The End of Exton Square Mall

 

   Another death has happened. Not to a celebrity.... but to a mall. The Exton Square Mall is gone. Died on June 30th, 2026.

    Most of my childhood was spent in that mall. Most of it when I was sick in high school and my mom would take me to shops.

   Malls were considered popular in the 80's and 90's. They were the go-to place to hang out, shop, spend money and well...they just were known to be the place to be.

   Even certain movies would have people in malls. But never the Exton one. I guess it wasn't popular enough to be in a movie.

  I remember they had stores like Yankee Candle, Sam Goody, Auntie Ann's Pretzel, JCPenney, Hot Topic, Game Stop and many more.

    I liked a few of those stores. Sometimes I would go to both Spencer's Gift and Hot Topic to see which is better. 

    I think Hot Topic was better.

    The Exton Square Mall opened up in 1973. It had been around for 53 years. When Amazon started to become big on-line, many of the stores in the mall started to close.

    Malls were starting to fade, and Exton was one of them. It didn't show it truly fading until mid 2010's. Some stores couldn't stay in business long enough.

  

   Exton Square Mall isn't the only mall that has gone downhill. Many other malls are showing the same fate as Exton is.

   Not all malls are closing. The Mall of America, King of Prussia and a few other big malls are still in business. Some are expanding and adding some new stores.

   What is going to replace the mall? Well...the story is that they might replace it with apartments or some condos.

  Question is.... who will live in them? Not a lot of people can afford housing. It could just stay empty until they come to an agreement. But worse comes to worse... it'll end up being apartments.

   Not all of the mall is gone. There are two stores still there. One is Boscov's a clothing store that is still in business and another is a Chuck E. Cheese like place called Round1. An arcade/bowling alley like place.

   Never been in there, but I might check it out in the future. Thankfully, the library is still there, but I don't think that will last long either.

     Another mall had the same fate. Granite Run Mall, which was near Delaware County, closed as well. A few stores stayed open, but other things like apartment buildings and a gym have taken its place.

     I used to go to that mall when my mom was still teaching not far from where it was. Now...it too is gone.

   My childhood is disappearing. The last day of June...was the last time the Exton Square Mall saw daylight. Now...it is gone.

   Not many malls are left, and we should enjoy going to some before it is too late for any mall. Thanks to Jeff Bezos and Amazon...on-line shopping has become the new norm. Even I have shopped on-line. Shop in a mall before it's too late, because Exton Square Mall...is no more.