Pittsburgh International Airport Airmall Getting A Makeover With New Shops

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- That clickety-clackety sound of suitcases at the airport will soon be a thing of the past.

"I think the noise quality will get that much better, but we also think the beautiful design by Clayton Merrell, the artist that is doing this. It is going to be phenomenal," says Jay Kruisselbrink, vice president of development for Airmall Pittsburgh.

It's all part of an ongoing update to the air-mall shopping center with a new surface floor that looks like the sky.

"It's going to be a polished, gleaming blue sky, and there will be these lines that people can choose to follow or not that will lead you to one part of the airport or another with little details embedded in them made of polished metal," says the designing artist Clayton Merrell.

"And there will also be these moments at the edge of the concourses where viewers will encounter five iconic neighborhoods in Pittsburgh," he added.

But that's not all that's new, says the airmall's top official.

"We reconfigured the center core so that more of the passengers can be exposed to the shops," notes Kruisselbrink.

That includes lots of specialty stores like Armani Jeans, Collezioni, Hugo Boss, Furla, Tumi, Nine West, Metalsmiths, Pinko and so many more.

"I love the Pittsburgh airport, and I do travel, and this has a great airmall type atmosphere," says shopper Sally Blackwell of Florida.

Shopper Linda Kimes, of Florida, adds, "It's very nice. All the shops are great here. I do buy, yes I do."

In fact, while nationally passengers spend on average $9 at airmalls, it's $14 in Pittsburgh.

As cool and hip as this airmall is becoming, many Pittsburghers will never see it.

Why? Because it's limited to only ticketed passengers flying in and out of the city. The airmall management hopes that someday TSA will allow anyone going through security to come to this airmall.

That could expand the number of shoppers.

"They go through security. They get vetted on the non-fly list. Once they go through security and TSA, they're perfectly safe to come, and we would love to have that happen," says Kruisselbrink.

You May Also Be Interested In These Latest News Stories

More Reports by Jon Delano
Join The Conversation On The KDKA Facebook Page
Stay Up To Date, Follow KDKA On Twitter