Arnot Mall opened in 1967 as "The Mall" Shopping Center, at which time it had only 40 stores and JCPenney as the original anchor.[5] The mall took its name from its original developer, Arnot Realty. It underwent an expansion in 1980 adding Bradlees, Hess's, and Sears and now has an area of just over 1,000,000 sq ft (93,000 m2) and over 100 stores. Several anchors have changed names in the mall's history, the most recent being Burlington Coat Factory, which opened in 2006 in a former Bradlees.[6] Other former anchor stores include Hess's (which became Kaufmann's in 1995[7] and Macy's in 2006), and Iszard's (later McCurdy's, then The Bon-Ton).
For the 2011 school year, all PREIT-owned malls, including Arnot Mall, gave away free school supplies with a purchase[8] of at least $75.[9] Racecar driver Jeff Gordon was spotted in the Arnot Mall arcade on Saturday, August 13 after a race on August 8 at Watkins Glen International.[10] Later that day, Robby Gordon gave out signatures outside of GNC.[11] Employees of the mall said they felt the 2011 Virginia earthquake that affected much of the northeastern United States.[12]
In 2016, it was announced that after a strategy had been elected by Macy's to solely focus on their highest achieving locations that they would be leaving this shopping center as well. It was later announced to become an entirely new outpost for The Bon-Ton which would open in 2017.[13]
On April 17, 2018, it was announced department store retailer The Bon-Ton would shutter after it wasn't able to establish any new conditions to satisfy its established long-term debt.[14]
In 2020, it was announced that Sears would shutter as part of an ongoing decision to eliminate its traditional brick-and-mortar format.[15]
