Logan Valley Mall in Altoona PA: From Crowds to Quiet Halls

Opening Retail Center on Goods Lane

Logan Valley Mall opened in November 1965 as an open-air shopping complex anchored by Sears, Weis Markets, and several smaller shops.

The property was developed by Crown American, with architecture from Hunter, Campbell & Rea, and it relied on wide lots and basic storefronts.

In 1966, JCPenney was added, and by June 8, 1967, the space was enclosed, giving Altoona a climate-controlled mall with a formal ribbon-cutting.

The transformation from open-air plaza to enclosed retail space marked a turning point for the site at 5580 Goods Lane.

Sears was the centerpiece, drawing shoppers for appliances, clothing, and hardware, while Weis Markets filled grocery needs.

JCPenney broadened the tenant mix with apparel and household goods.

The enclosed layout created a steady indoor flow, where storefronts faced polished corridors instead of exposed walkways.

Commercial reports from that summer highlighted the scale of the new enclosed format and its draw for weekend traffic.

By late 1967, the Logan Valley Mall began showing up in property directories and retail bulletins as a major regional center.

Shoppers now had an all-weather option, and the new interior quickly became part of the everyday things to do in Altoona, PA, especially during the winter months when outdoor shopping had always been a challenge.

Expansion Years and Added Tenants

By the mid-1970s, the mall was more than a set of enclosed corridors.

In May 1976, a four-screen cinema opened inside, offering first-run films at a time when combined retail and entertainment was still new in many Pennsylvania markets.

Shoppers could browse JCPenney or Sears and then walk directly to the box office without leaving the building.

That same period saw new national brands arrive, filling out the middle of the concourse with clothing and specialty shops.

Crown American used the late 1970s to invest further in Altoona's property market.

In 1979, the company completed a major addition: a full-scale Hess's department store.

This expansion reshaped the mall's footprint, drawing traffic from surrounding counties and giving Logan Valley Mall a third heavyweight anchor.

Parking capacity was adjusted as part of this growth, with more spaces added to support weekend business.

By the time the 1990s arrived, Logan Valley Mall had become a large regional center with more than one hundred tenants under its roof.

Fire Damage and Rebuilding Plan

In the early hours of December 16, 1994, fire broke out inside the G.C. Murphy store.

The flames spread quickly through older sections of the mall, which lacked a sprinkler system.

By the time it was over, fifteen stores and nine kiosks were destroyed, and dozens of others had heavy smoke and water damage.

The disaster cut through the original section of Logan Valley Mall, leaving long corridors closed and many tenants displaced.

Crown American immediately rolled out a three-phase recovery project.

The first phase brought in a new Kaufmann's store to replace the shuttered Hess's space, along with renovations to undamaged areas.

A two-story replacement wing opened in May 1996, restoring some of the lost square footage.

The second phase included a new three-story parking garage and an eight-screen Carmike Cinema, boosting both access and entertainment value.

By 1997, the final stage was complete: a new, larger JCPenney built closer to Sears, while the former Penney's footprint was turned into a food court on the second level.

Within three years of the fire, Logan Valley Mall had been rebuilt and reconfigured, once again filled with anchors and a renewed mix of national tenants.

New Ownership and Brand Changes

In 2003, Logan Valley Mall changed hands when PREIT acquired Crown American and its portfolio of shopping centers.

For Altoona, that meant the property was no longer under the same family-run management that had overseen its early growth.

PREIT was a larger real estate investment trust with a strategy of standardizing operations across its properties, and Logan Valley was folded into that plan.

Leasing structures shifted, with national tenants given priority, while some local operators faced tougher renewal terms.

PREIT also marketed the mall as part of a wider regional chain, grouping Altoona's property alongside larger facilities in Harrisburg and Lancaster.

The most visible change for shoppers came in 2005, when national consolidation altered the department store lineup.

May Department Stores, which owned the Kaufmann's brand, was purchased by Federated Department Stores.

The move brought a new banner to Altoona.

By September of that year, Kaufmann's in Logan Valley had been rebranded as Macy's, complete with updated signage, merchandise lines, and corporate promotions.

The store's floor plan remained the same, but the transition underscored how much national control shaped local retail spaces.

For PREIT, having a Macy's anchor strengthened leasing efforts, even as smaller shops continued to rotate in and out.

Anchor Closures and Market Shifts

After years of stability, the mall entered a period of anchor losses.

In December 2018, Sears Holdings announced that its Logan Valley Mall store would be part of an eighty-location shutdown plan.

The store, which had operated since the mall's opening in 1965, closed for good on March 3, 2019.

The closure left behind a large, vacant anchor space at one of the mall's most visible entrances, and it altered the balance of foot traffic throughout the property.

The cinema followed. In 2017, AMC Theatres purchased Carmike Cinemas and rebranded the Logan Valley 8 as AMC Classic.

The rebrand was mostly cosmetic, but in July 2021, the screens went dark.

AMC announced that the theater would close permanently, citing conditions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

With Sears gone and the cinema shuttered, the mall leaned on Macy's and JCPenney to maintain traffic, but the property had lost two of its longtime anchors in just two years.

Retail observers noted that Logan Valley's situation mirrored a national trend, with older malls losing core tenants and struggling to replace them.

Macy's Exit and Anchor Reliance

The first months of 2025 brought another hit to Logan Valley Mall.

On January 9, Macy's confirmed that its Altoona store would shut down as part of a nationwide restructuring that closed 66 locations.

The decision was tied to the retailer's "Bold New Chapter" plan, aimed at trimming weaker sites.

Local reports said the store would close during the first quarter, and by March 23, the lights were out.

With Macy's gone, JCPenney was the only full-line anchor left.

The loss tightened the mall's pull, especially for shoppers who counted on Macy's for clothing and housewares.

Tenants near the old Macy's entrance noticed traffic thinning almost immediately, and some spoke bluntly about the drop in sales.

Leasing prospects dimmed as well. Analysts pointed out that without Macy's, the property's ability to court national retailers had slipped.

By mid-2025, the mall had just one anchor to its name.

That single figure said more than any press release: the property was exposed, and its position in a shifting retail landscape had grown precarious.

Tenant Complaints and Building Issues

By August 2025, some of the talk inside Logan Valley Mall wasn't about sales at all.

People running shops pointed at things around the property. The escalators in the main court had been shut down for months.

Ceiling tiles were stained or missing where water had come through.

Mold appeared in several areas, primarily near the restrooms. Out in the parking garage, certain sections were blocked after pieces of concrete fell.

That meant customers had to circle around and park farther away. A few remembered earlier problems with gnats in the food court, too.

Merchants said business dropped.

One upstairs jeweler estimated sales had dropped almost in half after the escalators broke, as customers had to use the stairs or the old elevator to reach his store.

Food places upstairs said fewer people bothered coming up at all.

Some shop owners noted that customers had commented on the mall's condition, which they found unfavorable.

Local coverage repeated the complaints.

Reporters wrote about leaks, broken equipment, and closed areas, saying the building itself had become part of the challenge for stores still operating.