Wilton Mall; Wilton (Saratoga Springs), New York
To finish out the northern stretch of Albany malls, I offer to you the Wilton Mall at Saratoga (commonly referred to simply as the Wilton Mall), the largest and newest of the malls stretching along the Northway from Albany.
Of course, as you’ll see from these photos, I encountered the worst enemy of every mall photographer: an RV show. As a result, my pictures completely stink. At least you can see the fountains.
Of course, Wilton Mall isn’t terribly entertaining, due to its recent vintage. Wilton Mall opened in 1990 on route 50, off I-87, with Addis & Dey’s, JCPenney, and Sears as anchors, and Steinbach would join not long thereafter. Today’s roster includes JCPenney and Sears, but The Bon-Ton has replaced Addis & Dey’s and Steinbach was replaced by Dick’s Sporting Goods. The mall is a large, bright, sprawling one-level center, highlighted by a large fountain in the center court–a relatively unique feature for a mall built as late as this one. Original plans for the mall originally called for a fifth anchor, rumored to be Montgomery Ward, who had an existing store at the adjacent (and smaller) Saratoga Mall. That store was never built, though, leaving a “ghost anchor” space at the Wilton Mall that still exists today, although rumor has it that JCPenney will relocate their store to that vacant space on the mall’s south side soon.
Of course, even if Wilton Mall didn’t rob the tinier Saratoga Mall of its Montgomery Ward, it did seem to rob it of its soul. The Saratoga Mall, which featured Jamesway and Service Merchandise (in addition to Montgomery Ward) as anchors in its lifetime, was squashed in the late 1990s by this behemoth, as I have illustrated in this intuitive diagram:
Now it’s a big box center, of course. According to the website of the contractor who built the current center, the ol’ Saratoga Mall was ground up and turned into fill on which the new center was built. Ouch.
Today’s Macerich Company-managed Wilton Mall isn’t anything monumental, in part because scenic downtown Saratoga Springs–a tourist town, and one of the most desirable cities in the area–hosts many of the more upscale national chains, including Borders, The Gap, and Banana Republic. The Gap, as a result of their recent financial troubles, chose to close the store at the Wilton Mall rather than their store in downtown Saratoga Springs, which is saying a lot. As a result, the mall feels strangely lesser than it should, given that it’s clearly the major shopping destination for the entire populous (and relatively affluent) stretch of towns along the Northway from Albany.
Steven Swain
March 13th, 2007 at 6:14 am
You have to give this place a little credit for still having a fountain and trees. So many malls don’t have them anymore. Also, The Bon-Ton’s mall entrance is reasonably attractive.
[Reply]
Jack Thomas
March 13th, 2007 at 10:57 am
ok, I’m confused. So, Bon Ton is still open? Because Wilton Mall’s website lists that space as a “leasing opportunity”.
Also, you are very right indeed about the fifth anchor spot to become JCPenney. For years, there used to be a sign on the fake wall in front of where the anchor would have been exclaiming that Montgomery Ward was coming soon. However, as we know, this didn’t happen.
[Reply]
Bobby
March 13th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
These pictures are probably a bit old, as Bon-Ton is gone.
[Reply]
Caldor
March 13th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
These pictures are barely a month old. If The Bon Ton is closed, they closed very recently. If The Bon-Ton DID close, then it doesn’t seem to bode well for this mall… it had a few other puzzling vacancies (like The Gap one mentioned earlier; I know they’re in trouble, but this is the best mall in the area north of Albany).
Also, re: the fountains–one feature across most of the malls in the Albany area is their large center court fountains. Even relatively unremarkable malls like this one or Rotterdam Square have massive, Olympic swimming pool-sized fountains, which is great.
[Reply]
Caldor
March 13th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Just checked, actually… The Bon Ton is still open. I’m not sure what the deal is.
[Reply]
Jill
March 13th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
I have to say, the diagram with Mr. Yuk & the skull and crossbones cracked me up. …It sure gets right to the heart of the matter!
[Reply]
Bobby
March 13th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Huh. Maybe there’s a glitch in the mall directory.
[Reply]
Scott
March 13th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
Is that white tile peppered with turquoise and mauve squares? Umpf… that stuff is everywhere.
The mall does appear to be maintained quite well. The cinema and large food court is what is popular right now. The should hold them over for a while.
Scott
[Reply]
XISMZERO
March 14th, 2007 at 5:21 am
I think Steven and I were thinking along the same lines upon seeing this update; the planters and that Bon Ton hallway. I like the fountain and planters; two phased out elements in many shopping malls. That “straight ahead” thing seems a bit over explanatory too (but I still like it).
I love that diagram too…
[Reply]
Anonymous
March 14th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
The Bon Ton is most definitely still open — I was just there. I’m surprised nobody has mentioned the carousel in the food court. It’s extremely popular with families, especially on rainy days.
[Reply]
Jack Thomas
March 14th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
thanks for the clearing up of the Bon Ton situation.
As for the fountain, it’s there because it’s a Wilmorite built mall(like Rotterdam, Danbury Fair, Shoppingtown, Great Northern, etc), and the same thing could probably be said for the planters and the carousel(although Rotterdam’s carousel was recently removed).
[Reply]
Anonymous
March 14th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
The carousel was something that Wilmorite was doing in quite a few of their malls in that era, including Marketplace (food court added in late 80’s), Irondequoit (Medley Centre) (built in 1989-1990), and the Greece Ridge connection (done in 1993-1994), I do agree that it served as a lure, even after some of the malls became deadened (Irondequoit) in the late 90’s.
[Reply]
XISMZERO
March 15th, 2007 at 1:20 am
I’ll bet the carousel idea sprouted from the Danbury Fair Mall, which actually had a double level carousel in it’s “fair” days. When they discovered how successful it was when they launched that mall in 1986, they had a wave of idea for the malls of their future. They figured they coined in on a marvelous idea and bring it right into a mall scape. After all, malls are most comprable as the modern day carnival or far I guess…
[Reply]
Rich
March 16th, 2007 at 2:25 am
The carousel at Danbury Fair was an explicit attempt at drawing a connection to the Danbury Fairgrounds which it replaced.
[Reply]
Joseph
May 21st, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Just a quick note on the fountain. It used to be much more impressive than it is today. Up until recently, the center fountain shot a jet of water a good fifteen feet in the air. You could see it from hundreds of feet away, and it kept the whole area noticeably cooler than the rest of the mall. Why it has been reduced to a glorified bubbler is a mystery to me.
[Reply]
Jonah Norason
September 3rd, 2007 at 5:36 pm
The ghost anchor is listed as a Leasing Opprotunity. Bizarrely, the icon is a second JCPenney.
Old Saratoga Mall:
http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?T=1&S=11&X=1505&Y=11931&Z=18&W=1
If only the new owners of Saratoga Mall were more creative with the mall. The mall could be retenanted with smaller stores inside. Target could easily fill in the old Wards. Eckerd could get a new facade to the outside as well as an interior entrance. Barnes & Noble could fill in the old Service Merchandise, Jamesway could be cut through for an AC Moore and the Petsmart, with Staples at the end, an extension could be added, to house Home Depot and a few in-line stores, and the bank would be an outparcel. Then they could rename it.
But they didn’t.
[Reply]
Jonah Norason
September 4th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
I mean, seriously. Most mall redevelopers are merciful enough to keep an anchor and its building to carry over to the lifestyle center/strip mall. Grinding up a mall and its parking lot for FILLER? That’s not just adding insult to injury, that’s EVIL.
[Reply]
Jonah Norason
April 26th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Was it ever an *official* plan to connect it to Saratoga Mall? It seems like it could have been done, only if they kicked Jamesway out and relocated the Sears.
[Reply]
loveminuszero
August 17th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Does anyone remember any of the stores that were in Saratoga mall? I have always been curious to know.
[Reply]
Jonah Norason
August 17th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
I’m afraid I can’t tell you the heyday list, but if you’re curious on what was kicked out to make the big-box center:
http://web.archive.org/web/20010602124735/www.saratoga-mall.com/saratoga.htm
[Reply]
M
January 1st, 2009 at 10:43 pm
This could be updated — the shiny new Penney’s has been open for a while now at the site where the Ward’s was once supposed to go. The old Penney’s is currently vacant (the rumor is that they might divide it into two or three smaller stores, since it had three separate entrances).
Stores in Saratoga Mall, which I remember fondly: Ward’s (with awesome pea-soup-green shag carpet in the women’s section), Jamesway, Service Merchandise, Carl Co., a movie theater (whatever Regal used to be called, I forget now) (in the mall’s waning days, it became a discount, second-run theater for $2 a movie), Papa Gino’s pizza, Record Town (before the FYE renaming), Jo-Ann’s Nut House (candy store, moved across the road to the strip mall across from Wilton Mall), Fay’s Drugs… I forget a lot of them, but those were the biggies.
[Reply]
M
January 1st, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Also, might I add that Saratoga Mall was originally called Pyramid Mall. It was rebranded around the time that Wilton Mall opened, to try to snazz it up a bit.
[Reply]
Dan
January 18th, 2009 at 12:27 am
I remember the Saratoga Mall like the back of my hand. It was the mall I always went to as a child. Stores that M did not mention were Jonathan Reid(later a Bridal store), which had really shaggy red carpets which pretty much made it so you could not touch anything without getting a shock. There was also one of the old style Casual Corners in the mall near Montgomery Ward that had the completely wood facade. There had also been a Mister Movie that was later turned into a Teachers store(I thought it was funny that the old dirty movie section was turned into a little room where kids could play with puzzles). There was a Great American Cookie Company down near Montgomery Ward as well where my mom would always let me have a cookie. Other stores included a liquor store, kinney shoes, fayva shoes, Radio Shack, and a food court with one restaurant, Taco Bell(earlier Odil’s, Home of The One Nacho).
[Reply]
bob
March 29th, 2009 at 7:31 am
i work in the mall i used to work @bon-shit and yeah if it takes a nose dive i wont shed a tear but this mall is all we have i work for an anchor store i wont say witch one but there is only one worth going to but keep the mall alive please let me make my paycheck
[Reply]
bob
March 29th, 2009 at 7:45 am
also… anyone remember shooters? yeah you know what im talkin about where zummmies is …….what a cool freakin place when the mall was first built it was hot lots of good energy waitresses dancing on tabels
[Reply]
Melissa
April 28th, 2009 at 11:51 am
The carousel is now gone.
[Reply]
Jeannie
August 23rd, 2009 at 9:22 am
They are having Arts, Crafts and Lifestyle Shows in the Spring and during the holiday season to help draw more crowds to the mall and stores. I still is a very well kept mall and is very clean..
[Reply]