NOTE: This post comes from outside the blog's coverage area.
While is no doubt struggling, recent news has me very optimistic for the Indiana Mall's future.
The Indiana Mall, located just outside of Indiana, Pennsylvania; first opened its doors in 1979 with anchors Bon-Ton, Sears and Kmart. It would appear that JCPenney opened as a fourth anchor in the early 1980s. For some reason that I personally don't quite understand, Old Navy closed back in 2012. Dominoes started falling after Kmart closed in late 2017- which remains vacant as of the writing of this post. Bon-Ton closed with the chain's bankruptcy in 2018 while Sears had closed in early 2018. Things weren't looking good with just JCPenney as the sole remaining anchor.
In a very unusual instance, the mall never saw any anchor changes until late 2018 when Harbor Freight first opened in part of the former Sears that closed earlier that same year. Kohl's would then take over the front portion of the Sears space in 2019. It is worth noting though that this still leaves the back side of the Sears empty. The recent announcement that Dunham's Sports will be taking over the former Bon-Ton means that three out of the four anchors will now mostly be filled. This is no easy task to do this day and age- especially in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. While this still does leave the former Kmart to fill and back side of Sears to fill, I think it is much more doable now. My recommendation would be to get Rural King in the former Kmart and perhaps a fitness center like Planet Fitness taking over the remaining Sears portion.
I've visited the property two times: once in 2017 and later in 2019. There were a noticeable amount of vacant storefronts in my 2019 visit, but filling the anchors is key to get new inline tenants. At the time of my 2019 visit, it was not yet known that Kohl's would open here.
2019 visit:
