Ross Park Mall manager Lisa Earl confessed that "it still blows my mind" when she thinks about how, within the next three months, some of the biggest names in luxury fashion will be tenants at her North Hills retail complex.

The mall's owner, Simon Properties Group, has upped the fashion-retail ante in Pittsburgh by luring to the mall more than a half-dozen major designer stores, including Burberry, BCBG Max Azria, Louis Vuitton, Michael Kors, Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, Tiffany & Co. and True Religion Brand Jeans.

What Simon also has done, aside from shocking the socks off naysayers, is to create a make-or-break scenario for the region. If these stores survive, it's a sign that Pittsburgh is progressive enough to attract and keep high-end designer boutiques.

But should the stores falter, it may be impossible in the near future for Pittsburgh to win other such opportunities. The region will have failed to overcome its image as just another mid-American town that lacks the wherewithal to run with the big boys -- or even comparable cities across the country -- when it comes to attracting and keeping A-list luxury retailers.

In terms of wealth and income, it's unlikely that high-end shopping in Pittsburgh has even neared a saturation point. There are enough people who are accustomed to luxury-goods prices -- consider those who are paying them elsewhere -- with enough spending power to sustain what still will be a modest number of designer boutiques and high-end specialty stores for the region's population.

The question is, how willing are they to spend that money at home?

Managers of the new mall stores know that they must provide excellent service along with quality merchandise. In addition, it will take a different mindset among many Pittsburghers for the businesses to succeed.

An oft-repeated, self-defeating myth is that one must leave Pittsburgh to buy good high-end, on-trend fashions. Such merchandise is readily available at numerous local retailers, from Charles Spiegel in Squirrel Hill; Choices, Dress Circle and Moda in Shadyside; to Downtown stores such as Emphatics, Larrimor's, Saks Fifth Avenue and chickdowntown.com, to name a few.

While these independent specialty stores and Saks tend to have smaller selections than a label's actual boutique, which is not unusual, there's still a respectable level of local presence and availability.

Without a doubt, the heightened luxury experience at Ross Park will require some adjustments in high-end fashion retail elsewhere in Pittsburgh.

The presence of Nordstrom and its upscale sister stores at Ross Park will pressure Saks to step up its game Downtown because Nordstrom will carry some brands currently sold only at Saks as well as some lines unavailable at Saks.

Over at SouthSide Works, sales at the BCBG store are likely to suffer because of the second store at Ross Park. And specialty stores that carry any of the brands that will be available at Nordstrom or the designer boutiques are likely to experience some cannibalization with the addition of another option or two for shoppers.

What could be a major challenge for the new Ross Park boutiques is that they are opening during a depressed economy, one that largely was unforeseen when stores signed on and that is steadily worsening.

There's also the surging popularity of online shopping. Improved merchandise return policies and savings of time and fuel are among factors that have made Internet buying an increasingly popular alternative to brick-and-mortar stores.

But luxury retail has demonstrated a remarkable resilience during the economic downturn, actually gaining momentum worldwide while most other retail sectors have flagged. A significant number of major American and European luxury players are opening more stores each year, as evidenced by the new Michael Kors, Louis Vuitton, Burberry and BCBG stores coming here.

Although luxury retailers tend to be destination stores and therefore less reliant on the uncertainties of strictly foot traffic, the North Hills location does pose some challenges. Traffic around the landlocked, hilltop complex is among the heaviest anywhere in the region, for example.

And it remains to be seen whether the prospect of a luxury shopping experience is enough to coax a significant number of Pittsburgh residents out of their decades-old reluctance to regularly travel out of their local "quadrant" to shop elsewhere.

Ms. Earl and the rest of the folk at Simon and Ross Park are hoping that it is.

So, too, should the rest of us.