com / Lexington Realty International
http://schuylkillhistory.org
http://www.shopfairlanevillagemall.com
Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania property tax assessor website
https://www.skooknews.com
"Fairlane Village Mall" and "Gee Bee" articles on Wikipedia
