A vacant Sears Auto building at Whitehall Mall could soon become the site of a major convenience store chain.
Delaware County, Pa.-based Wawa has signed a lease to construct a 5,616-square-foot store at the mall, at Grape Street and MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township. A conceptual re-development site plan released by CBRE, the mall’s leasing agent, shows Wawa proposed to move into the former Sears Auto space. The building has sat idle since winter 2020.
It’s unclear, however, if Wawa plans to demolish the existing Sears Auto building and construct a new store or transform Sears Auto into the new store. In a similar plan for the former Brass Rail eatery in Allentown, Wawa is razing a vacant building to make way for a completely new store. The Whitehall Mall plan does not indicate if fuel stations would be part of the Wawa project.
Additionally, a Starbucks is being listed as a potential tenant in a 3,874-square-foot space, next to Buffalo Wild Wings along Grape Street, according to the conceptual plan.
A spokeswoman for mall owner, Ohio and Indiana-based WPG (Washington Prime Group), on Friday morning declined comment on both the Wawa or Starbucks proposals. She did previously tell lehighvalleylive.com, however, all conceptual renderings remain in the preliminary process.
Lee A. Rackus, Whitehall’s bureau chief for planning, zoning, told lehighvalleylive.com Friday no official plans have been submitted to the township for either the Wawa or Starbucks projects. Several discussions, however, have taken place between township officials and WPG representatives, Rackus said.
WPG representatives are not listed on any upcoming agendas in Whitehall.
In a previous Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners workshop meeting held this past February, Jordin Horan, WPG’s vice president of development, said she wanted to align all new buildings with the mall’s existing storefronts. The WPG spokesperson confirmed that remains Horan’s plan.
Ongoing revamp
If green lit by the township, Wawa and Starbucks would join a pair of other recent major revamped projects in Whitehall Mall’s ongoing redevelopment plan. The plan was launched in its preliminary stages last year by WPG.
Demolition work this past September began on the long vacant Old Country Buffet restaurant. The site that once occupied the eatery is set to be transformed into an improved parking area, the WPG spokeswoman previously told lehighvalleylive.com.
Crews this past July began taking down the former Sears building to make way for an 82,468-square-foot Floor & Decor showroom. The national retailer, specializing in hard-surface flooring products, is expected to open by early 2024.
The spokeswoman previously said the new parking lot will neighbor the Floor & Decor showroom.
WPG continues to remain mum on any additional future plans in the redevelopment project. Conceptual renderings in the area of the former Sears buildings and Old Country Buffet site continue to show plans for two adjacent retail and restaurant spaces. Both sites would total around 2,800 square feet.
Additionally, the conceptual redevelopment site plan currently shows a handful of other leases or letters of intent being negotiated for at least the smaller vacant spaces. This includes The Gravity Vault, an indoor rock climbing facility, expected to go under construction to fill a site that previously housed PA Fitness in the mall’s interior portion.
The mall is known as one of the first enclosed shopping centers in Pennsylvania, opening in 1966. Sears was one of its original tenants, along with more than 50 other retailers. The coronavirus pandemic, however, plagued the shopping destination with several vacancies and it continued to struggle immensely in its aftermath.
Among the most recent major anchors to vacate were Bed Bath & Beyond in early August, and Buy Buy Baby and Harmon Face Values by late July. The companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year after multiple years of dismal sales and numerous failed turnaround plans.
The Sears site, as well as Sears Auto, both sat vacant for about four years. The Whitehall Mall Sears was among 96 Sears and Kmart locations nationally closed by newly formed parent company Transformco in a move meant to streamline operations. Transformco was formed after Sears Holdings declared bankruptcy in October 2018.
The neighboring Old Country Buffet shuttered by October 2020. A news release then attributed the closure, which also included other national locations, to poor revenue even prior to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as its expiring leases.
Michaels also left Whitehall Mall, moving just before the March 2020 shutdown to space previously housed by Babies ‘R’ Us across Grape Street at Lehigh Valley Mall.
Wawa continues expansion
Wawa, with more than 1,000 convenience retail stores nationally, continues to significantly expand its footprint in the Lehigh Valley.
Regionally, the chain in March 2022 opened another city location at 364 Susquehanna St. It followed an Upper Saucon location at 6680 Route 309 opening in January 2022. A Lower Nazareth store then opened in September 2022 at 4089 Jandy Blvd.
Another Wawa store is completing construction along Route 412 near the Interstate 78 interchange at the site of the former Chris’s Restaurant in South Bethlehem. Chris’s, a popular local diner, closed about six years ago after its owners won a portion of a lottery jackpot.
Two other Wawa stores are planned at Nazareth Pike at Oakland Road in Bethlehem Township; and at 90 Highland Ave. in Hanover Township, Northampton County. There also are reportedly plans moving forward for a store at Route 309 and Chapmans Road, South Whitehall Township; as well as plans for a second Bethlehem Township location at 4457 Easton Ave. That store would sit between the Blue Grillhouse and Farmersville Road and includes designs for a four-story 60-unit apartment building.
Starbucks also is scoping out various expansion projects.
A site with drive-thru currently is under construction along Sullivan Trail in Forks Township. There are plans for at least three more Starbucks sites, including at the revamped Westgate Mall, along Schoenersville Road in Bethlehem; along Sullivan Trail (Route 115) in Plainfield Township; and in a shopping center along Easton Avenue in Bethlehem, under developer Posh Properties.
Existing Starbucks locations across the region include in Bethlehem Township; Bethlehem, Lehigh County; Hellertown; Hanover Township, Lehigh County; the Allentown area; Lower Macungie Township; Upper Saucon Township; and in Pohatcong Township. There also is a Starbucks at the Lehigh Valley Mall in Whitehall.
Who’s in at Whitehall Mall
At least The Pet Shop, SMP, Bela Bridal, Bellissima Nails, and ComicMasters remain, as does anchor Kohl’s department store, in the mall’s enclosed portion.
The outdoor shopping center currently includes anchor Raymour & Flanigan, as well as Mission BBQ, Buffalo Wild Wings, Men’s Wearhouse, Wells Fargo, Shoe Carnival, Lane Bryant and Five Below.
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Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com.
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