Galleria at White Plains

The Galleria at White Plains

Galleria at White Plains in 2014
Address	100 Main Street, White Plains, New York, United States
Opening date	1980
Developer	Cadillac Fairview
Management	Pacific Retail Capital Partners
Owner	Farallon Cap. Mgt.
No. of stores and services	78
No. of anchor tenants	4
No. of floors	2-3 with small lower level
Website	galleriaatwhiteplains.com

The Galleria at White Plains is a shopping mall located in downtown White Plains, New York, US, a commercial and residential suburb 20 miles (32 km) north of New York City. As of 2022, the mall currently maintains such major retail staples as Forever 21, and H&M.

History

Built by Cadillac Fairview, a Canadian developer, the 900,000-square-foot (84,000 m²), four-level mall is located on two large city blocks of former urban renewal land. It opened in August 1980 and was the first of three Gallerias to open in the fall of 1980 around the nation, the others being Sherman Oaks and Fort Lauderdale. Its anchor stores are Macy's and Sears, which were relocated to the mall from nearby locations on Main Street to replace the original anchor stores. Abraham & Straus occupied the east anchor spot until converting to Stern's in 1995 and being replaced by Macy's on July 15, 2001. The west anchor JCPenney closed on April 28, 2001, and was left vacant until September 2003 when Sears moved in. Martin Luther King Blvd. runs directly underneath the mall. The mall was constructed adjacent to a large two-block-long parking garage that is connected directly to the mall at various levels. Shopping floors were color coded blue, green, yellow, and red representing Street Level, Garden Level, the Garden food court area, and Fashion Level 1 and 2, respectively. During the holiday season, the mall's promotional slogan was "We bring more good things to Christmas." The mall underwent a substantial renovation in the 1990s that undid many original elements; the glass elevator is the only significant feature dating from the mall's opening that survives relatively untouched. It was during the 1990s remodel when the waterfall and stage in the center court were replaced with two miniature fountains situated between the escalators.

Similar to a sister project in nearby Stamford, Connecticut (the Stamford Town Center mall), the Galleria's architectural character appears fortress-like and overwhelms even the recent high-density urban quality of its downtown environment. As with many enclosed shopping malls of the era, the general architectural design of the Galleria does not lend itself to the creation of an interactive streetscape along its surrounding sidewalk areas. A late 1990s enhancement tried to correct some of these physical flaws, but recent retail tenant fit-outs on the sidewalk level have frustrated much of this design effort.

In recent years, the mall has experienced competition from newer and more upscale retail developments, such as The Westchester mall and The Source at White Plains. A late 1990s promotional advertisement featured the tag line "Shopping for the real world," a subtle jab at the more upscale and affluent clientele and stores at The Westchester roughly a half-mile away.

On September 18, 2006, Philip Grant, a homeless man with a track record of sex offenses including rape, was convicted in NY State Supreme Court at White Plains of murder as a hate crime for stabbing Concetta Russo-Carriero to death in a Galleria parking garage on June 29, 2005, because, according to Grant's videotaped confession, she was white with blond hair and blue eyes. Public outrage over the killing prompted local officials to shut down an area shelter from which homeless men, including dangerous sex offenders, were bused downtown each morning, where many reportedly congregated near the Galleria parking garage.

Interior shots of the mall were used in the 2018 film Eighth Grade.

The early 2020's saw multiple traditional chain anchors at update their brick-and-mortar fleets after being disrupted by digital retailers in recent years.

On November 10, 2020, it was announced Sears would shutter as part of an ongoing plan to phase out of brick-and-mortar.

On January 5, 2021, Macy's, which maintains several additional outposts close by, announced as part of a strategy to focus on their highest performing locations that they would be leaving the center. Their space was purchased for $27 million.

In November 2022, it was announced that the owners of The Galleria at White Plains are teaming up with two prominent development firms to update the mall as a vibrant mixed-use center which will be centered on residential development and amenity-based retail. One of the developers, Louis R. Cappelli, has had a presence in White Plains for decades and is known for developing the nearby 46-story Ritz-Carlton towers.

Current Junior anchor stores

• Forever 21 (Opened in 2013)
• H&M (Opened in 2013)

Former anchor stores

• Abraham & Straus (opened in 1981 and closed in 1995 and became Stern's)
• Stern's (opened in 1995 in the former Abraham & Straus space and closed in 2001 and became Macy's)
• JCPenney (opened in 1981 and closed in 2001 and became Sears)
• Sears (opened in 2003 in the former JCPenney space and closed on January 24, 2021)
• Macy's (opened in July 2001 in the former Stern's space and closed on March 21, 2021)

External links

• Galleria at White Plains official website