The Logan Valley Mall is a mall that holds a lot of sentimental value for Brostocks. I hung out in this mall when I was a teenager and shopped in it with my parents as a child. I decided to make a stop there after visiting family for the Christmas holiday and was sad to see that it’s starting to go the way of a “dead mall” with many empty storefronts throughout. While there are still signs of life in this mall compared to some of the really dead malls you see on YouTube, this one is certainly on the borderline.
The Logan Valley Mall originally opened in November 1965 with a Sears, a Weis grocery store and several small shops. The mall added a JCPenney in 1966 and eventually a Hess’s Department Store. An early childhood memory of mine is when a fire broke out in the mall and destroyed half of it in December 1994, just 11 days before Christmas.
The mall renovated in three phases, adding the addition of a Kaufmann’s, a new Carmike Cinema movie theater and a new larger JCPenney. A food court was opened on the second floor where the old JCPenney was located. When the Kauffman’s name was retired in 2005 when the Federated Department Stores purchased Kauffman’s, the store eventually became a Macy’s. The early 2000’s were a personal heyday for me, hanging out in a bustling newly renovated mall! I have fond memories such as going to the Pocket Change arcade with friends and buying CDs at the FYE.
The Carmike Cinemas theater later became an AMC Classic in 2017. The Sears eventually closed in Spring 2019 and the anchor remains vacant today. Another devastating blow was the AMC Classic theater closing down in July 2021 as a result of the pandemic. A more recent closure was the Applebee’s that was a popular draw to the mall after it opened in the late 1990’s. Applebee’s closed in the mall in late 2022 and shortly after reopened an off mall location just a half mile away.
It was a great feeling to be back walking through the mall and it brought back a ton of memories, but it certainly was sad to see the once packed and vibrant shopping destination scaled back to a shell of itself. I sure hope that this place will soon see a resurgence, but until then enjoy our video journey through the Logan Valley Mall in Altoona, Pennsylvania below.
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