Stroud Mall and the Walking Dead

Stroud Mall isn't what it used to be, and if you grew up in Monroe County, walking through it today can feel a little eerie — like the kind of half-empty mall you'd see in a horror movie. But unlike a lot of malls across the country that are just closing for good, Stroud Mall is trying to reinvent itself, and so far, it's holding on. The question remains: is that enough to secure its future?

Here's the scale of what's happening nationally. The U.S. had well over 2,000 enclosed malls at its peak in the 1980s. Today there are roughly 1,200 left, and industry trackers expect that number to fall to as few as 900 by 2028 — meaning about 25% could close in the next couple of years.

Class A malls with big, national retailers are actually doing quite well and have even become a destination for Gen Z (what’s old is new again). It is the lower-tier malls, ranked Class B and C with older buildings and fewer national retailers, that are most at risk. Stroud Mall falls into that lower tier. Vacancy rates make the gap clear: roughly 13% of space sits empty at the weakest (Class C) malls, compared to about 9% at mid-tier (Class B) malls and under 6% at the top-tier (Class A) malls — the difference between a mall like Stroud and, say, King of Prussia.

Stroud Mall's owner, CBL Properties, is one of the biggest mall landlords in the country, with 88 properties nationwide, including 56 enclosed malls, as of early this year.

In March, CBL finished a $600 million refinancing deal — essentially deciding which properties are worth keeping and which aren't. CBL is walking away from several malls elsewhere in the country, including Jefferson Mall in Louisville and The Outlet Shoppes at Gettysburg here in Pennsylvania, handing them back to lenders rather than keep paying on them. Stroud Mall wasn't on that list. In industry terms, it's considered “market-dominant” — not because it's fancy, but because it's the only traditional enclosed mall in the area. CBL is still betting on it.

The mall has leaned on a few things to keep people coming through the doors:

Everyday needs, not browsing. The former Bon-Ton anchor has been redeveloped into a ShopRite, and part of the old two-story Sears building is EFO Furniture Outlet. People aren't coming to check out what's new at the Gap — they're coming for groceries or a new couch.

The movie theater still pulls people in. The mall has had a theater on-site since it opened in 1978. Today's 12-screen Cinemark, which took over in 2011 from the previous Loews theater, remains one of its steadiest draws, especially on weekends.

Non-retail tenants fill in the gaps. Beyond the church located at the mall, spaces that would once have sat vacant are increasingly used for things other than straight retail — services, entertainment, and community uses that still bring in foot traffic even if they're not selling merchandise off shelves.

JCPenney is still open at Stroud Mall as of this writing. But nationally, the chain has shrunk to around 640 stores, down from more than 800, and it's currently sorting through roughly 119 locations with an uncertain future after a major sale deal fell apart earlier this year. Closures have been concentrated in exactly the kind of lower-tier mall Stroud is. Nothing points to Stroudsburg's store closing — it's not on any closure list — but it's the anchor worth keeping an eye on.

Stroud Mall isn't the mall it was 20 years ago, and it's not going to be. But between the grocery store, the furniture outlet, the movie theater, and its status as the only game in town, CBL is still willing to put money into it. For now, that's enough to keep it open.