Latham Circle Mall; Latham, New York

Latham Circle Mall sign in Latham, NY
After a rather long dry spell (since November), I managed to get out for a day this past weekend to re-visit all of the malls in the Albany area, one of my favorite metropolitan areas for retail development within easy reach of Boston. I hadn’t actually been out to visit since 2001, so it was a fun (and revelatory, but not necessarily in the good way) trip. I plan on posting a full-scale case study along with posts of each of Albany’s malls soon, but I wanted to cut to the chase with a truly fun one.

When I last visited Latham Circle Mall in 2001, it was a mostly-thriving, older mall with predominantly ancillary tenants that served Albany’s northern suburbs and the Troy area. Too close to Albany’s powerhouse to malls to be truly dominant, the still-quite-large (somewhere around 700,000 square feet) Latham Circle Mall was at the time holding its own. Six years can change a lot, however, and on my visit this past week I was sad to find it’s now somewhat dingy and troubled, pockmarked with vacancies. It’s a shame because Latham Circle is a real doozy, and one of the more curious malls in the northeast.

Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NYLatham Circle is one of the oldest malls in the Albany area, originally opening as a 1950s-vintage outdoor shopping center with WT Grant’s, Woolworth’s, and Grand Union as anchor stores. The mall was enclosed sometime in the 1960s or 1970s (I’m not able to pin down an exact date) and added Caldor and The Boston Store (not the midwestern one!) as anchors, while WT Grant became a JCPenney. In the 1980s, the mall was expanded, with JCPenney moving to a new space outside their old one, and converting their old space into a cavernous mall area with a Regal Cinemas stowed on the second level, cantilevered above the mall.

Latham Circle Mall began to experience some uncertainty in the late 1990s. Woolworth closed their store when the chain shuttered, and they were replaced by a Stein Mart that lasted only until 2001. Similarly, the mall’s large Caldor store shut with the chain in 1999. The Caldor, along with much of the wing leading to it, was demolished in 2003 to make room for a Lowe’s Home Improvement store that, perhaps not unexpectedly, does not open into the mall.

What really makes Latham Circle Mall interesting, however, is its exceedingly strange layout and decor. The mall abounds with architectural “treats:” hallways that don’t match other parts of the mall, unusually high ceilings, mysterious second levels that sprout and don’t lead anyplace. I’ve attempted to provide a rough sketch of the floorplan of the mall as it existed in 2000, upon my first visit (and before the demolition of the Caldor and most of the rest of its wing took some of the personality out of the place):

Latham Circle Mall (circa 2000) satellite view and floorplan
There are basically four vastly different portions of the mall (there used to be five). From north to south:

  • The newest JCPenney/Regal Cinemas area, with its extremely high ceilings and white walls.
  • The main corridor, with a pitched roof and “elephant earring” light fixtures (as Prangeway would say). This also includes a special wing for the food court; at the back of the food court is an abandoned and derelict second level (which I included one shot of; I wanted more but two ladies kept eyeing me strangely, perhaps with good reason) that is visibly stuck in the early 1970s, and I have no idea what it was even used for.
  • The center court area, around Burlington Coat Factory
  • The former Stein Mart/Woolworth wing, which has two vastly different ceiling heights running straight down the center of the mall
  • And the fifth, deceased wing is the Caldor wing, which used to be a two-level area with a second level of offices looking down into the mall. Most of this wing is gone, but I included a few pictures that grab some small bits of it for posterity. If you want to know what it looked like pre-2003, check out DeadMalls set of photos, which includes one amazingly awesome shot of the former Caldor frontage as I remember it.

Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY

Why is Latham Circle dying? The Capital Region of New York, with a population of about 800,000, was at one point home to no less than 11 enclosed malls, several of which have already shut. The catalyst for the change, however, was the 1984 opening of the behemoth Crossgates Mall, the area’s true powerhouse center. Even though the area is overmalled, Latham Circle stands a chance: but it will need to act fast to clean itself up and attract some new tenants to fill its vacancies. Enjoy the photos, all taken this past weekend.

(Also, visit Jack Thomas’ page on the mall too–he has some photos of his own!)

EDIT 5/20/07: Latham Circle Mall to Explore New Lifestyle

The aging Latham Circle Mall is going to be extensively renovated beginning this summer. While the mall will not be fully disenclosed, much of the focus will be turned back outside, including the addition of an outdoor courtyard in the center of the existing mall, which will feature al fresco dining. The existing food court will also become a new anchor store.

Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY

Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY

Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY

Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY

Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY

Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY Latham Circle Mall in Latham, NY

Oakdale Mall; Johnson City (Binghamton), New York

Oakdale Mall in Binghamton, NY

Happy Holidays everyone! As you can see, I’ve been more than a bit busy with visiting multiple families and opening presents and cleaning houses and doing the other seasonal trappings that–despite a vacation from work–I haven’t had time to toss some malls to you guys in awhile.

I visited the Binghamton area’s Oakdale Mall back in October during my trip to the Syracuse area and other parts of central New York. Here’s the satellite view. Dubbed the Tri-City Shopping Mall in development phases, the Oakdale Mall opened in Johnson City, New York, on October 1, 1975, although the Montgomery Ward store opened in 1973.

This article contains some history about the mall, along with the following revelatory passage:

By mid-August 1975, the mall had an open house. None of the stores was open yet, but nearly 30,000 prospective shoppers showed up to see the progress.
“This is going to be wonderful,” one visitor told a reporter from the former Sun-Bulletin.
“There will be no reason to go downtown anymore,” the visitor added.
How true that comment became. One by one, downtown department stores in Binghamton moved to the mall or closed for good within a few years. This certainly wasn’t a unique problem Binghamton endured, as this trend was growing across U.S. cities.

The Bon-Ton at Oakdale Mall in Binghamton, NY

I don’t know a ton about its history beyond a few of its anchor store shifts: the Macy’s seen here was a Kaufmann’s until 2006, and it was a Montgomery Ward from 1973-2000. Clearly the building was either demolished and rebuilt or dramatically renovated, since it’s a fairly standard May Company exterior. The Burlington Coat Factory was a Bradlees until that chain’s demise until 2001. Sears, JCPenney, and The Bon-Ton round out the anchor roster.

The Oakdale Mall is an old center but it seems to have been renovated relatively recently (probably around the turn of the century, which is kind of a funny thing to say. Try it!). It’s a long and bright one level mall that gradually stair-steps up a hill, and is the only major enclosed mall serving the Binghamton, New York metropolitan area.

A few of my own favorite features were the expansive court areas, the vintage (and best, frankly) Bon-Ton logo, and the design of the entire Burlington Coat Factory/Bradlees anchor. That funky hanging garden effect on the mall interior was especially cool.

Oakdale Mall in Binghamton, NY

Oakdale Mall in Binghamton, NY The Bon-Ton at Oakdale Mall in Binghamton, NY Oakdale Mall in Binghamton, NY Oakdale Mall in Binghamton, NY

Burlington Coat Factory at Oakdale Mall in Binghamton, NY JCPenney at Oakdale Mall in Binghamton, NY Macy's at Oakdale Mall in Binghamton, NY Oakdale Mall directory in Binghamton, NY

Oakdale Mall in Binghamton, NY Oakdale Mall in Binghamton, NY Oakdale Mall in Binghamton, NY Oakdale Mall in Binghamton, NY

Oakdale Mall in Binghamton, NY Oakdale Mall in Binghamton, NY Oakdale Mall in Binghamton, NY Oakdale Mall in Binghamton, NY

Arnot Mall; Horseheads (Elmira), New York

Center court at Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY

Elmira’s Arnot Mall was perhaps my favorite of the malls I visited on my recent jaunt through upstate New York. The long, twisty center had several distinctly different areas built in separate eras, including some rather irregularly-shaped courts, surprise corridors, and even a few oddly-justified anchor frontages.

Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NYThe Arnot Mall is located just west of Elmira, New York in the town of Horseheads, along NY-17 (future I-86) in the central portion of New York State’s “Southern Tier” region. Chris, one of our readers, graciously offered some history on the Arnot Mall: The mall opened in 1967 as “The Mall” and originally included Iszard’s, a local department store chain with stores in Downtown Elmira and Downtown Ithaca, along with JCPenney and 40 small stores. MallsofAmerica has an excellent vintage photo of the mall in its original state, complete with the classic JCPenney logo. In 1980, the mall underwent a very significant expansion that more than doubled the center’s size, added a new wing that was longer than the original mall, a second level food court, and Sears, Bradlees, and Hess as new anchors while renaming the center as the “Arnot Mall.” There was also an indoor mini golf course! The new Arnot Mall held 120 stores spread across 1,050,000 square feet.

Iszard’s eventually became McCurdy’s, who were ultimately bought out by The Bon Ton. The Bon Ton also bought out Hess in 1994, but the mall today has only one Bon Ton: the former Hess became a Kaufmann’s and ultimately a Macy’s. Take a look at the mall directory:

Arnot Mall Directory

I got the clear sense that the western portion of the mall, the strange “T” wing with JCPenney and the Bon Ton, was much older than the remainder of the mall (this section also held a strangely-oriented Olympia Sports with an external entrance–possibly a former Woolworth or McCrory’s?). The remainder of the mall represents the 1980 expansion. Bradlees left in early 2001, and their space today is occupied by Burlington Coat Factory.

Bradlees Logo

Arnot Mall seems to do relatively well (despite some vacancies, mostly on the Sears wing) by virtue of being the only major enclosed shopping center for miles around, but I enjoyed it for its architecture. The mall’s large, airy center court features a second level food court and movie theatre, along with a Friendly’s restaurant whose dining room overlooks directly into the mall’s first level. The center court includes a stately old-fashioned clock (like the ones that used to be so common in classic malls) set on the side of a fountain, and the planters and conversation pits set in front of anchor stores only add to the ambiance. In addition, the strange orientation of Olympia Sports against the mall (Look at the floorplan and note how, when walking down the main corridor, it ends at Olympia Sports. Their dramatic interior facade makes them look like an anchor store; a truly unusual design element).

It was a cool little mall. I’m glad I went out of my way for it.

I’ve organized the photos below into three groups so they make the most sense. The first group is of the mall’s exterior, moving from the 1980 expansion backward towards the original 1967 portion:

Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY

Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY

The next group is of the interior of the 1980 expansion:

Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY Macy's at Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY

Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY Burlington Coat Factory at Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY Center court at Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY Fountains and center court view at Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY

Clock and center court view at Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY Center court from the second level at Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY
And the last group is of the original, 1967 portion of the mall that spanned between JCPenney and Iszard’s:

Heading towards older wing from center court at Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY

Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY

Carousel Center; Syracuse, New York

Carousel Center Mall in Syracuse, New York
The main course in the Syracuse area is the Carousel Center, the Pyramid Companies‘ 1.5 million-square-foot, seven-level flagship mall built in 1990 on Syracuse’s lakefront; the mall that caused a half dozen others to close. Don’t let the Carousel Center’s relatively-modest square footage fool you: this is a very, very large mall complete with its own zip code and possibly the biggest tourist attraction in all of metro Syracuse.

Carousel Center exterior spireAt its core, the Carousel Center is organized in a relatively typical fashion, with two main long levels spanning between two large anchors, and a trio of cross hallways leading to other anchors, a food court, and movie theatres. There’s also a basement level only in the mall’s center court that provides access to the parking lot tucked underneath the mall and also hosts a slew of junior anchor tenants. More unusual is the mall’s upper floors, which only appear in the center court. The mall towers seven stories high, and the upper floors of the Cathedral-like spire are reserved for rentable event space called DestiNY USA. There was once also a skydeck on the top floor but this apparently was turned over to office space for DestiNY USA employees at some point.

One of the coolest design elements was one that proved difficult to photograph. Most of the main corridor of the mall featured a canopy-styled canvas roof, which we’ve seen a couple of times before. But this was punctuated on each of the cross hallways by a lightbulb-studded skylight that was actually higher than in the main mall, creating a very strange (and neat!) effect. If you look at the satellite image, you can sort of make out how the ceiling for the cross hallways is notably different than for the main concourse.
The mall’s current anchor roster is very impressive: Macy’s, JCPenney, Lord & Taylor, The Bon Ton, a two-level H&M, Sports Authority, Old Navy Borders, DSW Shoe Warehouse, Regal Cinemas, Best Buy AND Circuit City all occupy space within the mall. In addition, the mall has in the past been the home of Hill’s/Ames, Chapell’s, Lechmere, Steinbach, Kaufmann’s, Nobody Beats the Wiz, HomePlace, Bonwit Teller, and CompUSA, the latter of which was in the midst of a closing sale during our visit.

The Carousel Center’s Wikipedia page has a lot of the coolest information on the mall already, but retail buffs would be interested to know that Carousel Center was the home of the very last Bonwit Teller store. Mall developer Pyramid Companies purchased the struggling retailer in 1990 when Carousel Center was under construction to prevent them from folding, and thus costing Carousel Center its most upscale marquee tenant prior to even opening. The store closed in 2000 and was replaced by H&M.

We visited this big, bustling mall on a Saturday night, which made it nearly impossible to take any exterior photos. It was worth it, however, because there’s just nothing quite like hanging out in a big, bustling mall on a weekend night, and in the Syracuse area, Carousel Center is clearly “it.” I was prepared to hate the place for no other reason than that it killed off so many other malls, but I admit that I was somewhat weak in the face of its charms.

Carousel Center Mall shopping bag in Syracuse, New York

Astoundingly, Carousel Center’s future as a mall is in question. In 2002, The Pyramid Companies announced a plan to expand the Carousel Center to be the largest entertainment and shopping destination in the United States, surpassing The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. Called DestiNY USA, the overall expansion would bring the center’s total square footage to 4.5 million square feet, including 20,000 hotel rooms, an indoor aquarium, a stadium and performing arts center, an indoor recreation of the Erie canal, three golf courses, and a 100 acre glass-enclosed indoor park. The Pyramid Companies promise the new development would create 120,000 new jobs (!) both here and in a nearby tech park to be part of the project, and would and serve as the largest tourist destination in all of Central and Western New York.

Of course all of this new development doesn’t include much mention of retail. In fact, the Pyramid Companies are attempting to cancel the leases of Macy’s, Lord & Taylor, and JCPenney via eminent domain to redevelop the property. While there would be a new place for them in the completed Carousel Center, Federated Department Stores, owner of both Lord & Taylor and Macy’s, seems to have grown increasingly bitter over the prospect of the redevelopment. An analyst for the company has recommended they exit the center if the redevelopment goes forward, due to concerns about diluting the center with non-shopping patrons and the impact of the redesign on their store layouts. So while it is possible that the future of the Carousel Center is bright and that it may be an almost Disney-like tourist attraction, in the end it may be somewhat less of a “shopping mall”–especially ironic considering that it flattened a handful of its competitors in the past 16 years. Doug Powell once sang that “Video killed the radio star but then committed suicide,” and that’s a particularly apt description for the bizarre conclusion that Carousel Center is headed towards today.
Carousel Center Mall in Syracuse, New York Carousel Center Mall in Syracuse, New York Food court at Carousel Center Mall in Syracuse, New York Carousel Center Mall in Syracuse, New York

The Bon Ton at Carousel Center Mall in Syracuse, New York H&M at Carousel Center Mall in Syracuse, New York Food court at Carousel Center Mall in Syracuse, New York Lord & Taylor at Carousel Center Mall in Syracuse, New York

Carousel Center Mall in Syracuse, New York Carousel Center Mall in Syracuse, New York Carousel Center Mall in Syracuse, New York Carousel Center Mall in Syracuse, New York

Great Northern Mall; Clay, New York

Great Northern Mall sign at night in Clay, NY

The major driving force in the de-malling of metro Syracuse was the one-two punch of the 1988 opening of Wilmorite Properties’ Great Northern Mall in Clay, one of the city’s northern suburbs, followed by the 1990 opening of the Carousel Center in Syracuse proper.

Unlike the Carousel Center, however, the Great Northern Mall is a very typical mid-sized (891,000 square foot) suburban mall. One of our readers, XISMZERO, even remarked at how flat-out boring that Great Northern is, and to be fully honest, it’s hard to disagree. Great Northern is certainly a successful mall, anchoring a large retail strip along route 31. But likely due to its late-eighties vintage, it doesn’t have many unique design elements or features to make it stand out, beyond the weird yellow walls. Even the center court fountain–which might’ve been interesting–was under renovation for our visit. Judging by this PDF on the Great Northern Website, it sounds like the fountain is being removed (boo!) in favor of a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee bar with a seating area and wifi access (which isn’t a bad idea, but still…).

Great Northern Mall’s original anchor tenants included Addis & Dey’s, Hess’s, Sibley’s, and Sears. Locally-based Addis & Dey’s closed in 1993 and was replaced by Dick’s Sporting Goods; Hess’s was replaced by locally-based Chappell’s in 1994, who were in turn acquired by The Bon-Ton in 1995. The Bon-Ton closed this store and their store at the Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt in early 2006; this location is now vacant but will soon become a JCPenney. Sibley’s was merged into the May empire in 1990, becoming a Kaufmann’s, and that store was rebranded as Macy’s in summer 2006. Sears is the lone original anchor remaining, along with Dick’s Sporting Goods, Macy’s, Regal Cinemas, H&M, and Old Navy as major current tenants.

I also found a daytime photo of the pylon.

Great Northern Mall in Clay, NY Great Northern Mall in Clay, NY Former Bon-Ton store at Great Northern Mall in Clay, NY

Mall directory for Great Northern Mall in Clay, NY Great Northern Mall in Clay, NY Great Northern Mall in Clay, NY Center court construction at Great Northern Mall in Clay, NY

Food court at Great Northern Mall in Clay, NY Great Northern Mall in Clay, NY Great Northern Mall Sears in Clay, NY Great Northern Mall in Clay, NY

Penn-Can Mall; Cicero, New York

Drivers Village/Penn-Can Mall sign in Cicero, NYThe most tragic victim of Carousel Center’s wrath is the Penn-Can Mall, located in the Syracuse suburb of Cicero. Once one of the largest and most successful malls in New York, the Penn-Can Mall opened in 1976 as the first enclosed mall in Syracuse’s northern suburbs. Named for its location halfway between Pennsylvania and Canada along I-81, the mall named Sears and 86 small stores as initial tenants. Over the years, the mall was expanded, with Hill’s and Chappell’s added onto new wings during the 1980s. At its peak in 1989, Penn-Can had 121 stores.

The one-two punch of the opening of the Great Northern and Carousel Center Malls in 1988 and 1990, respectively, was the blow that did this mall in. It also had to trade down in anchor stores, losing locally-based Chappell’s in favor of Caldor and Sears in favor of Burlington Coat Factory and Office Max. I’ve noticed that one strange, somewhat counter-intuitive factor for determining a mall’s continued success is how easy it is to reach the mall from the other major malls in the area. This is merely anecdotal, but the thought is generally that a mall will survive if it’s closer to the homes that need shopping. However, I suspect that if it’s easy to reach multiple OTHER points of shopping from the mall itself, then it is less likely to survive. Look at the below graphic to see what I mean: while Penn-Can seems well-located, its central location means that it is vulnerable on all sides, so residents of the surrounding suburbs were given too many other, stronger options for shopping and they fled towards them.

Note the commuting routes towards Penn-Can Mall

Despite a minor renovation in 1992 that gave the mall a new “old movie” theme, the center couldn’t recover from its downward spiral and was shuttered in 1994. The Caldor store closed around this time, and before long the only remaining stores were Burlington Coat Factory and Hill’s at opposite ends of the mall. Hill’s was acquired by Ames in 1999, but was shut three years later with the closing of the chain.

Modern aerial view of Penn-Can Mall with outline of old mall

After eight years of near-total abandonment, the Penn-Can Mall began a metamorphosis into a large auto mall in 2002. The Burlington Coat Factory and Hill’s wings were demolished apart from the anchor stores themselves, but the rest of the mall was preserved, restored, and re-opened, and much of it is today–shockingly–open for business and maintaining much of its original look and layout. This is a rare case of a mall coming back from the dead, and mall fanatics will want to make sure to check this place out, since you can freely wander the hallways and much of the center is even set up as a “mall,” with a variety of stores ranging from restaurants to auto-finance stores to a large train set display.

Thankfully, there’s a great website devoted entirely to the history of Penn-Can. I wish that EVERY mall had a historical website this meticulously detailed and with so many great photos (seriously, you NEED to check it out!) Sadly, my camera ate my own two best photos (of the center court!) in the mall, but thankfully those guys have tons more anyway.
Former Caldor at Penn-Can Mall in Cicero, NY Penn-Can Mall in Cicero, NY Penn-Can Mall in Cicero, NY

Penn-Can Mall in Cicero, NY Penn-Can Mall in Cicero, NY Penn-Can Mall in Cicero, NY

Penn-Can Mall in Cicero, NY Penn-Can Mall in Cicero, NY Penn-Can Mall in Cicero, NY Penn-Can Mall in Cicero, NY

Penn-Can Mall in Cicero, NY

Shoppingtown Mall; DeWitt, New York

Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt, New York

The Syracuse area may be dominated by one very large mall, but there are two other substantially-sized malls that are still operating in the metropolitan area, and the Shoppingtown Mall (which has no relation to Westfield’s “Shoppingtown” malls) is the area’s second largest mall, with just over 1 million square feet. Serving Syracuse’s eastern suburbs, it seems to be struggling much like many other Syracuse-area malls before it.

Built in 1954 as an open-air center, Shoppingtown Mall was one of Syracuse’s first suburban shopping centers, with W.T. Grant’s, Woolworth, E.G. Edwards, Dey’s, and The Addis Co. as anchor stores. The mall was enclosed in 1975 along with the addition of JCPenney in the former E.G. Edwards space, and substantially renovated and expanded in 1991. Syracuse-based department store chain Chapell’s also entered the mall at some point. The last expansion brought Steinbach, a relocated Addis & Dey’s, and a new wing of stores. While I’m not entirely sure, I would estimate that the two-level portion of the mall that now houses Macy’s and the food court is the newest addition. Chapell’s was sold to The Bon Ton in 1995, and The Addis Co. and Dey’s merged into one chain at some point though I’m unable to find when. Kaufmann’s replaced them in their second location in the mall in 1993.

Former Bon Ton store at Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt, New York

The mall’s anchors today are Macy’s (until recently the Kaufmann’s store), Sears, Dick’s Sporting Goods, JCPenney, and a 10-screen Regal Cinemas. While the mall is bright and clean and sports a very unique and dynamic layout, Shoppingtown has very recently lost The Bon Ton, Old Navy, and Media Play as well as many smaller stores, especially on the long, sloped Sears wing.

Despite its commercial malaise, Shoppingtown is a very neat mall. Because it was added onto over time, it has a strange floorplan that can best be described as an “L” with an “X” hanging off one end. Part of the mall is two-level, while another part is on a rather steep grade sloping from the second floor down to the first.

Mall directory & floorplan at Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt, New York

I’ve attempted to organize these photos in a logical way, since there are three very distinctively diferent areas in the Shoppingtown Mall. Moving from right to left according to the mall directory, this first group of photos are the indoor and outdoor shots from the two-level portion of the mall, with Macy’s, JCPenney, and the food court:

Macy's at Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt, New York Two-level portion of Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt, New York Food court at Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt, New York Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt, New York

Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt, New York Macy's store at Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt, New York Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt, New York
The second set of photos were taken in the long, one-level wing stretching between the former Bon Ton store to the former Old Navy store, across the central portion of the mall:

Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt, New York Eckerd at Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt, New York JCPenney at Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt, New York Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt, New York

And the third set is from my favorite wing of the mall, the long wing stretching from Dick’s Sporting Goods, past the former Old Navy and Media Play stores, and down to the Sears store. This entire wing is on a steady downhill slope from Old Navy down to Sears, and you can see the grading if you look towards the edge of the mall corridor, in front of the stores. Note also that there’s a basement courtyard with offices and a mall entrance in the middle of this wing. Two teenagers were actually down there making out–which is quite a testament to how quiet it was in this part of the mall on a Saturday afternoon–and I briefly considered taking a photo until I remembered I was a kid once… not that long ago. I’m not a bad person, so I refrained.

Sears wing at Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt, New York Sears wing at Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt, New York Sears at Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt, New York

Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt, New York Looking away from Sears at Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt, New York

Syracuse: An Interesting Case Study

Map of Syracuse-area malls

I’ve been a bit slow on the posting lately, in part because of a road trip this weekend to central New York.

Syracuse is one of the closest metropolitan areas to Boston that I hadn’t yet visited (it’s about a five hour drive) and it was the only major metropolitan area in New York State I hadn’t visited yet either. I was somewhat eager to make the trip because Syracuse is a relatively big market for malls. The Syracuse metropolitan area, with 750,000 people, has at one point or another been home to no less than eight enclosed shopping malls. Today, most of them are dead.

The major event in this area’s retail shift was the 1990 opening of the Carousel Center on the city’s waterfront. The 1.5 million-square-foot, seven-level shopping mall is one of the largest in New York State, and has become the Syracuse area’s primary tourist attraction, drawing visitors from as far north as Ontario and as far south as Pennsylvania.

The Carousel Center’s ascendancy unleashed carnage on the malls surrounding Syracuse, and today only three others: Shoppingtown (the largest mall pre-Carousel), Great Northern, and Tri-County (a tiny, anchorless mall that is open but floundering) still exist. On the map above, existing malls are noted with green circles while dead/converted malls are noted with red circles. Thankfully, Syracuse was also for a time home of Pete Blackbird of DeadMalls.com, and as a result his site contains quite a bit of history of most of these malls. Here’s a brief recap, but they have much more:

  • Fayetteville Mall – Opened in 1974, this mid-sized mall was home to Sears and later Burlington Coat Factory. Expanded in 1992 to house Caldor and Cohoes, the mall declined through the 1990s due to its proximity to the large Shoppingtown Mall. Today it is a “community themed” big box center anchored by P&C Supermarket, Kohl’s, Target, TJMaxx, and others.
  • Penn-Can Mall – Once one of the area’s largest malls, this “T” shaped mall in the northern suburbs died a complete death in 1994, placing it well ahead of the curve of most American malls that died and were surpassed by others. Anchors included Hills, Caldor, and Sears/Burlington Coat Factory. After sitting idly for nearly a decade, portions of the mall were demolished and the remainder was redeveloped as a large auto mall.
  • Marketplace Mall – At one point, Penn-Can Mall was so successful there was a market for its spillover, hence the construction of the Marketplace Mall in its outlots in 1984. Anchored by Service Merchandise, Price Chopper, and Silo (an electronics retailer from the pre-Best Buy/Circuit City era, I believe), this small mall was never a major contender and closed sometime in the late 1990s. Demolition began on 2002 and today it’s a power center, anchored by Price Chopper and Lowe’s.
  • Camillus Mall – Built as a plaza in the 1960s and enclosed in 1980, this mid-sized mall was home to JCPenney, Sears, Hess’s, Chapell’s, Kmart, The Bon Ton, and Hills at various points in its life. JCPenney immediately jumped ship for Carousel Center, and began a downward slide from which the mall never recovered. The Camillus Mall was shuttered in 2003 and demolished in 2004, save for The Bon Ton store which remains open.
  • Fairmount Fair – A visibly older mall, disenclosed in 1994, and today is home to Dick’s Sporting Goods, Wal-Mart, and Price Chopper. I wasn’t able to find much about its history.

Look for detailed posts soon on the surviving malls, and also on Penn-Can, which has been converted to an auto mall and is (at least in part) open again, even after sitting vacant for eight years.

The Mall at the World Trade Center; New York, New York

View of the south entrance to The Mall at the World Trade Center, looking north from Liberty Street on 8/21/2001..  WTC 4 is the building in most of the foreground, and WTC 2 is visible on the left of the photo. 

Exactly five years ago today, almost 3,000 people died in the worst terrorist attack in America’s history.  People around the world today will remember where they were and how profoundly affected they were when they heard the news that the U.S. had been attacked by such a magnitude.  The ramifications of 9/11 have without a doubt changed the way the the United States and the world thinks and interacts. 

We also understand the importance of 9/11, but that’s not our focus here.  The events of 9/11 not only dramatically changed politics and policies, but it forever changed the landscape of lower Manhattan.  Specific for our purpose here, the attack destroyed The Mall at the World Trade Center, a 427,000 square foot underground enclosed mall which was lower Manhattan’s largest retail center.   

Built in 1970 and 1972, respectively, the majestic twin towers of the World Trade Center were iconic of America’s might and force.  Over 50,000 people worked in the buildings, and over 200,000 passed through the Center each day.  The complex even had its own zip code, 10048.  Therefore, it isn’t surprising this mecca of human interaction would also contain a large portion of retail

The Mall at the World Trade Center existed mostly underneath the eastern half of the block the WTC occupied, under WTC buildings 4 and 5, and also underneath the open-air World Trade Center Plaza.  The WTC Plaza, also known as the Austin Tobin Plaza, which featured the now-infamous sculpture “Sphere” by artist Fritz Koenig.  The damaged sculpture now sits in Battery Park and will be integrated into the site design of the new World Trade Center.  WTC 4 and 5 were both low-level 9-story office buildings which housed clients such as Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, and the New York Board of Trade.  Standing immediately adjacent to the east of WTC 1 and 2, WTC 4 and 5 sustained major damage on mostly upper floors and were subsequently removed as part of the WTC removal project.

The Mall was also the point of access or transfer to the Chambers Street (served by A and C trains) and World Trade Center (served by E trains) Metropolitan Transportation Authority Subway lines and at the PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson Railroad) rapid transit line to New JerseyBoth stations reopened with temporary yet fully operational facilities in November 2003.

The Mall at the World Trade Center Concourse Map, created by the National Institute of Standards and Technology after the disaster. 

The design of The Mall at the World Trade Center was essentially an underground figure eight, spanning most of the subterranean level beneath WTC buildings 4, 5, and the WTC Plaza.  At the edges of the ‘figure 8’, different spokes radiated out: into the WTC complex to the west, onto the streets, or into the PATH and Subway stations directly connected to the mall.  Decor was modern yet decidedly dated.  This mall didn’t need to sell shoppers with fanciness – they were going to shop there regardless. 

With an impressive roster of about 80 stores, The Mall was made up of many popular typical mall retailers, including Sam Goody, The Limited, Express, Structure, Warner Bros. Studio Store, J Crew, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor Loft, and the list went on.  The Mall also had service-oriented and convenience retailers such as Duane Reade drug store, and several fast food establishments.  Popular sit-down or fast-casual restaurants were in the works when the mall was destroyed.

View of WTC 1 from the roof observation deck of WTC 2 on 8/21/2001.

Also just prior to its destruction, The Mall at the World Trade center was leased by its owner, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, for 99 years (with the surrounding office space of the entire World Trade Center included) in a joint agreement between Westfield America and Silverstein Properties.  Under the agreement, Westfield would manage the retail space and Silverstein would manage the office space.  Based in Los Angeles, Westfield currently owns an impressive roster of enclosed, regional malls across the country, and was excited in the Summer of 2001 to have nabbed this one.  And that’s not surprising, since retail sales in the mall were expected to be over $900 per square foot by the end of 2001.  In addition to more restaurants, Westfield also planned to increase the center’s retail capacity by over 50% and add a new impressive entryway.  The cost of the lease was valued at $3.2 billion.  Westfield was also planning on re-branding the mall as Westfield Shoppingtown World Trade Center, like many of its other malls across the country.

I visited the World Trade Center and its Mall on August 21, 2001, three weeks to the day before it was destroyed, and took the pictures associated with this post except for the mall map which was done by the National Institute of Standards and Technology after the collapse.  I had only been to the site briefly in 1998 and in the aftermath of the disaster I was really glad I got to fully experience the World Trade Center before its demise.  Finally, it should be noted that all of the employees of the mall were able to make it to safety.  Take a look at the pictures and let them be a part of your remembrance of 9/11 and the World Trade Center. 

View from the observation deck of WTC 2 on 8/21/2001. View of the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn, from the top of WTC 2 on 8/21/2001. View looking south onto Lower Manhattan and the Hudson River with Brooklyn in the far background on 8/21/2001.

View of Governor's Island and Red Hook, Brooklyn from the observation deck of WTC 2 on 8/21/2001. View looking north at Midtown Manhattan from the observation deck of WTC 2 on 8/21/2001. Waiting for the elevator to get to the observation deck, in the lobby of WTC 2 on 8/21/2001.

The indoor observation deck on top of WTC 2 with Sbarro on the right hand side. In line for the observation deck in the lobby of WTC 2 on 8/21/2001. world-trade-center-03.jpg

Update 9/22/06: I was recently contacted by reader Marc, who offered up some photos and information concerning the World Trade Center’s mall and concourse from the early 1980s, and also a scanned mall map from 1999 or 2000.  The mall was decidedly downmarket then as compared to when it was destroyed in 2001, and anchored by Alexander’s and Lamston’s (kind of like Woolworth’s).

The rest of his very interesting photo set featuring photos taken all over Manhattan (including more of the World Trade Center) from the 1980s can be seen here.  Thanks a lot for the submissions!

World Trade Center directory map from 1999 or 2000 World Trade Center mall circa early 1980s World Trade Center mall circa early 1980s

World Trade Center circa early 1980s

 

Midtown Plaza; Rochester, New York

Midtown Plaza in Rochester, NY

The Midtown Plaza in Rochester, New York is one of the best-preserved old shopping malls that I’ve visited. It’s also one of the oldest enclosed downtown shopping malls in the United States.

Perhaps one of the stranger bits of trivia about the Midtown Plaza is that it is often–erroneously–referred to as the nation’s first enclosed shopping mall. It is a fact touted both on the Midtown Plaza website and also by many Rochester locals (while having dinner with some friends-of-a-friend during my stay, I noted I was visiting some area malls and they noted in unison that I had to visit their downtown mall, which was the first one). Regardless of your definition of mall, there were many that came before (Midtown Plaza didn’t even open until 1962!). The strangely contemporary Arcade Mall in downtown Providence, Rhode Island, which opened in 1828, seems to have the most legitimate claim to this title, but even by the standard of *modern* enclosed malls there were plenty built throughout the United States in the 1950s or even late 1940s. And, like Midtown Plaza, it was built in an urban downtown, though it is admittedly less modern (and far smaller).

Even if Midtown Plaza’s pedigree isn’t as sound as Rochesterians would like to think, it is still an amazingly preserved example of the 1960s shopping mall. Despite that Midtown Plaza is the focal point of Rochester’s large downtown–and is even skywalked with the Xerox World Headquarters across the street–it’s somewhat hidden to passersby because several faces of the mall were built right into existing buildings along the street. For example, Peebles has entrances into the mall and on the street, but the face towards the street preserves the original facade from the older building, which is probably of an early 1900s vintage.

The mall itself is a delightfully preserved example of a classic contemporary shopping mall. Designed by architect Victor Gruen, the two-story center was made to look like a European town square. The signature Clock of Nations, a large fixture in the center of the mall, still stands in its original place today. Despite that the mall’s architecture is preserved, it doesn’t seem to be terribly successful as a major retail destination. I disagree with Dead Malls Dot Com’s contention that it is a “rotting piece of retail;” in fact, I find the preserved mid-century architecture to be one of its greatest points of charm. And while it’s faring somewhat poorly, it’s doing no worse than most center city malls of its era, most of which have now failed completely or serve as little more than oversized food courts. Despite that Midtown Plaza has lost its anchor tenants (McCurdy, B. Forman Company, and Wegman’s have all left, and today Peebles remains the mall’s only true anchor) and that it no longer seems to be a major retail destination in the Rochester area, it is still a major part of the backbone of downtown Rochester. Given the mall’s vintage, location, and condition, it should be preserved and aggressively retenanted. Unlike many malls of its era, it has hung on to its original decor and architecture, and with a moderate amount of polish it could be substantially more chic than many of its more ordinary suburban siblings.

Midtown Plaza Mall photo from RocWiki

All photos on this page except the above image are from my rather hazy set of (say it with me… old camera phone pics!) taken in February 2005. Thankfully, this mall is well-loved; unlike with most malls, even a Google Image Search turns up juicy results! If you’d like a clearer and older photo of what the mall looked like, check out this page, which has an old postcard view (MallsofAmerica style) of the Midtown Plaza mall in its heyday. In addition, there are several sets of photos linked from the Rochester Wiki (see a sample of one of these above this paragraph) that show the mall packed with patrons, and the photos are even of a relatively recent vintage. Also, make sure to check out the floor plans for the mall’s two levels, which are well-hidden on the official website.

EDIT 7/15/06: MallsofAmerica rather serendipitously made a post about the Midtown Plaza on the same day that I made this post. Check it out!
Midtown Plaza in Rochester, NY Midtown Plaza in Rochester, NY Midtown Plaza in Rochester, NY

Midtown Plaza in Rochester, NY Midtown Plaza in Rochester, NY Office building across from Midtown Plaza in Rochester, NY