The Mall at Greece Ridge
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| Location | Greece, New York |
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| Coordinates | 43°12′26″N 77°41′31″W / 43.207287°N 77.692051°W |
| Developer | Wilmorite Properties |
| No. of stores and services | 119 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 5 |
| Total retail floor area | 1,419,281 sq ft (131,856 m2)[1] |
| No. of floors | 1 (2 in JCPenney and main Macy's) |
| Website | http://www.themallatgreeceridge.com/ |
The Mall at Greece Ridge is located in Greece, New York, a suburb of Rochester, New York, and managed by Wilmorite Properties. It contains 119 stores and restaurants in the main concourse. The mall features the traditional retailers Macy's, JCPenney, Dick's Sporting Goods, a free-standing Target, and an Apple Cinemas. The mall also features the specialty retailers Burlington, Barnes & Noble, Michaels, and Old Navy.
The mall is near the center of a long line of plazas, chain hotels, restaurants, and car dealerships which continues for several miles in each direction on Ridge Road (New York State Route 104).
History
[edit]The mall began as two shopping malls. Greece Towne Mall, which opened on May 1, 1967. The Greece Towne Mall had a Sibley's, a Loblaws, and a Gold Circle.
Long Ridge Mall, began with the opening of McCurdy's on Oct 2, 1969. A newspaper article says that the rest of the mall would start before the end of the year. The official opening of Long Ridge Plaza was on Sept. 15, 1971.[2][3]
Early advertising called the mall Long Ridge Plaza but by March 1972 advertising used the name Long Ridge Mall. It was unique in that it had five anchors, Sears, Woolworth, J. B. Hunter, McCurdy's, and B. Forman Co.[4]
In the late 1980s, talks to link the two malls to draw shoppers back to Greece escalated when new malls opened in Irondequoit and Henrietta and when plans for a massive expansion of Eastview Mall were revealed. Both malls competed against each other until March 15, 1994, when the malls merged to form The Mall at Greece Ridge. Construction began on the 300,000 square feet (28,000 m2) expansion. When it was complete, the new 1.4 million square feet (130,000 m2) mall was renamed The Mall at Greece Ridge and at that time was the 4th largest in the eastern United States, and the 20th largest in the country. The mall is still the largest shopping center in the Rochester area.
At the time of the merger, JCPenney moved to a marquee space in the new wing that connected the two malls, across from the food court. In 1994, McCurdy's became The Bon-Ton. In September 2006, Kaufmann's became Macy's.
On April 20, 2018, It was announced Sears would shutter as part of an ongoing decision to eliminate its traditional brick-and-mortar format. Several potential replacement tenants are reportedly in the midst of early on discussions.[5] On June 19, 2024, It was announced that a True Storage self-storage facility would move into that space.[6]
On January 19, 2023, it was announced that Regal Cinemas would be ending its lease as a result of restructuring its established long-term debt due to the COVID-19 outbreak. It was also announced that Apple Cinemas, a luxury theater group, would be renovating the space and reopen later that summer.[7]
By 2023, since the government lockdown, The Mall at Greece Ridge has announced several newest additions, among them are Ardene, FYE, Wingstop, JD Sports, Journeys Kidz, and Taichi Iron BBQ Grill & Bar.
Burlington moved from the former J. B. Hunter/JCPenney/Lechmere space to the former Bed Bath & Beyond space on March 29, 2024.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ "THE MALL AT GREECE RIDGE - ROCHESTER, NEW YORK - LEASE PLAN" (PDF).
- ^ Greater Greece Press, Sept. 16, 1971, page 7B.
- ^ Old News - McCurdy's Long Ridge
- ^ Greater Greece Press, March 30, 1972, page 7
- ^ "Sears at the mall at Greece Ridge location to close". WHEC News10NBC. 2018-04-20.
- ^ "Former Sears at Greece Ridge Mall to be repurposed into self-storage facility". News10NBC. 19 June 2024. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
- ^ "Regal Cinemas is closing 39 more movie theaters. See the list". CNN. January 20, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ Greenwood, Marcia. "Popular clothing and home décor chain announces opening date for new Greece store". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved July 6, 2024.