M. Sean Rizzo's Commentary

Cedarbrook Mall was a mall on the outskirts of Philadelphia that opened in the early 1960s. The original anchor stores were E.J. Korvette and Pantry Pride Supermarket. The mall was orginally constructed to be able to expand for another Anchor, but this never occured. Other store of note included a very large Woolworths (which was almost large enought to have been branded a "woolco", a Donuts Galore Coffee shop and a Mom and Pop toy and hobby shop.

An interesting feature of the layout of this mall was the main entrance. The parking lot was designed in such a way that there was no parking anywhere near it, so most parking congragated on the two sides, which on the left was the Pantry Pride, and on the right, just a bland entrance waiting for a future expansion.

When you walked into the main entrance, you were Facing Korvettes. This was one of the largest Korvettes outside of the New York area, and was very impressive. Also at the entrance, there was a flight of stairs leading down into Mall offices, and meeting rooms.

This mall was quite active from the time it opened until 1980, when it was hit in the space of a very short time losing both Anchors as Pantry Pride and Korvettes went out of business. No businesses replaced them, and by 1984, the mall was completely closed.

Interesting to note that while it was closed, the owners maintained an on site Mall Manager who was agressively trying to develop a plan to rejuvinate the Space. During this time, I had a couple of phone conversations with him, and at one point he allowed me to come in and take some pictures inside the empty Korvettes store. (I will try and find theses pics and scan them to you).

Eventually, this property was rebuilt into a large Wal Mart, Toys R us, and other smaller tenants as a shopping center.