Shoppers excited as Von Maur department store opens at South Hills Village

BETHEL PARK, Pa. (KDKA) — The first Von Maur department store in Pennsylvania has opened at South Hills Village.
The Iowa-based department store opened last weekend, and customers are grateful for this new in-person shopping option after some department stores have closed over the years. 
On Monday, there was no lack of shoppers at Von Maur. 
“We needed it,” Kathy Rieck said. “It’s a really nice place to buy dresses and stuff that we didn’t have here before in the South Hills.”
Rieck is right. There are fewer options. In the last five years, there have been 6% fewer brick-and-mortar stores. This space used to be a Sears department store, which closed five years ago.  
Now, it’s a department store chain that’s growing, likely partly because Newsweek magazine has named Von Maur as “America’s Best Department Store” three years in a row. This is its 38th store, with No. 39 set to open in South Dakota next year. 
“I love it inside,” shopper Grace Sloss said on Monday. “My girlfriend from Indianapolis said you got to go to Von Maur, they’re all over the Midwest. She was right.”
One hundred full-time and part-time people have jobs at the store at South Hills Village. And according to one published report post-pandemic, people are gaining a new appreciation for brick-and-mortar stores.