The economy is down and bus routes have been reduced, but officials at Century III Mall are keeping their fingers crossed for a healthy holiday shopping season.

Last week, the U.S. Commerce Department announced that retail sales dropped by 2.8 percent in October, the largest amount on record, with sales of everything from autos to furniture to clothing taking a hit.

One week earlier, the Port Authority announced that it was cutting bus service to Century III Mall, starting Sunday, potentially keeping shoppers away from the West Mifflin complex, which already is dealing with some 30 empty storefronts.

Despite the economic and transportation setbacks, mall Manager Gina Mercorelli said there appears to be more activity at the mall in recent days and she believes it may be because of the mixture of moderately priced stores there.

"Maybe those who are shopping want to stretch their dollars," Ms. Mercorelli said. She stressed that Century III has six major anchors, including three department stores -- Sears, J.C. Penney and Macy's -- while two other local malls have lost their Boscov department stores.

The other three Century III anchor stores are Dicks Sporting Goods, Steve and Barry's and Macy's Furniture.

She didn't have any statistics on whether sales are up or down at the mall, which opened in 1979 as the area's largest mall at the time.

But she had this observation: "It was a very busy Friday, Saturday and Sunday and there were lots of shoppers and shoppers with bags, which means they are buying," Ms. Mercorelli said.

It's yet to be seen how much the Port Authority service reductions, which start next week, will affect foot traffic at Century III.

Earlier this month the Port Authority announced that as of Sunday, buses on routes 35A Baldwin-Whitehall and 59A West Mifflin-North Versailles will no longer pick up or drop off riders at the mall. Those routes will terminate service at the West Mifflin Wal-Mart, where riders can transfer for a fee of 50 cents to the 51C Carrick bus to get to the mall.

In addition, routes 46G Elizabeth, 51 Carrick and 55M Century III Mall routes will operate fewer trips to and from the mall.

Weekend service will not be affected, nor will ACCESS, which is the door-to-door, advance reservation, shared-ride transportation for seniors and individuals with disabilities within the county.

In announcing the service cuts, the Port Authority indicated the mall management asked for them.

However, Ms. Mercorelli said that was not entirely true. She said before the cuts, the mall had about 205 buses entering and exiting the property daily, nearly twice the number of buses than at other local malls.

Those frequent bus trips caused significant wear and tear on the asphalt roadway used by the buses.

When that roadway needed to be upgraded at a cost of $150,000, mall managers asked the Port Authority to pay a portion, and the authority refused.

"We cannot afford to pay for the paving of pavement at the mall. For us to do that, what would stop any other shopping center or municipality from asking us to do that?" asked Port Authority spokesman David Whipkey.

At that point, mall managers asked for a reduction in the number of bus trips to the mall, but not the elimination of any routes, Ms. Mercorelli said.

"Our intent was not to eliminate service for entire neighborhoods. Some of these same buses come every 20 minutes. We wanted them to make less frequent trips on the same routes. Maybe every 40 minutes rather than every 20 minutes," she said.

Ms. Mercorelli said she expects to see some reduction in shoppers from the reduction in bus routes.

"I certainly think this is going to affect something because those people are not going to be able to get a direct bus route to the mall. Two neighborhoods can't make it here," she said.

For those who do make it to Century III for the holiday shopping season, there are some new offerings.

Among them are two new lounge areas called "rejuvenation stations" that mall officials describe as a soft seating areas. They are filled with couches and chairs and lamps provided by Value City Furniture and have flat-screen televisions suspended from the ceiling.

One is located on the first level, underneath the ramp that leads to Sears, the other is near the center of the second level.

The areas were created to give shoppers a chance to rest and relax during their shopping trips, Ms. Mercorelli said.

In addition, last week the mall opened another new attraction, a simulated bungee jumping mechanism called a Miro Bungy. It combines a trampoline with bungee cords, allowing jumpers to go as high as two stories.

Ms. Mercorelli said the attraction, which opened on Friday, drew crowds not only interested in trying it, but also those who wanted to stand on the second level of the mall to wave to the jumpers.

"I saw a 3-year-old on it and I saw a college-age student on it and both were giggling equally," she said.

In addition to the bungee jumper and rest stations, the mall plans seasonal entertainment and programs, such as Pet Photos with Santa this Sunday, a seminar from Jennifer Melnick Carota, the Gift Therapist, who will teach shoppers to shop smart, spend less and give more, said mall marketing manager Christine Jamison.

Also, Pittsburgh Steelers Lawrence Timmons, LaMarr Woodley and James Farrior will sign autographs Dec. 6 for a fee of $25.