The Point at Carlisle Plaza, formerly Carlisle Plaza and Carlisle Plaza Mall, is a one-level shopping mall 1.1 miles (1.8 km) west of downtown Carlisle, Pennsylvania, between East High Street and York Road in the city of Carlisle. The mall has two open anchors which are Dunham's Sports and Lowe's.
Power Center[]
Carlisle Plaza opened as a open-air shopping plaza in 1964, with backing from David Javitch, founder of Giant Food Stores, and his son, Lee, who would soon become president and CEO of Giant. Under the ownership of Crown American, plans were announced in 1968 for an expansion of the plaza into an enclosed mall.
Enclosed Mall[]
In 1976, Carlisle Plaza was finally fully enclosed and the mall's name was changed to Carlisle Plaza Mall. The mall opened with two original anchors, Bon-Ton, and Town and Country with some name's being G.C. Murphy, Jo-Ann Fabrics, Radio Shack, Rea and Derick, and Frank's Pizza. The mall also had a small concourse outside of it, anchored by Giant. Town and Country would close in 1977, with Kmart filling the space soon afterward and a JCPenney would be added to the mall in 1978. Throughout the decade the mall would thrive.
Starting in the mid-1990s, Carlisle Plaza Mall begun a steadily decline which effects caused Kmart to closed its doors and move to a larger location in Carlisle, later that year JCPenney shut down to and relocated to the newer Capital City Mall in Camp Hill. In 1998, Albion Point Antiques & Collectibles replaced the former Kmart.
In November 2002, Crown America would sell the mall to Michael Joseph Development Company for $5.8 million. Following this deal, the mall went under a name change from Carlisle Plaza Mall to The Point At Carlisle Plaza. Albion Point Antiques & Collectible would then close in 2002.
In the early 2000s, the mall went under a redevelopment which would demolish 200,000 sqft of retail space and two anchor buildings which had previously been Kmart and JCPenney. Total cost of renovations was $4 million. Before demolition begun a mural featuring the history of the town was relocated into the non demolished portion of the mall. In 2004, Lowe’s built a store on the site of the demolished portion of the mall.
In August 2005, Cedar (Cedar Carlisle LLC) acquired the mall for $11 million. Dunham's Sports became a tenant and opened at the mall in late September 2005. In 2006, Office Max replaced the former Giant supermarket on the exterior of the mall. The only anchor at the time was Bon-Ton and the mall would feature stores like Kay Jewelers, Kay-Bee Toys, Foot Locker, Bath & Body Works, GNC, and Jo-Ann Fabrics to name a few. Gold’s Gym would take some mall space but wouldn’t have mall access.
After this point, the malls decline continued with all national chain stores leaving with Radio Shack closing in February 2015, Jo-Ann Fabrics closing in 2020, Bath & Body Works closing in mid 2023, and finally the last remaining chain tenant GNC Live Well closed in August 2024.
