Alessandro Spennato owns Sitaly to Go, a small pizza shop in Wilmington, but if he had a choice, he’d still be spinning dough at the Granite Run Mall in Media, once a popular focal point for the Delaware County community.

“At one point, they tell stories that the top floor shook from how many people were walking on it,” Spennato said.

Spennato’s father opened a Scotto’s Pizza franchise there in 1974, the day the mall opened, writes Kenny Cooper for WHYY.

It dominated the food court and was run by the Spennato family for three decades. Their claim to fame includes serving a slice of pizza to a young Kobe Bryant.

But that old two-level mall is gone, replaced by a mixed-use development known as The Promenade at Granite Run.

Granite Run is an example of a mall that evolved from an enclosed mall to the combined retail complex popular in the nation today, according to Barbara Kahn, professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

For every mall these days, there are about 99 open air marketplaces, such as strip malls and lifestyle centers.

Read more about the Spennato ties to Granite Run and what caused the mall’s demise at WHYY.