The mall opened in 1986. The mall's present anchor tenants include JCPenney to the east, Macy's to the south, Nordstrom to the northwest and Dick's House of Sport to the north. Crate & Barrel and L.L.Bean anchor the lifestyle addition on the southwestern part of the mall property. When the mall was originally built, a Horne's store occupied the present Nordstrom location, Kaufmann's was in the present Macy's spot and Sears was in the current Dick's House of Sport location.
From 1987 to 1991, a McDonald's restaurant was on the first floor near the lawn mower department in the former Sears store.[1] While restaurants in department stores was not a new concept, a fast food restaurant was. Other Sears stores attempted similar undertakings with moderate success.
The Nordstrom location had a complicated beginning. It was intended to be a Gimbels but was never occupied because the Gimbels chain was sold and liquidated a year after the mall opened, resulting in a vacant anchor at the time. The spot was first opened by Horne's. It operated as Horne's from 1987 to 1994, when Federated Department Stores purchased the Horne's chain and rebranded its stores with its own regional Lazarus name. The store operated as Lazarus until Federated renamed it as Macy's in March 2005. Four months later, Federated purchased the May Department Stores Company, which operated the Kaufmann's anchor store at the south end of the mall. In March 2006, Nordstrom announced plans to build a new store on the Horne's/Lazarus/Macy's site. Following the announcement, the existing Kaufmann's soon became the current Macy's store. Demolition began on the former Macy's site and Nordstrom later opened on October 24, 2008.
During the summer of 2019, JCPenney downsized to the first floor of the building, with offices on a portion of the second floor, while the rest is sealed off & vacant.
On January 20, 2023 a Gucci store opened in the mall, which was its first location in Western Pennsylvania.[5]
Early-mid 2000's renovations and expansions
In 2000, Ross Park underwent $14 million in renovations including the construction of a play area for children near JCPenney as well as new lighting, ceilings, entranceways and flooring. Additional renovations were done in 2008 with the mall expansion, incorporating a Nordstrom department store. Some luxury retailers were also added to the mall, including Tiffany & Co, Burberry, Kate Spade New York, Coach, and Louis Vuitton. In addition, a 65,000-square-foot (6,000m2) lifestyle expansion completed the 2008 remodel. The expansion contained about five tenants, including two eateries.
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Port Authority bus: 2, 12
