by Kiyanna Dowling
Over the past few years, the York Galleria Mall has slowly been disappearing. In the past month, over 17 shops are vacant, leaving many potential shoppers to travel far for their shopping conveniences.
As shoppers stroll through, the mall is very dead and bland with many shops closed by metal gates leaving a limited amount of stores to choose from. Shoppers from the area are tired of going out of their way to travel up to Park City in Lancaster and King of Prussia. People around the area are looking for new solutions to aid in their shopping needs.
Penn National has proposed a mini casino located on the lower level that could possibly revive the mall. The mall has lost over $30 million in value over the past 20 years according to the York County Records. The mall is desperately in need of profits, therefore the York County Economic Alliance CEO president Kevin Schreiber, thinks a casino could bring attention and benefit the mall in raising revenue. Schreiber believes that once the casino is fully up and running, it could bring in a potential revenue of one million dollars which is what the Galleria needs.
Students in the school are also in favor of reviving the Galleria Mall but do not see a casino as a solution. Juniors Andrew Cheng and Sayam Alam said they visit the mall “not often” and “ maybe 2 or 3 times a month” unlike Senior Ajae Manning, who visits the mall “maybe once or twice a year” making the Galleria not a hot spot for shopping.
All of the students agree on the subject that the Galleria does not have a variety of products to choose from. Andrew Cheng believes that “hype beast clothing shops and designer stores” could help bring in customers, Sayam Alam thought that if the community “listens to customer feedback and consider what the people want” the mall could improve, and Ajae Manning thinks “adding more stores and considering what the people want” could help the problem.
With many closed and leashed shops and the limited amount of stores, the Galleria Mall may not be as glorious as it used to be. However, a casino may be the possible solution to get the mall up and thriving again.