Update: Simon Property Group, owner of the King of Prussia Mall, reversed course and closed the mall around noon Saturday.

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In the interest of the health and safety of shoppers, store and mall employees, PREIT, the Philadelphia-based real estate trust company that owns both the Plymouth Meeting and Willow Grove Park Mall, announced Thursday afternoon both malls will be closed for two weeks effective starting Friday.

The company issued the following statement explaining their decision:

“The health and well-being of our shopper and tenant community is our top priority.  With that in mind, we have made the difficult decision to heed the recommendation of state officials by closing its Montgomery County malls,” said Joseph F. Coradino, CEO of PREIT.

“Throughout our portfolio, we continue to follow developing news, information and guidelines from federal, state and local health officials concerning public spaces and urge our customers and tenants to take all known safety precautions to prevent and reduce the risk of illness and the spread of disease.”

PREIT shares traded at $1.13 at market close Thursday afternoon, down $.05  (4.24%) from the previous day’s close.

Simon Properties, owner of the The King of Prussia Mall, says their mall will remain open. Unlike PREIT, they are leaving it up to retailers to decide whether or not they will close.

“King of Prussia will remain open for our retailers, and we are leaving it to them to decide whether they remain open or close. With respect to Governor Wolf’s statement today, the Governor did not mandate store closures and did not define what nonessential retail is. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and will comply with any federal, state or local government requirements as they arise. We will keep you posted on any new developments,” the mall said in a statement.

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Public Health Notice: To get the latest information and updates regarding COVID-19, please visit the Montco COVID-19 Data Hub at www.montcopa.org and click on “Corona Virus Update.”

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