It is easy to drive along Carlisle Street in Hanover, Pennsylvania, and miss what North Hanover Mall once promised.
The mall opened its doors in 1967, a time when shopping centers seemed almost invincible.
Now, in 2025, the scene feels different. Rural King holds on as the only anchor while other storefronts sit dark behind closed gates. Yet, the mall’s story is far from boring.
In fact, if you are exploring things to do in Hanover, PA, a stop here paints a picture of American retail shifts more sharply than any museum exhibit could. Let’s step back to where it all started.
Launching a Retail Project – North Hanover Mall’s Early Years
North Hanover Mall began life in 1967 as an open-air strip center crafted by Crown American.
It was no lightweight build for the time.
Original tenants included W.T. Grant, a staple of mid-century discount retail, Town & Country (under the Lane Bryant brand), Sears, and Food Fair.
These names made an impression on Hanover’s daily life.
By 1969 and 1970, changes were already underway. The open-air setup was scrapped.
Reconstruction turned the center into an enclosed mall, a smart move considering the retail climate of the early 70s.
The Bon-Ton, relocating from downtown Hanover, became a key part of the new layout.
JCPenney soon followed, setting up shop inside the fresh walls of the enclosed center.
Another early shift saw Town & Country turning into a Kmart.
This move lined up with the aggressive expansion Kmart pushed across the country during that era.
In 1995, however, Kmart closed its mall location in favor of a larger superstore nearby.
That superstore shuttered in 2004, and its site was later reborn as Black Rose Antiques.
By then, North Hanover Mall had already begun to show how fragile early successes in commercial real estate could be.
Ownership Deals and Renovation Plans – A Changing Portfolio
When Crown American merged with Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) in 2003, North Hanover Mall became part of a larger commercial mix.
PREIT held onto the property for a little more than a decade, but it never ranked high among its assets.
Sales per square foot in 2014 hit $275, far below the trust’s portfolio average of $378.
Non-anchor occupancy was stuck at 72.8 percent, trailing the 89.5 percent seen elsewhere in PREIT holdings.
The handwriting was clear. On September 9, 2014, PREIT sold North Hanover Mall and Nittany Mall in State College for a combined $32.3 million.
The buyer was Mason Asset Management, based in Great Neck, New York, a firm with a track record of handling properties that need attention but still have potential.
Before the sale, North Hanover Mall had pushed through an interior renovation in the Fall of 2012.
New floors, lighting, and updated common areas aimed to modernize the experience, but the facelift did little to change occupancy trends.
Anchor space redevelopment also struggled. The plan to bring in Boscov’s fell through by 2009.
JCPenney took over the space earmarked for Boscov’s in 2012, buying some time for the mall.
Still, tenant turnover and an aging retail model left management with tough choices heading into the late 2010s.
By the time Mason Asset Management took over, North Hanover Mall needed to undergo a full strategic rethink if it hoped to maintain its competitive edge in York County.
Anchor Store Closures and Shifting Leasing Trends
The anchor landscape at North Hanover Mall shifted sharply between 2018 and 2025.
Sears, one of the mall’s original tenants from 1967, announced in January 2018 that it would shut down as part of a 103-store closure plan nationwide.
By April of that year, the familiar blue lettering came down, leaving a gaping hole at one end of the building.
The Sears vacancy didn’t sit idle forever.
Hiring began in December 2020 for Rural King, a farm and home supply chain that moved into the former Sears space by Spring 2021.
It was a change in style and merchandise, but it put an active anchor back into circulation at a time when many malls struggled to fill large retail boxes.
JCPenney, meanwhile, delivered another blow.
On June 4, 2020, the company confirmed it would close its North Hanover Mall store as part of a broader 154-location cutback plan.
The final day of operations was October 18, 2020, which removed another major player from the tenant list.
Dick’s Sporting Goods opened at North Hanover Mall in 2007, taking over the space once occupied by Black Rose Antiques.
The store operated for several years, serving as one of the mall’s major anchors during a period of retail shifts.
By 2024, Dick’s Sporting Goods had closed its North Hanover Mall location, leaving the site without one of its key national brands and adding to the growing list of vacancies in the center.
The latest headline came in February 2025 when Burlington closed its North Hanover Mall store after more than a decade of operation.
That left Rural King as the mall’s lone anchor tenant by Spring 2025, underscoring how much the commercial footprint had contracted in just a few short years.
Fire Damage and Building Demolition – Structural Hits to Retail Space
March 28, 2022, started like any other day at North Hanover Mall.
By afternoon, it was anything but normal. An HVAC unit sparked a fire on the roof of the old JCPenney space.
Firefighters showed up fast, but damage still piled up—close to $1 million, according to reports.
Water, smoke, and structural issues didn’t stop at the old anchor walls.
They stretched into the attached parts of the mall, too.
When the dust settled, tough decisions followed. The former JCPenney building, which had been empty since October 2020, wasn’t salvageable.
This part of the mall was torn down later in 2022. Losing that building meant losing more than square footage.
The fire didn’t just burn part of the roof. It burned through what little momentum the mall had left at that time.
Leasing Struggles and Retail Shifts – Current Commercial Climate
By early 2025, North Hanover Mall still opened its doors each morning… but inside, it told a different story.
Rural King, which took over the old Sears space in Spring 2021, remained the only major anchor left after Burlington shut down.
The stretch of empty storefronts grew longer and harder to ignore.
Occupancy numbers show it clearly. Back in 2022, around 40 percent of the non-anchor stores still operated.
Walking the halls today, that number feels even lower.
Smaller shops like Metro by T-Mobile packed up and moved downtown.
Leasing signs stayed in windows for months without fresh tenants stepping in.
A few businesses, like Fish & Friends Aquarium Shop, gave the mall a little life when they opened in 2024.
However, facing rising costs and low customer flow, even the new blood had to fight hard to stay visible.
There are no big announcements or major construction noise, just long corridors, empty bays, and the steady work of the few retailers still holding out, waiting to see what happens next.
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Tear own the NORTH HANOVER MALL in Hanover , PA. and build a more modern store or small up to date mall . There’s NOTHING there anymore . The only half decent store we have to shop is WALMART on.
eisenhower drive in hanover pa . North hanover mall is DEAD . TEAR IT DOWN you bunch of m…s
Thanks for expressing your thoughts so frankly. Clearly, you want what’s best for the community, and a modern mall could be an exciting direction.
What about a Wagamen’s store like in Owings Mills and Hunt Valley
Christmas Tree Shop
A bra store that sells cancer needed things like the The York Health Boutique for Women LLC really needed in Hanover since we have Hillman Cancer Center here plus Wellspan
Your comment is spot on. A store catering to cancer patients’ needs would be a beneficial addition. Thanks for your input.
It wouldn’t hurt to have a affordable healthcare supply store and a clothing store that caters to the workforce and the youth groups. I’d be happy to participate in a walker or wheelchair race which would be perfect in a mall
Thanks for sharing your ideas for North Hanover Mall. An affordable healthcare supply store and a clothing store would certainly add value. I love your idea for a walker or wheelchair race at the mall!
When Wal-Mart came it took from the community. We need more diverse American made stores. Myself have only been in Wal-Mart less then 15 times since they opened. The anticipation of Friday night going to the mall to get a shirt from the Deb shop and a pinball game at the arcade is dearly missed. We need to revive the mall!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. The nostalgia of Friday nights at the mall is something many miss. Here’s to hoping for a revival of those times. It would be wonderful to see more diverse, American-made stores.