Harundale Mall
Encyclopedia
Harundale Mall, one of the first enclosed shopping malls, was located in Glen Burnie
, Maryland
, United States at the intersection of Ritchie Highway and Aquahart Road. Harundale Mall has been replaced by Harundale Plaza located at the same location. The mall was built in Anne Arundel County
by James Rouse who later developed Columbia, Maryland
, one of the first modern planned communities, in Howard County
. Harundale Mall rivaled Southdale Center
in Minnesota
, the "other" indoor mall at the time.
. Harundale Mall was also credited as being the first air conditioned
mall in the United States.
Harundale Mall took itself seriously and a signature "rock" was located in the northeastern end of the mall memorializing the mall's construction and those who constructed it. The rock was four sides and the sides contained the following information:
Other features in the mall were as follows: A water fountain was located next to the rock and a set of stairs to the second floor offices allowed mall-goers to watch the water from the fountain "top out" and fall back into the fountain's pool below. Mall-goers could also throw coins into the fountain's pool from the stairs. In addition to the mall offices, a "community room", and restrooms, the second floor had an entrance to the second floor of the Hochschild Kohn's
Department Store. Hochschild Kohn's was the only store in the mall with two stories. However, in each store there was usually a store room with an upstairs area that was used as a stock or storage area. The mall was quite known for flooding in heavy rains, due to the original "flat" roof. Many merchants can attest to cleaning water from these storage areas when it rained. At one point in the mall's history, a Horn and Horn Smorgasbord Cafeteria operated on the second floor as well. This had originally opened as a "Hochschild's Tea Room" cafe. Horn and Horn stayed opened at this location until 1989. The second floor "community room" could be rented for weddings and provided a place for public meetings. For many years, on the opposite end of the mall from the "rock," large cages featured talking Myna
birds.
Pre-dating the Harundale Mall was a strip shopping center in the south eastern corner of the mall property. This strip center originally included an Eddie's Super Market and a White Coffee Pot
Restaurant.
When Harundale Mall opened, it had two major anchors that were Hochschild Kohn's
and Food Fair. Eventually, Food Fair was converted over to Pantry Pride
in the early 1970's. It also had three other smaller anchors that were Read's Drug Store (with a soda fountain), S.S. Kresge
five and dime store, and G.C. Murphy five and dime store. The mall had several exclusive women's and men's shops, including Lerner New York
, Oppenheim Collins
, and Raymond's. Harundale also had about 50 other smaller tenants and food establishments. One of the more noteworthy food establishments was an eatery towards the center of Harundale Mall which for many years was the Italian Delight Restaurant. This restaurant featured a "below grade" floor. As a result, the workers at this establishment ended up looking much shorter than the average mall-goer standing "at grade".
The mall opened to much fanfare in 1958. Traffic was backed up for two miles on Maryland Route 2
just to get on the parking lot on opening day. This was truly something people had never seen before. Several politicians (including John F. Kennedy
, then junior Senator from Massachusetts) were even present for the opening day. Harundale Mall was a major shopping destination for over 30 years.
Department Store closed a nearby location in Southdale Shopping Center and replaced the mall's Hochschild Kohn's Department Store in early January 1985. Other newer additions to Harundale Mall included Erol's TV and Video Club, Foot Locker
, Rite Aid
, Record Town and Kay Bee Toys. Throughout the 1980s, most of the older enclosed malls in northern Anne Arundel County similar to Harundale Mall experienced a state of decline. This included nearby Jumpers Hole Mall
, the Severna Park Mall
, and the Glen Burnie Mall. In 1987, Harundale Mall's slide was quickened with the opening of the Marley Station
Mall less than two miles away. Several of Harundale Mall's few remaining higher-end stores left the aging mall for this newer mall. The Rouse Company (who owned the mall) didn't do very much to improve or upgrade the mall to compete with newer shopping choices in the area. Hutzler's, also in trouble as a chain, closed in Harundale Mall in 1988. The mall management talked with JC Penney to replace Hutzler's. However, JC Penney eventually chose Marley Station instead and opened a location there in 1994. The closed Hutzler's was instead replaced by a Value City
Discount Store in 1989. A more rapid decline started in the early 1990s. This was fueled by changing demographics in the area (and in the entire city of Baltimore), lower-income stores' coming to the mall, and a rise in crime. In 1998 the mall was quietly closed. Many of the stores had already left by this time. The only sizable business still open was the Value City. Most of the mall, was then demolished. The only original building left today is the former Hochschild Kohn's, now Burlington Coat Factory. Value City closed in 2007. The signature "rock" in the middle of the mall was removed for later use (see Harundale Plaza).
. Stores include Burlington Coat Factory
, HomeGoods
, Outback Steakhouse
, and several other typical strip-mall stores. The signature "rock" from Harundale Mall is now at Harundale Plaza. In July 2011, the Super Fresh
store closed. This was part of A&P's overall business plan to sell off locations no longer deemed part of their overall business strategy.
Glen Burnie, Maryland
Glen Burnie is a census-designated place in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States, and is a suburb of Baltimore. The population was 67,639 at the 2010 census...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, United States at the intersection of Ritchie Highway and Aquahart Road. Harundale Mall has been replaced by Harundale Plaza located at the same location. The mall was built in Anne Arundel County
Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Anne Arundel County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is named for Anne Arundell , a member of the ancient family of Arundells in Cornwall, England and the wife of Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore. Its county seat is Annapolis, which is also the capital of the state...
by James Rouse who later developed Columbia, Maryland
Columbia, Maryland
Columbia is a planned community that consists of ten self-contained villages, located in Howard County, Maryland, United States. It began with the idea that a city could enhance its residents' quality of life. Creator and developer James W. Rouse saw the new community in terms of human values, not...
, one of the first modern planned communities, in Howard County
Howard County, Maryland
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*62.2% White*17.5% Black*0.3% Native American*14.4% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.6% Two or more races*2.0% Other races*5.8% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
. Harundale Mall rivaled Southdale Center
Southdale Center
Southdale Center, commonly known as just Southdale, is a shopping mall in Edina, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, which opened in 1956. It is the United States' oldest fully enclosed, climate-controlled mall...
in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, the "other" indoor mall at the time.
Opening
Harundale Mall opened on 1 October 1958. It was the first indoor enclosed shopping mall on the East Coast of the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Harundale Mall was also credited as being the first air conditioned
Air conditioning
An air conditioner is a home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to dehumidify and extract heat from an area. The cooling is done using a simple refrigeration cycle...
mall in the United States.
Harundale Mall took itself seriously and a signature "rock" was located in the northeastern end of the mall memorializing the mall's construction and those who constructed it. The rock was four sides and the sides contained the following information:
- "Harundale Mall" followed by "Opened October 1, 1958."
- "Owners and Developers" followed by "Community Research and Development, Inc." "Architects" followed by "Rogers, Taliaferro, and Lamb." "Builders" followed by "Arundeltown Inc."
- One side listed several architectural awards.
- One side provided a history of the site including information about Native Americans, the Glenn family, and military usage.
Other features in the mall were as follows: A water fountain was located next to the rock and a set of stairs to the second floor offices allowed mall-goers to watch the water from the fountain "top out" and fall back into the fountain's pool below. Mall-goers could also throw coins into the fountain's pool from the stairs. In addition to the mall offices, a "community room", and restrooms, the second floor had an entrance to the second floor of the Hochschild Kohn's
Hochschild Kohn's
Hochschild Kohn's, also known as Hochschild-Kohn or simply Hochschild's, was a 20th-century American department store chain based in Baltimore, Maryland. It was started in 1897 as a partnership between Max Hochschild, Benno Kohn, and his brother Louis B. Kohn...
Department Store. Hochschild Kohn's was the only store in the mall with two stories. However, in each store there was usually a store room with an upstairs area that was used as a stock or storage area. The mall was quite known for flooding in heavy rains, due to the original "flat" roof. Many merchants can attest to cleaning water from these storage areas when it rained. At one point in the mall's history, a Horn and Horn Smorgasbord Cafeteria operated on the second floor as well. This had originally opened as a "Hochschild's Tea Room" cafe. Horn and Horn stayed opened at this location until 1989. The second floor "community room" could be rented for weddings and provided a place for public meetings. For many years, on the opposite end of the mall from the "rock," large cages featured talking Myna
Myna
The myna is a bird of the starling family . This is a group of passerine birds which occur naturally only in southern and eastern Asia...
birds.
Pre-dating the Harundale Mall was a strip shopping center in the south eastern corner of the mall property. This strip center originally included an Eddie's Super Market and a White Coffee Pot
White Coffee Pot
White Coffee Pot Family Inns was a privately held Baltimore, Maryland, restaurant chain and coffeeshop popular from the 1940s until the 1980s. During the 1960s and 1970s, they opened a chain of fast-food restaurants White Coffee Pot, Jr. Major competitors included national chains Gino's , Denny's...
Restaurant.
When Harundale Mall opened, it had two major anchors that were Hochschild Kohn's
Hochschild Kohn's
Hochschild Kohn's, also known as Hochschild-Kohn or simply Hochschild's, was a 20th-century American department store chain based in Baltimore, Maryland. It was started in 1897 as a partnership between Max Hochschild, Benno Kohn, and his brother Louis B. Kohn...
and Food Fair. Eventually, Food Fair was converted over to Pantry Pride
Pantry Pride
Food Fair, also known by its successor name Pantry Pride, was a large supermarket chain in the United States. It was founded by Samuel N. Friedland, who opened the first store in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in the late 1920s. As of 1957, Food Fair had 275 stores, and at its peak, the chain had more...
in the early 1970's. It also had three other smaller anchors that were Read's Drug Store (with a soda fountain), S.S. Kresge
Kmart
Kmart, sometimes styled as "K-Mart," is a chain of discount department stores. The chain acquired Sears in 2005, forming a new corporation under the name Sears Holdings Corporation. The company was founded in 1962 and is the third largest discount store chain in the world, behind Wal-Mart and...
five and dime store, and G.C. Murphy five and dime store. The mall had several exclusive women's and men's shops, including Lerner New York
New York & Company
New York & Company, Inc. is a nationwide specialty retailer of women's fashion and accessories.Lerner Shops was founded in 1918 by Samuel A. Lerner and Harold M Lane in NYC. Also born to Samuel in 1918 was Alan Jay Lerner. New York & Company, Inc., its current name under new ownership, is an...
, Oppenheim Collins
Oppenheim Collins & Company, Inc
Oppenheim Collins was a major women's specialty clothing store, headquartered in New York City, New York.-Founding:Oppenheim Collins & Company, Inc. was founded by Albert D. Oppenheim and Charles J. Oppenheim, and was later joined by Isaac D. Levy...
, and Raymond's. Harundale also had about 50 other smaller tenants and food establishments. One of the more noteworthy food establishments was an eatery towards the center of Harundale Mall which for many years was the Italian Delight Restaurant. This restaurant featured a "below grade" floor. As a result, the workers at this establishment ended up looking much shorter than the average mall-goer standing "at grade".
The mall opened to much fanfare in 1958. Traffic was backed up for two miles on Maryland Route 2
Maryland Route 2
Maryland Route 2 is the longest state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The route runs from Solomons Island in Calvert County north to an intersection with U.S. Route 1 and U.S. Route 40 Truck in Baltimore...
just to get on the parking lot on opening day. This was truly something people had never seen before. Several politicians (including John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, then junior Senator from Massachusetts) were even present for the opening day. Harundale Mall was a major shopping destination for over 30 years.
Decline
Hutzler'sHutzler's
Hutzler's, or Hutzler Brothers Company, was a department store founded in Baltimore by Abram G. Hutzler in 1858. From its beginning as a small dry goods store at the corner of Howard and Clay Streets in Downtown Baltimore, Hutzler's eventually grew into a chain of 10 department stores, all of...
Department Store closed a nearby location in Southdale Shopping Center and replaced the mall's Hochschild Kohn's Department Store in early January 1985. Other newer additions to Harundale Mall included Erol's TV and Video Club, Foot Locker
Foot Locker
Foot Locker, Inc. is an American sportswear and footwear retailer, with its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in approximately 20 countries worldwide. Formerly known as Venator Group, Inc., it is the successor corporation to the F.W. Woolworth Company , and many of...
, Rite Aid
Rite Aid
Rite Aid is a drugstore chain in the United States and a Fortune 500 company headquartered in East Pennsboro Township, Pennsylvania, near Camp Hill. Rite Aid is the largest drugstore chain on the East Coast and the third largest drugstore chain in the U.S....
, Record Town and Kay Bee Toys. Throughout the 1980s, most of the older enclosed malls in northern Anne Arundel County similar to Harundale Mall experienced a state of decline. This included nearby Jumpers Hole Mall
Jumpers Hole Mall
Jumpers Mall was an enclosed shopping mall located in Pasadena, Maryland, on Maryland Route 2 and Jumpers Hole Road. It was demalled in the 1980s and was transformed into Pasadena Crossroads.-History:...
, the Severna Park Mall
Severna Park Mall
Severna Park Mall was an enclosed shopping mall located in Severna Park, Maryland, on Maryland Route 2 . Since the demolition of the entire structure in 2000, the site has been occupied by a strip mall known as Severna Park Marketplace featuring Giant Foods, Kohl's, Office Depot, Old Navy, and...
, and the Glen Burnie Mall. In 1987, Harundale Mall's slide was quickened with the opening of the Marley Station
Marley Station
Marley Station is an enclosed shopping mall in Glen Burnie, Maryland. Opened in 1987, it was expanded in 1993 and 1997. The mall includes J.C. Penney, Macy's and Sears as its anchor stores. It is managed by Simon Property Group.-History:...
Mall less than two miles away. Several of Harundale Mall's few remaining higher-end stores left the aging mall for this newer mall. The Rouse Company (who owned the mall) didn't do very much to improve or upgrade the mall to compete with newer shopping choices in the area. Hutzler's, also in trouble as a chain, closed in Harundale Mall in 1988. The mall management talked with JC Penney to replace Hutzler's. However, JC Penney eventually chose Marley Station instead and opened a location there in 1994. The closed Hutzler's was instead replaced by a Value City
Value City
Value City was an American discount department store chain with 113 locations. It was founded in 1917 by Ephraim Schottenstein, a travelling salesman in central Ohio. The store was an off-price retailer that sold clothing, jewelry, and home goods below the manufacturer suggested retail price...
Discount Store in 1989. A more rapid decline started in the early 1990s. This was fueled by changing demographics in the area (and in the entire city of Baltimore), lower-income stores' coming to the mall, and a rise in crime. In 1998 the mall was quietly closed. Many of the stores had already left by this time. The only sizable business still open was the Value City. Most of the mall, was then demolished. The only original building left today is the former Hochschild Kohn's, now Burlington Coat Factory. Value City closed in 2007. The signature "rock" in the middle of the mall was removed for later use (see Harundale Plaza).
Harundale Plaza
In 1999, the mall reopened and redeveloped as Harundale Plaza, a strip shopping centerStrip mall
A strip mall is an open-area shopping center where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front...
. Stores include Burlington Coat Factory
Burlington Coat Factory
Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation is a national department store retailer focusing on clothing and shoes, with over 450 stores in 45 states and Puerto Rico.. In 2006, it was acquired by Bain Capital, LLC in a take-private transaction...
, HomeGoods
HomeGoods
HomeGoods is a chain of home furnishing stores operated by TJX Companies and has 270 stores across the US as of February 2007.HomeGoods operates the home furnishings sections of T.J. Maxx 'n More and Marshalls Mega Store stores....
, Outback Steakhouse
Outback Steakhouse
Outback Steakhouse is an American casual dining restaurant chain based in Tampa, Florida with over 1200 locations in 22 countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. It was founded in February 1988 in Tampa by Bob Basham, Chris T...
, and several other typical strip-mall stores. The signature "rock" from Harundale Mall is now at Harundale Plaza. In July 2011, the Super Fresh
Super Fresh
Super Fresh is a chain of supermarkets owned by A&P, which introduced the banner in 1982, converting its Mid-Atlantic region's stores to the new name. Super Fresh's 24 stores are mostly in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, plus Delaware and southern New Jersey...
store closed. This was part of A&P's overall business plan to sell off locations no longer deemed part of their overall business strategy.