Springfield Mall (Pennsylvania)
Springfield Mall is a regional shopping mall located approximately southwest of Philadelphia in Springfield Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It is located just off Interstate 476 along Baltimore Pike, near its busy intersection with Pennsylvania Route 320. It is serviced by a number of SEPTA bus lines as well as the SEPTA Metro D1 at the Springfield Mall station. This is a rarity for suburban Philadelphia shopping malls as many of which are served solely by bus routes.
Springfield Mall is owned jointly by the Simon Property Group and PREIT, and is managed by PREIT.
It is currently anchored by a Macy's and Target, the latter replacing a Strawbridge's anchor store.
The mall has the full service restaurant, Ruby’s Cajun with additional fast food restaurants such as Auntie Anne’s and Sbarro.
History
20th century
Springfield Mall opened on September 19, 1974, under the development of Springfield Associates. The original two anchor stores were Bamberger's and John Wanamaker.On October 30, 1985, Sylvia Seegrist, a 25-year-old paranoid schizophrenic, went on a shooting spree in the mall, killing three and wounding seven others until she was disarmed by other shoppers.
Bamberger's was converted to a Macy's in 1986. John Wanamaker closed in 1995 and was reopened as Hecht's the same year. In 1997, the Hecht's was converted to Strawbridge's.
21st century
In 2005, PREIT and Kravco Simon acquired the Springfield Mall from Springfield Associates LP for $103.5 million.Strawbridge's closed in 2006 following the sale of its parent company to the same parent company as Macy's. The building was sold to Target in 2008 and demolished fall 2008. The new Target was constructed following the Strawbridge's demolition and opened on October 11, 2009, coexisting with the nearby Target store opened in 1997 in a former Strawbridge's, the area's first Target.