King of Prussia becomes one vast mall with 50 new retailers and restaurants

Philly.com – At 9:45 a.m. Thursday, King of Prussia Mall was officially declared “one mall” by owner Simon Property Group. Hello Bonobos and Calligaris. Bring it on, Jimmy Choo, Vince, and CH Carolina Herrera.

The East Coast’s premiere shopping mall just grew by about 500,000 square feet. It now includes a 155,000-square-foot connector that ties together the two former sections for the first time, and an added 250,000-square-foot wing, home to 50 new retailers and restaurants.

The expansion that started 30 months ago was capped Thursday with a ribbon splicing, not a cutting: Two ribbons from each mall were joined at Savor King of Prussia, the mall’s new food court with WiFi stations and fountains throughout “King of Prussia has reached new heights,” said Rick Sokolov, Simon’s president and chief operating officer, just moments before the ribbon ceremony. “I think we have come up with a collection of retailers that people would find compelling.” Those stores opening Thursday included Cartier, Altar’d State, and David Yurman.

The mall last year attracted 25 million visitors, about the same number as Atlantic City’s beaches and casinos. “But we’re not done,” Sokolov said. “We invest in our properties and we’re always thinking about what’s next.”

“The retailers here are just crazy,” said Spencer Rubin, 30, owner of Melt Shop, which offers grilled sandwiches and shakes to go and opened Thursday next to the new Hai Street Kitchen and across from Club Monaco. “We are very happy to be here. We were just lucky to have been involved with two other Simon developments [in New York] to land this prime spot.”

While the corpses of brick-and-mortar stores have piled up the last few years with the advent of digital shopping, KOP Mall has had a different problem: keeping up with the demand of elite retailers who want to occupy its spaces or expand into bigger storefronts.

An ad campaign launched in the Philadelphia and Washington areas on Wednesday spread the word that the mall is now one big, unified spectacle since debuting 53 years ago. The TV spots will air in both markets for the next three weeks.

“We’re fortunate to have some of the best shopping in the United States right here in Philadelphia’s backyard: Montgomery County,” said Ed Harris of the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board, which is behind the new ad campaign. For more www.philly.com