Franklin Mills

infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Franklin Mills


caption = Entrance to Franklin Mills mall (without the mall's kite logo) as viewed from the parking lot.
location =Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
coordinates = coord|40.0873|-74.9616|display=inline,title
opening_date = 1989
developer= Mills Corporation
manager=
owner = Simon Property Group
number_of_stores = 200
number_of_anchors = 17
floor_area =
floors = 1
parking = Lighted Lot
website =http://www.franklinmills.com/

Franklin Mills is an enclosed shopping mall located in northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, bordering Bensalem in Bucks County and 15 miles outside Center City. [http://www.simon.com/mall/default.aspx?ID=1245 "Simon: Franklin Mills." Accessed July 20, 2007.] ] Named for Benjamin Franklin, the mall houses 200 stores, a movie theatre, two food courts, and seven theme restaurants [http://www.gophila.com/C/Things_to_Do/211/Shopping/244/Popular_Places/409/U/Franklin_Mills_Mall/1169.html "Franklin Mills Mall." Accessed July 20, 2007.] ] and was visited by an estimated 18 million people in 2006 [http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2006/08/07/story4.html Van Allen, Peter. "Franklin Mills Mall lines up as major tourist destination." Accessed July 20, 2007.] ] .

Opened in 1989, Franklin Mills was the second built and formerly owned by the Mills Corporation and is now managed by the Simon Property Group. [http://www.simon.com/findamall/ "Simon: Find a Mall." Accessed July 20, 2007.] ] Along with King of Prussia Mall, Simon has control of Pennsylvania's two largest malls.

Location

The Franklin Mills site was formerly home to Liberty Bell Park, a race track. [http://www.cinematreasures.org/theater/10254/ "Cinema Treasures: Franklin Mills 14." Accessed July 20, 2007] ] It is located approximately one mile west of Interstate 95, at the intersection of Woodhaven Road (Pennsylvania State Route 63) and Knights Road.

In August 2006, unconfirmed rumors circulated that the mall was being closed and sold for residential redevelopment. [http://www.northeasttimes.com/2006/0720/mall.html Kenny, William. "Is Franklin Mills on the market?" Northeast Times Accessed July 20, 2007.] ]

Branding and design

Franklin Mills mall is designed in the shape of a thunderbolt in commemoration of Franklin's kite-and-key experiment. The mall's logo includes a red kite with a lighting bolt on the right side and the string ending on the letter "A" of "FRANKLIN".

The 1.7 million-square-foot mall consists primarily of factory outlet stores. [http://www.gophila.com/C/Things_to_Do/211/Shopping/244/Popular_Places/409/U/Franklin_Mills_Mall/1169.html "Franklin Mills Mall." Accessed July 20, 2007.] ] The mall is separated by its four Neighborhoods: Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green, and has six main entries including its neighborhood color entries, plus Aqua at the Grand Court and the Orange entry in its Green Neighborhood near Steve & Barry's. There are also entries at either side of the AMC 14 theater for moviegoers after mall hours.

The mall is the first Mills mall to have two food courts. "Cafe Court" is at Red Neighborhood 1 and is anchored by GAP. "Cafe Freedom" is a larger food court at Green Neighborhood 4.

Like all Mills Landmarks, the mall has graphics, usually hanging from the ceiling. A sculpture of Benjamin Franklin's Face is located at the Grand Court between Neighborhoods Blue & Yellow. Almost all main mall entries have a graphic at its entry. Throughout the mall, there are several sets of projection TVs hanging from the ceiling known as "Mills TV", showing video loops of music videos and advertisements.

Mall Entrances

*Red-Liberty Bell
*Blue-Lightning Bolt
*Aqua-none
*Yellow-Key with string (a nod to Franklin's lightning experiment)
*Orange-Ink cup for its feather pens
*Green-Bald Eagle (its entry has no kite)
*AMC 14-entries on both sides of the theater, accessible after mall hours.

Stand-alone stores adjacent to the main mall include Wal-Mart, Super Fresh, Dick's Sporting Goods, and, Raymour & Flanigan in a failed Carrefour building, plus various fast food eateries and restaurants. In addition, there is a neighboring strip mall called "Franklin Marketplace" (former Home & Design Center) which now serves mostly as a campus of the CHI Institute. Also included on site are a Bally Total Fitness gym, a non-denominational church called Bethel, The Church @ Franklin Mills, a Sam's Club, and a .

Anchor stores

The following anchor stores can be found at Franklin Mills: [http://www.simon.com/mall/directory.aspx?ID=1245 "Franklin Mills: Mall Directory." Accessed July 20, 2007.] ]

*AMC Theatres Franklin Mills 14
*Bed Bath & Beyond
*Burlington Coat Factory
*Dave & Buster's Grand Sports Café
*Group USA
*H&M
*JCPenney Outlet Store
*Last Call Neiman Marcus
*Liz Claiborne Outlet
*Marshalls HomeGoods
*Modell's Sporting Goods
*Off 5th-Saks Fifth Avenue Outlet
*Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse
*Old Navy
*Polo Ralph Lauren Factory Store
*Sam Ash Music
*Sears Appliance Outlet
*Steve & Barry's
*Woodward Skatepark (formerly ESPN)Fact|date=July 2007

Former anchors

The following stores were formerly anchors at Franklin Mills:Fact|date=July 2007
*Ports/Boscov's Outlet - now Steve & Barry's.
*49th Street Galleria - now Burlington Coat Factory.
*Filene's Basement - was in Yellow Neighborhood 3, now Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse.
*General Cinema - First located at the northern most end of property when opened in 1989, the original location closed in 1997 and was replaced by a newer, larger location. Became AMC in 2002. The old location became a church in 2004.
*Nordstrom Rack [http://www.northeasttimes.com/2002/1218/nordstrom.html Walker, Julian. "Nordstrom registers ring in an unhappy new year." Accessed July 20, 2007.] ] - Now H&M.
*Office Max - now Sears Appliance Outlet .
*Carrefour - became Wal-Mart, Dick's Sporting Goods and Raymour and Flanagan in 1993.
*Phar-Mor - now vacant.
*Rainforest Cafe - now vacant.
*Sears Outlet - closed 1997 and built the General Cinema (later AMC 14 Cinema). Store returned to mall in 2005 as a Sears Appliance Outlet at Yellow Neighborhood 3.
*Spiegel Catalog Outlet - now Dave & Buster's (formerly Jillian's).
*Reading China & Glass - Now subdivided into Marshall's and Sears Appliance Outlet (formerly Office Max).
*SYMS - Now Woodward Skatepark.
*Hechinger lumber and home center - now Big Lots and 2nd Avenue store.
*CompUSA - now closed, prt of the space has been subdivided into a gym.

External links

* [http://www.franklinmills.com/ Franklin Mills]
* [http://www.simon.com/ Simon Property Group]
* [http://www.gophila.com/C/Things_to_Do/211/Shopping/244/Popular_Places/409/U/Franklin_Mills_Mall/1169.html GoPhila.com: Franklin Mills Mall]

References