Business & Tech

News Nearby: Hallmark Store At Ross Park Mall to Close After 25 Years

Twenty employees are expected to lose their jobs, the owner said.

One of the original stores to open at the Ross Park Mall, , is closing at the end of February after 25 years, its owner Marty Feuer said Tuesday afternoon. 

"It's very sad and traumatic for all of us," he said. 

The store employs 20 people.  The mall now houses 160. 

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Feuer said the decision was made after he received notice that he would have to move locations within the mall to a smaller space, while his rent for the space doubled. He declined to provide the exact numbers.

"The rent proposal from them is just exorbitant," he said. "We can't possibly survive." 

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The store is one in a chain of six other Hallmark stores in the Pittsburgh area that Feuer privately owns. The Ross Park Mall location was the flagship store and saw the highest volume of traffic, he said. 

"This mall, they've gone very high end, and they have a line of people coming in" who can pay those rents, he said, adding that business is business. "It's good for them."

Saul Markowitz, a spokesman for the Ross Park Mall, referred questions about the store closing to the corporate offices of Hallmark Cards Inc.

Markowitz could not immediately respond to questions about whether a new tenant would be moving into the space the Hallmark store is vacating. 

"We cannot comment at this time (on the new tenant) because we don't have a fully executed lease," according to a statement Simon Malls released Tuesday afternoon.

Toni Ferro, a spokesman for the the Kansas City-based corporate offices of Hallmark Cards Inc., confirmed the store's closing announcement and referred additional questions to Feuer.

Feuer said the last day of business for the store likely will be Feb. 25. 

"We are going into sale mode just about immediately," he said. 

Stay tuned to Patch for further updates. 

What do you think about the store's closing? Tell us in the comments. 


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