Mike Fenn, 45, grew up in Delaware County and hung out as a teenager at the Granite Run Mall, the Springfield Mall, and King of Prussia.
He and his friends frequented GameStop, Electronics Boutique, Suncoast Video, and Showcase Comics, writes Erin McCarthy for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Malls “slowly died out or they went exceptionally high-end like King of Prussia or Cherry Hill,” said Fenn, who stopped at more than a dozen local malls and shopping centers in a single day last year.
Springfield Mall “went from a mall with a Target attached to it, to a Target with a mall attached to it,” said Fenn.
E-commerce, the 2008 recession, and the 2020 pandemic forced malls to close, be redeveloped or adapt to offer experiences over merchandise.
The Granite Run Mall closed in 2015 and replaced with the Promenade at Granite Run, a mixed-use town center, with 400 luxury apartments, new retail, restaurants, and medical offices.
The investment of more than $100 million has paid off, with nearly 100 percent of the retail spaces leased, along with most of the apartments, said Michael Markman, president of BET Investments, developer of Promenade at Granite Run.
Read how malls in the region have changed over the decades in The Philadelphia Inquurer.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on DELCO Today in April 2026.
