To compete, malls get more than a face-lift

By Maria Panaritis
Philly.com

It was all about the Jersey plates. Too many of them, too often, filling up parking spots at the King of Prussia mall. All those Jersey shoppers, with all that Jersey cash, ditching their local malls and defecting to the Main Line / Montgomery County mecca of upscale shopping.

The frustration was enough to fuel a counterattack from an underdog that decided the time had come: Fight back. Reclaim what should be yours. And while you're at it, stick it to the rest of the competition, too - those big-box shopping centers that have stolen suburbanites from under the once-supreme shopping mall. Hoping to win back the sex appeal, the Cherry Hill, Plymouth Meeting and former Echelon Malls are undergoing a real estate version of plastic and bariatric surgery.

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