Seneca Mall

This article is about a defunct shopping center near Buffalo, New York. It is not to be confused with the existing shopping center in Liverpool, New York.
Seneca Mall
Location West Seneca, New York
Opening date 1969
Closing date 1994
No. of stores and services 60
No. of anchor tenants 6 (3 anchors/3 mini-anchors)
No. of floors 1

Seneca Mall, which opened in 1969, was a shopping mall south of Buffalo, New York in the United States. The mall was located in the Town of West Seneca at the intersection of Ridge Road (Erie CR 137) and Slade Avenue (Erie CR 91) immediately east of the New York State Thruway (Interstate 90).

The William Hengerer Company originally sought to develop a location on this site in the early 1960s. This eventually led to the development and opening of Seneca Mall in 1969 in direct competition to The Thruway Plaza.[1] The mall at that time housed a large JCPenney store as well as local chain Sattler's.[2][3]

Seneca Mall was the major mall in the southtowns of Buffalo from its opening in 1969 through the 1980s. In 1985, the McKinley Mall opened in Hamburg less than three miles (4.8 km) away. Seneca hung on until 1989 when the Walden Galleria opened in Cheektowaga. At that time, all of the mall anchors vacated as well as most of the specialty stores and restaurants. The mall remained open until 1994, finally becoming a haven for mall walkers with no retailers.

In 1994, the mall's owners, The Pyramid Company, elected to demolish the mall. The company, which also owns the Walden Galleria, elected to build a power center on the site once the mall and outlying buildings were demolished. The center was branded as The Shops at West Seneca and its first tenant (Tops Markets) opened in May 1997. Although many elaborate plans were put on the table by Pyramid, a Kmart store is the only other development. A majority of the former mall site remains fenced off. The big signs of Seneca Mall's entries are still standing as the only standing remains from 1969, reading "TOPS", with "Shops at West Seneca" above. The town of West Seneca has many times attempted to push Pyramid into developing the site with no results. Many locals assume that Pyramid in no way wants to develop any retail center that will encroach on its popular Walden Galleria.

Former anchors

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Thruway Plaza: Western New York's Pioneer Suburban Shopping Plaza". Retrieved 2007-12-03.
  2. ↑ "WELCOME TO FORGOTTEN BUFFALO". Retrieved 2007-12-03.
  3. ↑ "Sattler's, 998 Broadway, Buffalo, NY". Retrieved 2007-12-03.

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