Crossgates Mall

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Crossgates Mall
Crossgates Mall's logo
Mall facts and statistics
Location	Guilderland, New York
Opening date	March 4th, 1984
Developer	The Pyramid Companies
Management	The Pyramid Companies
No. of stores and services	250
No. of anchor tenants	11
Total retail floor area	1,700,000 ft2
No. of floors	2 plus mezzanine level in center court
Website	http://www.shopcrossgates.com/

Crossgates Mall is a shopping mall in Guilderland, New York, not far from the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady. The mall, which opened March 4, 1984 and underwent an expansion nearly doubling its size in October 1994, has an area of 1,230,000 foot² with two floors and 250 shops and restaurants as well as an 18-screen Regal Cinema theater. Crossgates, located in the Capital District, is the largest shopping mall in upstate New York and the third largest in the state, next to Palisades Center and Roosevelt Field Mall.

The mall is owned and managed by The Pyramid Companies, a group that also owns and manages other shopping malls such as the Carousel Center in Syracuse, a mall which the group is currently planning to expand to the largest mall in the country as part of the DestiNY USA project. Pyramid also owns Crossgates Commons, a shopping plaza located across the street.

[edit] Current Anchors

• Bally Total Fitness: Opened 2003 on two levels taking up former store space
• Best Buy: Opened 1999 in upper level of former Caldor
• Borders Books & Music: Opened 2006 in former TJ Maxx
• Burlington Coat Factory: Opened originally as Cohoes Fashions in 1999 in former Nobody Beats the Wiz location(former lower level of original Filene's space).
• Dick's Sporting Goods: Opened 1994 in upper level of original Filene's space.
• DSW Shoe Warehouse: Opened 2000, first in lower level of former Caldor space, then in 2001, moved to former smaller store space near JCPenney.
• H&M: Opened 2000 in former DSW/Caldor lower level space.
• J.C. Penney: Opened 1984. Only anchor to still be in its original locaion.
• Macy's: Opened 1996 first in former Jordan Marsh space. Moved to former Filene's space in 2006.
• Old Navy: Opened in former store space occupied by Discovery Zone, as well as Oaktree, near JCPenney.

[edit] Former anchors

• Caldor: Two-Floor Location. Closed 1999 with rest of chain. Now Best Buy on the upper level and H&M on the lower level.
• Filene's: Two separate locations
  • First location: Closed 1994 to move to newly constructed section of mall. The store was going to be renamed G. Fox, but continued to operate under Filene's name after May Company acquired G. Fox, with signage on the store also retaining the Filene's name. Later split between Dick's Sporting Goods upstairs, and Nobody Beats the Wiz downstairs.
  • Second location: Opened 1994, closed March 21, 2006. Replaced with Macy's.
• Jordan Marsh: Opened July 1985. Converted to Macy's in 1996 after acquisition of Jordan Marsh chain. Now vacant, as Macy's has moved into former Filene's.
• Klein's All-Sports: Opened 1994. Closed 2005 with rest of chain.
• Lord & Taylor: Closed 2005, remains vacant.
• Nobody Beats the Wiz: Opened 1995. Closed 1997, now Cohoes.
• TJ Maxx: Opened with new section of mall. Closed 2004, now Borders Books & Music.
• Cohoes Fashions: (The store now operates as a Burlington Coat Factory.) Cohoes Fashions moved to the former Nobody Beats the Wiz space in 1999 from Cohoes Commons in Cohoes, NY. Some residents of Cohoes were upset by the move of the historical store. In 2007, the parent company, Burlington Coat Factory, closed some Cohoes locations, and renamed the remaining locations (including the Crossgates location) Burlington Coat Factory.

[edit] Square footage

• Best Buy (50,000 sq. ft.)
• Burlington Coat Factory (63,000 sq. ft.)
• Dick's Sporting Goods (62,500 sq. ft.)
• H & M (53,000 sq. ft.)
• JCPenney (180,000 sq. ft.)
• Macy's (200,000 sq. ft.)

[edit] Trivia (general)

• The original 12-screen movie theater, located on the third level above Best Buy, closed in Spring 2005 due to its declining popularity. An 18-screen Regal Cinemas was opened in 1997 and still operates in the mall; for eight years, Crossgates Mall boasted 30 theater screens between its two theater complexes. When it was in operation, the 12-screen theater showed extended runs of popular films and short runs of independent ones. Located on two levels, Cinema 18 features two concession stands, a large arcade, and the only stadium seating in the Capital District.

• Until the 1994 expansion and renovation, Crossgates Mall had a much darker decor with rectangular shaped brown and beige tiles on the floor, wooden/metal railings along the second floor, as well as low ceilings with square shaped skylights. As part of the 1994 project, the floors in the entire mall were changed to mainly white, square-shaped tiles, with some mauve and navy blue tiles mixed in. In addition, large skylights were added giving the mall a much brighter and more contemporary feel, and the old railings were replaced with new ones. There is still a portion of the original floor remaining on the mezzanine level where the mall offices and security are currently located.

• An original 1994 expansion anchor slot was supposed to be Bonwit Teller, after Pyramid bought the company. However, plans changed, and instead, Lord and Taylor came to occupy the space.

• The original 1984 section of Crossgates Mall extends from JCPenney to FYE (upper level) and Verizon Wireless (lower level). Past FYE/Verizon Wireless marks the 1994 addition. This can be easily seen because of the ceiling change, wider skylights, and bigger openings for looking down into the first floor. The area where FYE and Verizon Wireless are located were a part of major renovations to accommodate many things including the new additions to the food court. In addition, the area where Hooters, Ruby Tuesday, and Bugaboo Creek Steak House are all located was also part of the 1994 project.

• In 1986, when Crossgates was half its current size, a fireworks display was held at the mall. According to the Albany Times Union, over 60,000 people attended, which was much larger than expected. This caused a large and problematic traffic backup in the mall parking lot as well as on the major highways and roads that surround the mall. Since then, Crossgates has never tried another similar event.

• In 1994, when the expansion and renovation of Crossgates Mall was taking place, Crossgates Mall raised the rent of many food court tenants as well as many in-line stores as their ten year leases came up. Because of this, a large number of food court tenants left the mall. At the same time, Arby's closed temporarily to remodel, but quickly reopened a few weeks later. During this time in 1994, the Food Court was left with two eating places, a McDonald's and a Taco Bell, while the rest of the food court spaces were boarded up with drywall. This situation only lasted for a short time while turnover of the Food Court was taking place. McDonald's closed not long after the new tenants arrived, and the remodeled Arby's opened in the Food Court. In addition, this situation also caused the closure of a handful of in-line stores in the mall, most of which had also been in the mall for 10 years. They were quickly replaced.

• In 1997, local radio station WFLY (Fly 92.3) brought the Danish pop-group Aqua to the Record Town/Saturday Matinee store in the mall (since renamed FYE), for a free concert. About 1,000 people attended the concert, jamming in the area between the food court entrance to Record Town/Saturday Matinee, and video arcade Cyberstation. The group performed three songs, including the controversial novelty hit Barbie Girl, which was a smash hit at the time.

• In 1998, Crossgates Mall made national and international news when local radio station WFLY (Fly 92.3) held a contest in the mall to see who could stay in a brand new 1998 Kia Sephia the longest. The contestants had to stay in the car 24/7 except for ten-minute breaks every three hours. The contest started out with four people and unexpectedly lasted about a month before the radio station called the contest off for lasting too long. Due to the popularity of the contest, as well as its visibility, the ending of the contest was covered in newspapers, as well as being carried live on WFLY, and live on many local Albany television outlets during their early evening newscasts. In addition, a large crowd was present at the mall watching. It was during this time that the radio station pleasantly surprised the public, as well as the two people remaining by announcing that the two remaining contestants would both get brand new 1998 Kia Sephias. The contest caught the attention of The Rosie O'Donnell Show, and the two winners both received a limo ride to New York to be interviewed guests on the show. The Time Warner Road Runner Kiosk currently occupies the spot in the mall where the car was located.

• Also in 1998, the Pyramid Company planned on tripling the malls size to 3.6 million square feet. The town of Guilderland went after the new plans with great opposition. After several lawsuits and threats of zoning changes, Pyramid finally cancelled the plans. Original plans included three more anchors, a 20 floor hotel, and two parking garages.

• In 1999, when Lauriat's Books closed, and original tenant Children's Book World closed shortly thereafter, Crossgates Mall was left without a bookstore in its wide mix of stores until Borders opened in 2006.

• In the early 2000s, the food court was made slightly smaller when two vacant eateries at the end of the food court were converted into a Belden Jewelers. This reduced the number of eatery spaces from eleven to nine. Since Belden Jewelers is at the edge of the food court, it fits in with the in-line mall stores, and has not negatively impacted the other nine vendors that continue to operate in the food court.

• Crossgates is one of the first malls in the country to feature an American Eagle Outfitters/Aerie store combination.

[edit] Trivia (specific)

• Caldor never had an outside entrance from the parking lot when it was located in the mall, despite the fact that there was no obstacle between the store's second floor and the mall parking lot. When Best Buy took over what was the second floor of Caldor, an outside entrance was built for it.

• For a very short time in the early 1990s, a Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Sit-Down Restaurant was located inside Caldor on the second floor. This location was later closed due to the fact that a second Nathan's had begun operating in the mall's food court. The food court location lasted for a few years before closing as well.

[edit] Current stores

For a list of the about 250 stores that are currently in the mall, see the mall's website: http://www.shopcrossgates.com

[edit] Former food court tenants

[edit] Before tenth year expansion

California Smoothie, Philadelphia Steak and Sub, 1 Potato 2, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Long John Silvers, McDonald's, Gino & Joe's Pizza, Original Hot Dog Charlie's.

• Chef Wong (not original tenant, but was open for about three years before the expansion)

[edit] After tenth year expansion

Great Steak and Potato Company, Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips, Manchu Wok, Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs, Everything Yogurt & Salad Cafe, Hungry Harry's Deli, J. Brenner's, The Natural Salad Bar, Armenian Baked Goods.

[edit] Current food court tenants

(Previous tenant locations in parenthesis)

Sbarro's (Former Ben & Jerry's), Subway (Former 1 Potato 2, later Arthur Treachers), Cajun Cafe (Former Long John Silvers), Little Tokyo (Former Original Hot Dog Charlie's), Current Hot Dog Charlie's (Former Chef Wong, later Nathan's), Chinese Gourmet Express (Formerly Gino & Joe's Pizza, later Manchu Wok), Wendy's (part of 1994 expansion to food court.) Arby's (Original Tenant from Mall Opening), Taco Bell (Not original tenant, but was located in food court before 1994 Expansion.)

[edit] Controversies

In recent years, two well-publicized controversies have taken place regarding mall policies.

• At the dawn of the Iraq War in March 2003, the mall became the center of a free speech controversy when Selkirk resident Stephen Downs was arrested by the Guilderland Police, after he refused to leave the mall or remove the T-shirt he had just purchased, which read "Give Peace a Chance" on one side and "Peace on Earth" on the other side. After many objections, the mall dropped the charges[1]. Shortly thereafter, a large protest was held at the mall where many people came wearing anti-war attire.

• In July 2005, the mall adopted a curfew policy known as "MB-18" for people under the age of 18 on Friday and Saturday evenings, disallowing them from entering the mall unless accompanied by a parent or guardian over the age of 21 (it does not apply to the movieplex). Aside from the affected consumers, complaints came from organizations which saw the actions of the mall as hypocritical given that many stores survive on the under-18 market[2]. This policy has since been instituted in some other Pyramid malls.

[edit] See also

Washington Avenue Extension- One of the major roads that Crossgates Mall is accessible by

[edit] External links

• Crossgates Mall Official Site
• Crossgates Mall (Pyramid Companies web site)
• Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce History of Area Malls