With Macy’s Closing, PREIT Makes Plans for “Lifestyle Destination” at Plymouth Meeting Mall

The Macy’s at Plymouth Meeting Mall. Image via Google Street View.

By the time Macy’s broke the news that four of its Philly-area stores will close their doors this spring, the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, which owns two of the four malls affected, had long begun the search for new tenants. 

In particular, PREIT said it has big plans for the more than 200,000 square feet that is soon to be vacant at the Plymouth Meeting Mall. PREIT CEO Joseph Coradino told the Inquirer that the company is looking to fill the space with an innovative tenant (which hasn’t yet been named) that “would continue the mall’s transformation into a lifestyle destination.”

Coradino said he wants the new venue to be modeled like the mall’s existing Whole Foods, which he said already supports the “lifestyle destination” transformation.

By attracting tenants with more to offer, Coradino said, PREIT can “continue the metamorphosis of Plymouth Meeting into a dining, entertainment, and lifestyle experience for consumers, by blending a diverse mix of retail, dining and entertainment concepts,” according to the Inquirer.

Landlords like PREIT are increasingly looking to attract tenants with more to offer as brick-and-motor stores – many of them retailers like Macy’s, Sears, Kohl’s and Men’s Warehouse – cut back on locations and give way to online shopping. For PREIT, that means bringing in more anchor stores – like Plymouth Meeting’s LEGOLAND Discovery Center, opening in the spring.

Negotiations with possible tenants are also underway at PREIT’s Moorestown Mall, according to the company. In addition to those two locations, Macy’s stores at the Bensalem Neshaminy Mall and the Voorhees Town Center will close as part of the company’s recent decision to eliminate 68 stores nationwide.

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