Walk through the weed-choked parking lot off North 5th Street Highway today and you’ll feel it. That weird, heavy silence where there used to be a dull roar of suburban life. Fairground Square Mall in Reading PA wasn't just a building; it was the heartbeat of Muhlenberg Township for decades. It's gone now. Mostly. But the story of how a premier shopping destination turned into a pile of rubble and a "what if" scenario is basically a masterclass in the brutal evolution of American retail.
It’s easy to blame Amazon. Everyone does. But the death of Fairground Square was a slow-motion car crash that started way before everyone had a smartphone in their pocket.
People around Berks County still talk about the fountain. Or the smell of the food court. Honestly, it's kinda heartbreaking when you look at the old photos compared to the vacant lot that sits there now. We saw the rise of the enclosed mall as the new "town square," and then we watched, almost in real-time, as that entire concept evaporated.
The Glory Days of Fairground Square Mall
When the mall opened in 1980, it was the place to be. You had the heavy hitters. Boscov’s was the anchor that actually cared about the community, and for a long time, JCPenney and Sears held down the other ends of the wings. It was a massive 700,000-square-foot ecosystem.
Local families didn't just go there to buy jeans. They went there to exist.
You’ve probably heard stories about the Reading Fair—hence the name. The mall was built on the site of the old fairgrounds, which gave it this immediate, built-in sense of history. It felt like it belonged to Reading. In the 80s and early 90s, the occupancy rate was high, and the corridors were packed. If you wanted a job as a teenager in Muhlenberg, you applied at the mall. Simple as that.
But retail is a fickle beast.
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The first real crack in the armor wasn't digital. It was competition. The Berkshire Mall in Wyomissing started pulling the "higher-end" crowd away. While Fairground Square Mall in Reading PA remained the "neighborhood" mall, Berkshire felt like the "destination" mall. That’s a dangerous distinction in the world of commercial real estate. Once you lose that prestige, you’re just fighting a war of attrition against your own overhead.
The Slow Descent into "Zombie Mall" Status
By the mid-2000s, the vibe shifted. You started seeing more "mom and pop" shops filling the spaces where national brands used to be. Usually, that’s great for a local economy, but in a mall setting, it’s often a sign that the REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) is desperate to fill vacancies at lower lease rates.
The maintenance started to slip. The lighting got a little dimmer. The fountain, once a centerpiece, became a symbol of things not quite working right.
Then came the anchor exodus.
JCPenney left in 2011. That was a gut punch. When an anchor tenant leaves, the "co-tenancy" clauses in the smaller stores' leases often kick in, allowing them to pay less rent or break their leases entirely. It’s a domino effect that almost no mall can survive without a massive infusion of capital and a complete reimagining of the space.
Sears followed suit a few years later. Suddenly, you had massive, cavernous wings of the mall that were just... dark. Walking through the mall in 2015 felt like a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie. You’d have a bright, shiny Boscov’s at one end, and then a long, haunting stretch of gated-off storefronts and peeling linoleum leading to nowhere.
The Final Blow and the Demolition
By the time Hull Property Group took over, the writing wasn't just on the wall; it was etched in stone. They tried. They really did. They held community meetings and talked about "right-sizing" the footprint. But the structural issues and the changing habits of Berks County shoppers made a full revival impossible.
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The mall officially closed its interior corridors in 2018.
Boscov’s, being the powerhouse it is in Pennsylvania, stayed open because they owned their building. They were the last man standing. It was a bizarre sight for a few years: a vibrant department store attached to a rotting carcass of a mall.
The demolition in 2020 was a somber event for locals. Seeing the heavy machinery tear into the food court where people had their first dates or the halls where they spent their childhood Saturdays felt like a final goodbye to an era of Reading history that isn't coming back.
What’s Actually Happening with the Site Now?
The transition from a retail hub to whatever comes next has been slow. We’ve seen the rise of "de-malling." This is a real trend in urban planning where you take a failed indoor space and turn it into an outdoor-facing "lifestyle center" or mixed-use development.
Currently, the focus is on warehouse and distribution space, which, let's be honest, is the new backbone of the Berks County economy. Because of Reading's proximity to major highways like I-78 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the land is worth more as a logistics hub than as a place to buy Orange Julius.
- Boscov's is still there. They remain an island of retail stability.
- The pad sites are active. You still have businesses like Chick-fil-A and other restaurants on the periphery that do great business because the traffic counts on 5th Street Highway are still massive.
- Industrial redevelopment. Much of the former mall footprint is being eyed for "last-mile" delivery services.
It’s a pivot. It's not as "fun" as a mall, but it's a reflection of how we live now. We want our stuff delivered in 24 hours, and that stuff has to sit somewhere before it hits our doorstep. That "somewhere" is often the grave of a former shopping center.
The Reality of Retail in Reading
People often ask if Fairground Square Mall in Reading PA could have been saved. Honestly? Probably not in its original form. The "Great Recession" of 2008 killed the middle class's disposable income just as e-commerce became easy.
The malls that survive today, like King of Prussia, do so because they offer "luxury experiences" that you can't get online. Fairground Square was a middle-market mall. It served the working-class families of Muhlenberg and Reading. When that middle-market retail sector collapsed, the mall went with it.
There's also the "Berks County Factor." We have a very high concentration of outlet stores and competing retail corridors. Between the VF Outlets (which have had their own massive transformation) and the Berkshire Mall, the area was simply over-malled. There weren't enough shoppers to go around once the novelty wore off.
Actionable Insights for the Future
If you’re a local or someone interested in the fate of these massive commercial spaces, there are a few things to keep in mind about the post-mall era in Reading.
- Support the remaining anchors. Boscov’s is a rare breed of family-owned retail that defies national trends. Their success is a huge part of the local tax base.
- Watch the zoning changes. Muhlenberg Township has had to be incredibly flexible with the zoning for the Fairground site. If you live nearby, pay attention to the "mixed-use" proposals, as these will dictate your property values and traffic patterns for the next twenty years.
- Don't expect another mall. That ship has sailed. The future of that site is likely a blend of light industrial, medical offices, and perhaps some residential units.
- Document the history. If you have old photos of the fairgrounds or the mall in its prime, get them to the Berks County Historical Society. As these physical spaces disappear, the digital and physical archives become the only way to explain to the next generation what "going to the mall" actually felt like.
The story of Fairground Square Mall in Reading PA is finished, but the land it sits on is just starting its next chapter. It’s a weird, bittersweet transition, but it’s the reality of a changing America. We traded the fountain for the convenience of the "Buy Now" button. Now, we just have to figure out what to do with the space that’s left behind.
Next Steps for Residents and History Buffs
If you want to stay updated on the specific construction permits and new tenants for the North 5th Street Highway corridor, check the Muhlenberg Township planning commission public records monthly. For those feeling nostalgic, the Berks County Public Library system holds extensive microfilm archives of the Reading Eagle from the mall's 1980 opening—it’s worth a trip just to see the original floor plans and the list of stores that once called that space home.