NEW CASTLE TOWNSHIP -- Small businesses are hoping to help revive a mall in Schuylkill County.
For years the Schuylkill Mall has lost some of its biggest national retailers, and the question has been raised, will it survive?
The Frackville Discount Grocery store is the newest small business to fill a space in the Schuylkill Mall.
"We figured the mall was losing a lot of people. We figured if we could bring smaller businesses into the mall. It would bring more people back," said Angela Miller with Frackville Discount Grocery.
Miller sold discount groceries for almost a decade. When her storefront on South Lehigh Street in Frackville burned down in June, she decided to bring a grocery store to the mall.
While this mall has struggled with big box stores like Sears leaving, it has found a new way to fill some of the vacancies, bringing in some mom-and-pop stores, and even some non-traditional business or organizations for the mall, including a church.
"I think it's really awesome that the mall management is stepping up, and saying, 'Hey, a mall doesn't have to just be Abercrombie & Fitch, and all the big huge brand names that people associate with malls. A mall can be more than that,'" said Rebekah Hall.
Hall is a mom of four who started hand-making candles, soap, and body lotions about seven years ago, mostly selling at craft shows and farmers markets. When she decided she wanted to grow the business into a storefront, her first thought was the mall.
Rebekah's Creations is the second small business to open in the Schuylkill Mall in two months.