Cinemark at Pittsburgh Mills mall closing

The Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer is losing one of its anchors. Cinemark on Monday confirmed that its theater at the mall is closing.

“It will be a huge loss,” township Supervisor Lori Ziencik said. “We’re disappointed.”

Cinemark spokeswoman Caitlin Piper said the theater is “permanently closing as it is near the conclusion of its lease term.” She said the closure is a “normal course of business and the result of the careful and ongoing review” of the company’s theaters.

Piper wouldn’t say when the lease is up, nor would she elaborate further on the cause of the closure. Other Cinemark theaters in Western Pennsylvania are in Erie, Beaver County’s Center Township, Monroeville, McCandless and Robinson. Piper didn’t respond to a query about whether any other Cinemark locations will be closing.

In 2018, the theater announced plans to sell alcoholic beverages, expand its hot food selection and add lobby seating. It also said it was planning a $3 million to $4 million renovation, including adding luxury recliners to its auditoriums.

Long Island, N.Y.-based Mason Asset Management, which owns the mall, said on its website that the mall’s anchors are Macy’s, JC Penney, Cinemark and Dick’s.

A spokesperson for Mason Asset Management said officials are “unable to comment on tenants with active leases.” A phone message left with mall management wasn’t returned Monday.

Cinemark is the latest in a number of tenants to leave the struggling mall, which has had difficulty getting and securing tenants. A Tribune-Review article on the state of the mall from 2019 showed that four new tenants had moved into the mall over that past year. Mason’s website showed that at least two tenants remain there.

Other tenants, Philip Pelusi, an upscale Pittsburgh-based hair salon, and Petland, both left the mall last year.

The mall has roughly 60 tenants, made up of a combination of retail stores and businesses such as dance studios and minigolf, its website shows. It’s also home to Legends of Pittsburgh fitness center, Riverside Community Church and Allegheny Health Network’s Citizens School of Nursing.

Several storefronts remain available for lease, according to the lease plan on Mason’s website.

Ziencik said mall management told her about the closure last week. She doesn’t know why Cinemark is leaving.

“I did not get a reason. I actually heard it from the mall manager last week,” Ziencik said. “He said he had just found out, but they were already moving things out last week.”