Rainbow Centre Factory Outlet

Rainbow Centre Factory Outlet

Location	Niagara Falls, New York
Opening date	July 4, 1982
Closing date	September 30, 2000
No. of floors	3

Rainbow Centre Factory Outlet was an enclosed outlet mall in Niagara Falls, New York, that operated from 1982 to 2000. Its design was unusual in that it was contained within its own parking ramp, and opened directly into the Wintergarden, an indoor arboretum, on its southern end. It was built and owned by the Cordish Company until October 2010, when David Cordish personally donated the abandoned mall to Niagara County Community College for use as a culinary institute, student-run restaurant, and a Barnes and Noble bookstore. The newly remodeled complex is scheduled to open by 2015.

History

The mall opened on July 4, 1982, as part of a failed Urban Renewal project. Initially, the mall was successful, but it did not turn a profit until 1990, when the original anchor, Beir's Department Store, was replaced with a Burlington Coat Factory and the majority of the mall tenants were replaced with outlet stores.. The mall was a popular destination during downtown Niagara Falls' Festival of Lights throughout the 1980s and 1990s. However, by the late 1990s, The mall lost its designation as the most successful in Niagara Falls as the Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls renovated and became the more popular choice. The Rainbow Centre had received no updating since its opening, and simply could not compete with the Fashion Outlets. Burlington Coat Factory closed in 1999, and the mall itself closed in 2000. Shortly after closing, the Cordish Co. claimed the mall would be redeveloped into an entertainment complex, but these plans never came to fruition. Despite the closure off all the retail stores in 2000, the mall still remained open to foot traffic for a period afterward due to an off-track betting center remaining open inside the mall. Once the center closed in 2005, the mall was officially closed off to all foot traffic and fell into disrepair. It was gutted in 2011 by NCCC in preparation for its conversion into its Culinary Institute, which is scheduled to open by 2015..