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Tag: Granite Run

  • A small-format Ikea is open at the old Granite Run Mall

    Ikea has opened its first Delaware County location, though it doesn’t look like its massive stores in Conshohocken and South Philly.

    The home design company’s “plan and order point” in Media opened Wednesday. At less than 4,000 square feet, the outpost is a fraction of the size of its typical stores, with square footage in the hundreds of thousands.

    The company operates more than a dozen of these locations nationwide, including one in Cherry Hill.

    This latest one is located in the Promenade at Granite Run, a mixed-use complex on the site of the old Granite Run Mall.

    Philly-area malls aren’t dead yet. But they are changing.

    Ikea, which has its U.S. headquarters in Conshohocken, said in a statement this fall that the location would provide design consultation services for more complex projects like kitchens, bedrooms, and bathrooms. But the space doesn’t contain inventory. Instead, customers can order items for delivery or on-site pickup.

    For some Delaware County residents, the new location means “no more trekking through that notorious I-476 ‘Blue Route’ traffic” to get to the Conshohocken or South Philly stores, Ikea U.S. market manager George Holtkamp said in an October statement.

    But if those customers get a craving for the popular Ikea meatballs, they’ll still have to make the longer trip, as the Media site does not have an in-store Swedish bistro.

    People worked in the cafeteria of the 300,000-square-foot Ikea in South Philly in 2022.

    Ikea has been adding more locations after its U.S. arm reported $5.3 billion in sales last year, the majority of which were made in-person. Over the same period, about 61 million people visited its physical stores, while more than 457 million people browsed the website.

    In Media, Ikea joins Michaels, TJ Maxx, Kohl’s, Boscov’s, and a slate of other stores that occupy the 830,000-square-foot retail section of the Promenade at Granite Run. The complex exemplifies how struggling malls can be reborn.

    After the Granite Run Mall closed in 2015, BET Investments spent more than $100 million to demolish the building and build the open-air town center in its place, according to president Michael Markman. Along with an array of retailers, the complex now contains 400 luxury apartments, as well as several restaurants and medical offices.

    An aerial photo shows the Promenade at Granite Run in June 2022.

    Markman said in April that the retail portion of the complex is almost fully leased.

    “Its only gotten better since we originally tenanted it,” Markman said at the time. “We signed a Nordstrom Rack. We signed a small-scale Ikea.”

    The Nordstrom Rack is expected to open in the fall, according to the retailer.

  • Delaware’s only Nordstrom is closing

    Delaware’s only Nordstrom is closing

    Delaware’s only Nordstrom store is set to close its doors next month.

    The Christiana Mall location will shutter on April 30, the company confirmed in an email on Monday. The closure was reported over the weekend by the Delaware News Journal.

    “We believe we’ll be best able to serve customers in the area by leveraging our surrounding stores and through our digital channels,” Nordstrom said in a statement.

    The two-story, 123,000-square-foot department store opened in the Newark mall 15 years ago. The high-end retailer is one of four anchors alongside J.C. Penney, Macy’s, and Target.

    Once Nordstrom closes, the nearest full-price location will be more than 30 miles away at the King of Prussia Mall. The company’s discount counterpart, Nordstrom Rack, operates a store nearby at the Christiana Fashion Center complex in Newark.

    In the past year, the company has expanded its off-price footprint, with new Nordstrom Rack stores in Deptford and Marlton in South Jersey.

    Nordstrom Rack in Center City is shown in 2018. Recently, the retailer has been expanding its off-price footprint.

    The retailer has announced plans to open more than a dozen additional locations this year. They include Nordstrom Rack stores in the Main Street at Exton shopping center and at the Promenade at Granite Run in Media.

    At the Christiana Mall, Nordstrom said it is “committed to taking care of our employees through this transition, including supporting those who are interested in finding another role within Nordstrom.” It did not say how many people would lose their jobs.

    A search of Delaware’s online database of WARN Act notices, which are required in advance of closures and mass layoffs, did not yield any results.

    Christiana Mall is billed by its owner, General Growth Properties (GGP), formerly Brookfield Property Partners, as “one of the most productive retail centers in the country.” The developers say that each year 10 million people visit the 1.2-million-square foot “tax-free shopping destination” that is home to more than 140 stores. Delaware has no state or local sales tax.

    The Christiana Mall is shown in 2018. Its owners say 10 million people visit the Newark shopping destination each year.

    A GGP spokesperson declined to comment on Nordstrom’s departure and said it was too soon to discuss what’s next for the space.

    The news of the closure comes amid an uncertain time for the retail industry.

    Some shopping destinations, such as the King of Prussia and Cherry Hill malls, appear to be thriving. Others struggle amid economic uncertainty and increased competition from online retailers. Several local malls are flat-out dead, with some in the process of being resurrected as mixed-use complexes with apartments, restaurants, and entertainment.

    Individual retailers have also seen disparate results.

    After decades in business, Saks Fifth Avenue in Bala Cynwyd is set to close next month after its parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In another segment of the retail industry, West Chester-based home shopping network QVC Group, according to a Bloomberg report, is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to reorganize billions in debt.

  • A $105-million mixed-use complex with apartments set to rise in the shadow of Willow Grove mall

    A $105-million mixed-use complex with apartments set to rise in the shadow of Willow Grove mall

    A shopping center in the shadow of Willow Grove Park Mall will soon undergo a $105-million “transformation” with new apartments and shops, says the developer behind the project.

    Starting this summer, about 130,000 square feet of the Willow Grove Shopping Center will be demolished to build a mixed-used complex with 261 residential units and 35,000 square feet of new retail space, said Mark Brennan, vice president of regional development for Federal Realty Investment Trust.

    It will mark the latest stage in a multiphase redevelopment of the outdoor center, which is located across the street from the mall.

    A rendering of what Federal Realty Investment Trust plans to build at the Willow Grove Shopping Center.

    Across the Philadelphia region, similar mixed-use complexes have increasingly been built around thriving shopping destinations, such as King of Prussia, where thousands of new apartments have risen in recent years.

    Elsewhere, town-center-like developments have replaced dead malls. In Delaware County, a $120-million complex with apartments, restaurants, and shops sits on the site of the former Granite Run Mall, which was demolished a decade ago.

    Mixed-use projects have also been proposed for the Exton Square Mall and at the old Echelon Mall in Voorhees. (In both locations, apartments have already been built on other parts of the property.)

    A spokesperson for PREIT, which owns Willow Grove Park Mall, did not return a request for comment. In a 2022 shareholders’ report, PREIT executives called the complex “one of our leading suburban Philadelphia assets,“ with an occupancy rate of more than 96%.

    The Willow Grove Park Mall is pictured in 2019.

    Across Moreland Road, Brennan is confident his shopping-center redevelopment will be met with high demand.

    Since the pandemic, the Montgomery County community has “really come alive,” due in part to its proximity to the city and to suburban employment centers, said Brennan, who is based in Wynnewood. And people who are moving out of the city or looking to downsize are particularly interested in moving to mixed-use developments, he said.

    The center’s proximity to SEPTA’s Willow Grove train station, and major highways, including the Pennsylvania Turnpike, will make it particularly appealing, as will its mix of “highly curated” shops, Brennan said.

    Across the street from the mall, the Willow Grove Shopping Center is set to undergo a $105-million transformation with apartments and new retail.

    The center’s existing tenants, which include Marshalls and Five Below, will remain open during construction, Brennan said.

    He expects the project to be complete sometime in 2028.

    “These sort of multifaceted, multiphased development projects do take quite a bit of time and planning,” Brennan said. “We’re really excited to get to the next phase of this transformation.”

  • Honeygrow aims to be a national brand. Here’s where the Philly company is planning new locations.

    Honeygrow aims to be a national brand. Here’s where the Philly company is planning new locations.

    Honeygrow keeps growing.

    The fast-casual eatery, based in Center City, plans to open up to 18 new locations next year, following 17 new outposts in 2025, founder and CEO Justin Rosenberg told The Inquirer on Monday.

    “It was definitely a good year,” said Rosenberg, adding that the company is “just continuing to build the pipeline for 2026 and beyond.”

    Honeygrow sells made-to-order stir-fries as well as salads and desserts. Since launching in 2012, the company has grown to 71 locations across several states, including Ohio, Massachusetts, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and New York.

    Philadelphia-area stores include Center City, Kensington, University City, North Philadelphia, Bala Cynwyd, and Cherry Hill.

    The company’s expansion plans include adding locations in Ohio and New Jersey, as well as in Boston. The eatery is also currently in negotiations to bring Honeygrow to the Detroit metropolitan area, a new market, said Rosenberg.

    Honeygrow also aims to open a location in Middletown, Del.

    As of February 2024, Boston was the company’s most-profitable market, but since then, Philadelphia has caught up, he says.

    “Saleswise, it’s kind of neck and neck between certain Philly stores and our two Boston stores,” Rosenberg said.

    Further expansion in Philadelphia is also possible.

    “We are always looking at Philly,” Rosenberg said. “We’ve been poking around South Philly for a while. We just haven’t found the right opportunity.”

    Honeygrow, at 11th Street in Center City, in 2024.

    The company typically seeks 2,500-square-foot locations for new stores, but Rosenberg says it’s a competitive market for that kind of real estate.

    “One of the things that has made us successful — and I give credit to my team for this — is that we’ve been very disciplined on growth, just saying, look, if we can’t get the deal we need in terms of underwriting, let someone else take it,” he said.

    The company employs roughly 2,000 people, and each new store adds some 30 new hires, Rosenberg said.

    Some of the considerations when looking at new markets include what other fast-casual concepts are in the area, and how they’re doing, Rosenberg said.

    “If a Starbucks is underperforming in that market, that’s certainly going to spook us. Or a Chick-fil-A, if it’s below average unit volume, it’s probably not the right market for us,” he said.

    On the flip side, if a Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, Raising Cane’s, or another brand is doing well in an area, Rosenberg said, “We feel that those would be very similar customers to ours. We’re willing to put a restaurant in there and see what happens.”

    The plans for new locations come as the company shuttered some stores in Chicago, Washington, and New York in 2018 after rapid expansion plans. Some stores were “dragging down profitability,” Rosenberg has said, and he has attributed closures to growth that happened too quickly as well as poor real estate.

    Since then, the company has roughly tripled in size, said Rosenberg, adding “you just keep learning with every opening that you have.”

    “My mission remains the same,” he said. “I want to build something that’s from Philadelphia — make this a national, if not international, brand that we can be proud of.”

    Chicken Parm Stir-fry at Honeygrow at the 11th Street location in Philadelphia in 2024.
  • A new food hall brings over a dozen restaurants to Media | Inquirer Greater Media

    A new food hall brings over a dozen restaurants to Media | Inquirer Greater Media

    Hi, Greater Media! 👋

    It’s a big week for a short stretch along Route 1, where two new businesses are opening. Food hall Wonder is hosting its grand opening today, and less than a mile down the road, Middletown Township has welcomed its first full-service hotel. Also this week, Nether Providence Township police are searching for the person who left a large amount of cash in a South Providence Road mailbox, plus Swarthmore College is mourning the death of a beloved former professor.

    If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

    Wonder food hall opens at Granite Run

    Eddie Jefferson is the operations leader at Wonder’s newest location, which opens today at the Promenade at Granite Run.

    Good news for parents of chronically picky eaters: Wonder, the fast-growing food hall chain, opens at the Promenade at Granite Run today.

    It will offer a wide-ranging array of foods from over a dozen restaurant brands, including Bobby Flay Steak, Detroit Brick Pizza Co., comfort food spot Bellies, and Burger Baby.

    “I have children who never really could settle on the same food. So it was like, ‘Oh this makes sense,’” said Eddie Jefferson, the location’s operations leader.

    The Inquirer’s Torin Sweeney has details on all the food you can find at the latest location, along with grand opening plans.

    Middletown Township hopes to cash in on tourism with its first full-service hotel

    The new Hilton Garden Inn opened Tuesday in Middletown Township.

    Middletown Township’s first full-service hotel opened this week at the former Franklin Mint site.

    The long-planned 107-room Hilton Garden Inn opens at a fortuitous time for the region, with a swell of tourists expected in 2026 for FIFA World Cup matches, semiquincentennial celebrations, the MLB All-Star Game, and the PGA Championship, The Inquirer’s Denali Sagner reports.

    The new hotel also provides an additional option for local visitors, including those coming in for events at one of the county’s 12 colleges and universities or visiting major corporations like Wawa, which has its campus just a short drive down the road.

    Read more about the new hotel and its restaurant, which is open to the public.

    💡 Community News

    🏫 Schools Briefing

    • Springton Lake Middle School was recently recognized among Pennsylvania Don Eichhorn Schools’ “Schools to Watch” for the 2025-26 academic year. This is the third time Springton Lake has been recognized since the program was launched during the 2006-07 school year. It recognizes schools based on a number of factors, including academic excellence, developmental responsiveness, social equity, and organizational structures and processes.
    • In Wallingford-Swarthmore, there are fifth grade winter band and chorus concerts today, a school board meeting Monday at 7 p.m., and winter classroom parties on Tuesday. WSSD begins its winter break on Wednesday. See the district’s full calendar here.
    • In Rose Tree Media, winter parties kick off tomorrow and continue Monday, when there are also winter concerts. There are early dismissals Tuesday, and no afternoon kindergarten. RTMSD’s winter break begins Wednesday. See the district’s full calendar here.

    🍽️ On our Plate

    • For those in search of Christmas Eve reservations, Fava Ristorante Italiano and Harvest Seasonal Grill & Wine Bar, both in Glen Mills, will be open. Prefer to dine in? White Dog Café, also in Glen Mills, is offering a “Christmas at Home” package with options for beef tenderloin, glazed ham, and beef lasagna. (Main Line Today)
    • If you’ve already got your eye on New Year’s Eve plans, Wallingford BYOB Fond is offering a five-course dinner for $135. It includes oysters, tuna tartare, seared foie gras, scallops, pork belly, and dessert.

    🎳 Things to Do

    🎄 Lenora: A One-Woman Christmas Carol: Kate Brennan puts a modern twist on A Christmas Carol with this show centered on a woman who gets trapped in her apartment on Christmas Eve and ends up assessing how technology and devices both connect and disconnect us. ⏰ Thursday, Dec. 18, 12:30 p.m., and Friday, Dec. 19, 7 p.m. 💵 $21 📍Park Avenue Community Center, Swarthmore

    🎭 Hello, Dolly!: PCS Theater will put its spin on the hit musical. ⏰ Friday, Dec. 19-Sunday, Jan. 4, times vary 💵 $28.50-$30.50 📍PCS Theater, Swarthmore

    🍪 Teen Activity Days: Teens 13 to 18 can decorate holiday cookies at this month’s event. ⏰ Saturday, Dec. 20, 1-3 p.m. 💵 Free 📍Rocky Run YMCA, Media

    💫 Winter Solstice: Celebrate the darkest day of the year with luminary lights, poetry readings, and carolers. ⏰ Saturday, Dec. 20, 5:30-8 p.m. 💵 Free 📍Plum and State Streets, Media

    🎙️ Lights Out: A Very Valli Holiday: This tribute to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons features classic hits and festive tunes, as well as audience participation. ⏰ Saturday, Dec. 21, 7 p.m. 💵 $41 📍The Media Theatre

    🏡 On the Market

    A four-bedroom Media home with lots of natural light

    The family room has a stone accent wall with a fireplace, exposed wood beams, and a staircase leading to a loft.

    Located in Spring Oak Estates, this four-bedroom home feels light and bright thanks to a number of vaulted ceilings and skylights. The first floor features a two-story foyer, a living room with vaulted ceilings and a marble fireplace, a dining room, a kitchen with granite countertops, and a family room with exposed wood beams, vaulted ceilings, and a fireplace within a stone accent wall. It also has a spiral staircase leading to a loft. The primary suite, also with skylights, is on the first floor, while three additional bedrooms are upstairs. The home has a finished walk-out basement, a deck, and a fenced yard.

    See more photos of the home here.

    Price: $1.049M | Size: 3,302 SF | Acreage: 1.1

    🗞️ What other Greater Media residents are reading this week:

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • Is Boscov’s selling the most offensively Pennsylvania outfit ever?

    Is Boscov’s selling the most offensively Pennsylvania outfit ever?

    I was lured to the Boscov’s at Granite Run the other weekend by a mailer I’d received advertising a one-day shoe sale — buy any pair, get the second for $1.99.

    I went early to beat the crowds only to find the bounds of polite society had dissipated at the shoe department and it’d become The Hunger Games, but with footwear and senior citizen tributes (who are far more ruthless than their younger counterparts).

    Flustered, I set off to browse the rest of the store. The first thing you might find yourself wondering as you wander around a Boscov’s is: “How does this place even exist?” It’s a full-scale department store that sells everything from perfume to sofas. I even discovered an entire candy counter on the second floor that during a previous visit I’d never noticed before. As it turns out, this Reading-based chain is in the fudge-making business too.

    Legions of other department stores have fallen in the last few decades — Kaufmann’s, Bradlees, Hills, Hess’s — yet Boscov’s abides. The Granite Run Boscov’s is particularly a beast unburdened by the sands of time. It was previously an anchor store for the Granite Run Mall, which was torn down around it in 2016 to make way for the Promenade at Granite Run. Only Boscov’s remains of the once-storied mall. It is a rock that shall not be moved, a pillar to in-person purchasing.

    The outfit

    As I was browsing the brightly-lit aisles that fateful Saturday this month, wondering if the lights might give me a sunburn, my eyes fell upon something I can never unsee: matching camouflage sweat suits.

    Here were outfits that managed to do what no state legislature or psychological expert ever has: They married rural and urban Pennsylvania.

    Boscov’s bills these matching sweat suits as “Rustic Romance.”

    As someone who spent her formative years growing up in Lycoming County — where we had the first day of hunting season off from school — I can attest that camouflage is not just for stalking prey and sitting in tree stands. It’s an entire sartorial color category all its own in rural Pennsylvania.

    Camo is mixed and matched with everything and considered appropriate for all events, from weddings to funerals (think of it like Birds gear during a playoff run). I’ll never forget looking at photos from my wedding and realizing a guest from Central Pennsylvania wore a camo baseball hat to our reception.

    Now, a matching tracksuit is something you rarely see in rural Pennsylvania, but it’s practically a closet-staple around Philly. You’ll see at least one person wearing one at every Wawa, Acme, or outdoor event you visit in the region.

    Typically paired with sunglasses, these outfits are not only comfortable but incredibly stress-free. No need to worry about what to pair your sweatshirt with because there’s only one answer, the matching sweatpants you bought with it.

    Standing stunned before these camouflage sweatsuits, which came in both his and hers, I wondered if Boscov’s had thrown back a few beverages before deciding to sell these things.

    As a Pennsylvanian, I was highly offended. We the people of this fine commonwealth are more than camo and sweat suits! We are camo OR sweat suits.

    But maybe, just maybe, by blending these two wildly different fashions together as the holidays approach, Boscov’s will also blend us. No more Philly, Pittsburgh, and the T in between. No more red counties and blue counties. This could be the one outfit to unite us all, while also helping us blend into woodland scenes.

    When I posted a picture of the camo sweatsuits on Threads, several users pointed out that Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts recently wore a matching camouflage suit when the Birds traveled to Green Bay. I was surprised, as Hurts is typically a very stylish dude who wears Kangol hats and carries a man bag, but people suggested his outfit could have been a fashion statement indicating he was on the hunt.

    Who better though to serve as the ambassador of the camouflage sweat suit and unite our state than Hurts? He’s cool under pressure, so he could take the heat of promoting an undeniably terrible outfit for the greater good, and he grew up in Texas, so it’s safe to assume he’s familiar with camo (and we already know he’s not afraid to wear it).

    It wasn’t until I got home and looked at my photo of the sweat suits that I noticed there was a sign at the top of the store display billing these outfits as “Rustic Romance.”

    Listen, I know that Pennsylvanians’ reputation for romance does not precede us, but that’s just insulting. There’s nothing romantic about letting your partner know you want them to look more like fall foliage.

    I guarantee if you get your lady a matching camo sweat suit for Christmas, she’s not going to fawn all over you — she will hunt you down.