Plymouth Meeting Mall Evolves for 50+ Years — But the Charming Carousel Remains

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plymouth meeting mall carousel
Image via Facebook.
A Plymouth Meeting Mall Carousel was an installation at its 1966 opening and has endured ever since.

Plymouth Meeting Mall opened in 1966 and has endured much over that near-60-year run. Spencer Walsh profiled this retail survivor for Best Attractions, a website of nationwide, mall-related content.

Plymouth Meeting Mall was designed by Victor Gruen, the Viennese architect of more than U.S. 50 malls. He fashioned it as the first fully enclosed retail destination in the Philadelphia area.

The original anchor department stores were Lit Brothers and Strawbridge & Clothier.

Also onsite were Church on the Mall — a worshiping congregation of Presbyterians who held baptisms at the indoor fountain when the mall closed on Sundays — and an ornate carousel.

Both still run, although the baptisms ceased when Sundays ceded to operational hours.

The mall has survived setbacks that include a January 1970 fire that damaged 30 stores and, more recently, the pandemic. It’s also seen the exit of department stores Lit Brothers, Strawbridge’s, Hess’s, and Macy’s.

Only Boscov’s remains.

Further, some of those former retail giants’ spaces have become healthcare facilities, as current owner PREIT aligns with national trends toward that type of repurposing.

PREIT has also worked to attract brands that are distinct from traditional mall expectations, The arrival of LEGOLAND Discovery Center (2017) and Whole Foods (2023) are a good examples.

And through it all, that vintage carousel continues to turn.

More on Plymouth Meeting Mall is at Best Attractions.

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Plymouth Meeting Mall as it looked in 2011.

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