Where Exton Square Mall's Robotics Team, Thrift Store and Theater Group Went After the Doors Locked

"As it transformed into the community space, at least while we were there, it was still serving a lot of good, and I think that not being there is a big loss for the community," Chris Hutelmyer told The Inquirer in August. He is executive director of the Arts and Athletics Club. When he said that, the all-ages theater group had no stage, its props and costumes were stored in volunteers' garages, and it was going on hiatus until it found a new home.

By the time the interior of Exton Square Mall closed on June 30, 2026, the retail had mostly left. A spokesperson for owner Abrams Realty & Development told PhillyVoice that occupancy had dropped below 20%, down from about 62% in 2024. Many of the people still walking those corridors came for a robotics practice, a fencing lesson, a rehearsal or a clothing drop-off. Most of those groups have since landed somewhere new. They just landed in four different towns.

What the empty storefronts were actually holding

The Inquirer's August report found that even as the mall's retail staples left, "nonprofits, a robotics club, a fencing center, and more" moved into the space, and business leaders said they drew significant foot traffic. It was also Chester County's only enclosed mall.

The theater group shows why that worked. For four years the Arts and Athletics Club used a former Aéropostale as a small black box theater. The store had no windows, which suited a group staging about 10 productions a year. It also had bathrooms, dressing rooms, storage, ample parking and a central spot that people could reach from Malvern, Downingtown and Coatesville. A dying mall offered a nonprofit something hard to find elsewhere at its budget: open floor space near Route 30 and Route 100, with parking already in place.

The Wardrobe's numbers point the same way. The nonprofit thrift store's Exton location ranked second among its five Greater Philadelphia stores for foot traffic and retail sales last year, according to executive director Sheri Cole. Cole said that showed people would still go to a "dead" or "dying" mall if it had something they needed.

When the notice came in June, the remaining tenants had until the end of the month to move out. Here is where each one has turned up since.

The one that stayed in Exton

Brandywine Robotics moved fastest and stayed closest. After eight years at the mall, the volunteer-led nonprofit started operating from a permanent 4,000-square-foot space at 801 Springdale Drive in Whiteland Business Park, with the move beginning July 1, the day after the mall interior closed.

The new building is a step up from what the group had. MyChesCo reported that it includes several competition fields, fabrication and equipment rooms, more collaboration space and 24/7 access for student projects and long build sessions. The organization runs VEX IQ and VEX Robotics Competition teams for about 150 students in grades K through 12 each year. For Exton families on those teams, the drive changed and the zip code didn't.

The thrift store that moved to Malvern

The Wardrobe took longer and went farther. By early July it had secured a pop-up at Plymouth Meeting Mall. In August it found a permanent home at the Lincoln Court Shopping Center. The new store is at 235 Lancaster Avenue, Suite E1-2, Malvern, in the former Goodwill Store and Donation Center, so many local donors will already know the building.

It held its grand opening on Thursday, October 8, 2026, two days ago. Shopping and donations are open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The store takes casual and professional menswear and womenswear, accessories, shoes and toiletries that are in season and in style. Free clothing services are available to people who need professional, casual or everyday clothes for personal and career goals. The Plymouth Meeting pop-up stays open Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., through January.

"We are thrilled to open just 15 minutes away in Malvern," Cole said in the organization's announcement, adding that the location "should be accessible for our Exton shoppers, volunteers, and donors." The Wardrobe expects to help nearly 2,000 Chester County residents this year, a county record for the organization.

The theater that waited longest, now headed to Downingtown

The Arts and Athletics Club had the hardest time. It needed about 1,800 to 3,000 square feet of open floor, on a small budget for rent or renovation, and it wanted to stay in East or West Whiteland. Its leaders looked at retail spaces, warehouses and churches, and investigated partnering with community centers. "We've been striking out pretty much everywhere that we've been looking," Hutelmyer said in August. The robotics team found a 4,000-square-foot building in Exton. The theater group needed less room than that and still couldn't find a fit inside the two townships.

It found one just west of them. The club's website now announces a new home at 983A East Lancaster Avenue in Downingtown, inside the Elite Therapy Solutions building, starting November 1. The club's event calendar lists a November 14 open house, a December 1 fundraiser, a December 4 board game night and a December 11 performance of 4 Short Plays, with In My Head listed for January 22 through 24. The calendar doesn't print years, and no local news outlet had covered the move as of this writing. The club's site is the source for these dates, so check it before planning a night around them.

The club runs programs for ages 7 to 70, offered free or at low cost.

The fencing gym with a new West Chester address

In 2025, Fencing Academy of Philadelphia listed its Revolution Fencing Center at 260 Exton Square Parkway, and its December 2025 winter camp was held there. The academy now says it opened a new Chester County gym in summer 2026 at 1220 Ward Avenue, Suite 200, West Chester. The academy hasn't said whether the West Chester gym directly replaces the Exton one. Its Chester County page lists open bouting, group classes and private lessons with Head Coach Ben Bratton and Coach David DiSimone, along with permanent strips, scoring machines and conditioning equipment.

The new addresses at a glance

The Kay Jewelers details come from the Daily Local News. PhillyVoice reported that five remaining tenants were told to leave in June and named The Wardrobe and Kay Jewelers among them.

What still opens its doors at Routes 100 and 30

Three businesses have their own exterior entrances, and they kept running after the corridors closed. Abrams said at the time that their operations would not change.

• Boscov's, 126 Exton Square Mall. Its store page lists Saturday hours of 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Round1 Bowling & Arcade, 172 Exton Square Parkway. Listed hours are 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily, with bowling, arcade games, billiards, karaoke, ping-pong, darts and party rooms.
• Main Line Health Exton Square, 154 Exton Square Parkway. The health system says the facility is fully operational and patients should use its exterior entrance. Services include primary and specialty care, urgent care, lab work and imaging, including MRI, CT, mammography, DEXA, ultrasound and X-ray.

Why the groups had to look elsewhere

The groups couldn't count on the old site reopening any time soon because its future is still in court. Abrams bought the mall from PREIT for $34.25 million in March 2025. Its revised plan for the 75-acre site called for 718 homes plus retail, offices, public space and a relocated Main Line Health facility, with Boscov's staying. The township Planning Commission recommended approval in August 2025. The Board of Supervisors denied the master plan 2-0 in October 2025, citing traffic, sewer capacity, emergency services and school impacts.

Abrams sued in the Chester County Court of Common Pleas. As of Vista.Today's September 19 update, a judge had heard arguments in April but hadn't ruled, and talks to settle out of court had failed. Abrams has also challenged the township's updated zoning ordinance before the West Whiteland Zoning Hearing Board. In June, Abrams told Bisnow the full redevelopment might be finished in late 2029 or 2030. That date is the developer's forecast, and it depends on how the court case and approvals turn out.

Abrams' plan describes a main street that could close to traffic for farmers markets and a terrace with a stage for live music and family events. Until something gets built, the groups that used the mall that way are spread out. The robotics team is in Whiteland Business Park, the thrift store is in Malvern, and the theater group opens in Downingtown on November 1.

If you've been in Exton long enough to remember the mall full, you know these addresses are part of what makes the area feel like home. At Anne Townes, we follow these changes as closely as we follow the market. If you'd like to talk about how changes at Routes 100 and 30 could affect your plans in Exton, Contact Us.