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Walden Galleria

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Walden Galleria
File:Walden sign.JPG
Walden Galleria sign
Map
LocationCheektowaga, New York, USA
Opening date1989
DeveloperThe Pyramid Companies
No. of stores and services250
No. of anchor tenants12
Total retail floor area1,600,000 square feet (150,000 m2)[1]
No. of floors2
Websitewww.waldengalleria.com

Walden Galleria is an enclosed shopping mall located in the Buffalo, New York suburb of Cheektowaga. Walden Galleria comprises more than 1,600,000 square feet (150,000 m2) of retail space, with 250 stores on two levels, including a food court and a movie theater; anchor stores include Best Buy, Dick's Sporting Goods, DSW Shoe Warehouse, JCPenney, Lord & Taylor, Macy's, Old Navy, Sears, and the first Steve & Barry's in the state of New York. The mall is owned and managed by The Pyramid Companies of Syracuse, New York, the same management firm that developed it.

Opened in 1989, Walden Galleria initially featured national chains JCPenney and Sears, along with regional chain Bonwit Teller, and local chains Sibley's, L. L. Berger, and The Sample as its major tenants. As these local chains fell to bankruptcy in the 1990s, several big box tenants would be added to the mall to fill the vacancies. Anchors Lord & Taylor and Galyan's (now Dick's Sporting Goods) were later additions to the existing mall property, opening in 1992 and 2000, respectively. The most recent renovation to Walden Galleria comprised an extensive $60 million renovation between 2006 and 2008, which added several new tenants. A new movie theater was opened May 2008.

History

JCPenney, one of the original anchor stores to Walden Galleria

Walden Galleria was developed by The Pyramid Companies, a New York-based shopping property management firm. Built on a site near Exit 52 of the New York State Thruway, the mall was opened in 1989. At the time, the mall featured five anchor stores: Bonwit Teller, JCPenney, and Sears, as well as Buffalo-based chains Sibley's, L. L. Berger, and The Sample.[2] An additional anchor space was originally built for B. Altman and Company, but it remained vacant, as the chain decided not to open a store at Walden Galleria due to credit restraints.[3] At the time, the two-story mall also featured more than 150 stores, as well as a theater owned by Hoyts Cinemas.

In 1990, Sibley's was acquired and renamed by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Kaufmann's. That same year, local chain AM&A's (Adam, Meldrum & Anderson Company) moved from the nearby Thruway Mall into the space originally planned for B. Altman.[4] The owner of the Thruway Mall sued the AM&A's chain, claiming breach of contract;[5] the chain would later be declared liable for damages to the Thruway Mall, which was subsequently torn down and rebuilt as a strip mall.[6] Finally, Hoyts sold the Walden Galleria theater complex to General Cinemas by the end of the year.[7]

File:Walden Galleria L&T.JPG
Lord & Taylor's store at Walden Galleria.

L. L. Berger declared bankruptcy in 1991, closing all of its stores.[8] Later that same year, three more anchor stores are added to the mall: Lechmere, Loehmann's, and Lord & Taylor.[9] The Sample closed in 1991, and was soon replaced with Linens & Wares, a household goods-based retailer;[10] also, by the end of the year, Filene's Basement would open in the former L. L. Berger space. Both Filene's Basement and Loehmann's would close within three years, however.[11][12]

Mid-late 1990s

In 1995, York, Pennsylvania-based department store chain The Bon-Ton acquired the AM&A's chain, converting all outlets to The Bon-Ton. Later that year, 17-year-old Cynthia Wiggins of Buffalo was killed by a dump truck while trying to get to her first day of work in the mall's food court from a NFTA Metro bus stop on Walden Avenue. The incident sparked allegations from Buffalo's African-American community that Pyramid did not want people from Buffalo's predominantly minority east side to have easy access to the mall. In settling a wrongful death lawsuit against Walden Galleria and NFTA Metro, and to prevent a boycott of the mall, the bus stop was soon moved to a point inside the mall.[13][14][15]

Bonwit Teller closed off its upper level in 1996, as part of the chain's restructuring, with Old Navy soon opening in the store's former upper level.[16] By the end of the year, Bonwit Teller had closed the rest of its store as well; Bed Bath & Beyond later opened its first Buffalo-area store in the former lower level.[17][18] Also in 1996, sporting apparel retailer Finish Line opened what was then one of its largest stores, in the space vacated by Filene's Basement two years previous.[19]

Dick's Sporting Goods at Walden Galleria; formerly Galyan's Trading Company.

Montgomery Ward, which acquired the Lechmere chain in 1994, closed the last of the Lechmere stores nationwide in 1998, as part of a corporate restructuring;[20] half of the former Lechmere was then converted to a home store for JCPenney,[21] while the other half sat vacant until DSW Shoe Warehouse replaced it in 1999.[22] Linens 'n Wares, which closed at some point in the late 1990s, was converted to a home store for Kaufmann's in 1999 as well.[23] One year later, a Galyan's Trading Company store was added onto the mall as well; this store was converted to the Dick's Sporting Goods name in 2004 with the acquisition of Galyan's.

2000s

Starting in 2000, the first of several renovation plans was announced for the mall. The initial plan called for the addition of a new, three-story wing with an eighteen-screen movie theater complex, as well as several upscale tenants. Under this proposal, the existing Sears store would have been converted to mall space, and a new Sears store built immediately behind it.[24] These expansion plans, however, never came to fruition.

By 2002, General Cinemas had sold the mall's theater complex to AMC Theatres.[7] One year later, Pyramid made an attempt to evict the theater for a Best Buy store; however, the eviction failed, and the theaters remained in operation,[7][25] although Best Buy would open a store at the mall next to Sears in 2006.[26] AMC closed the mall's theaters in 2004, and only four days after their closing, the theater complex was acquired and reopened by Regal Cinemas.[7]

The JCPenney Home Store, which was closed in 2002, was replaced one year later by the first Steve & Barry's store in the state of New York.[27] Kaufmann's was one of several former May Co. brands to be acquired and re-named by Macy's in 2005; while the main Kaufmann's store was converted to Macy's, the Home Store was shuttered. Also in 2005, The Bon-Ton closed.[28] Finally, Bed Bath & Beyond moved outside the mall in 2007.

2006-present: Expansion

File:Walden Galleria construction.JPG
Construction of the new concourse.

With the closure of The Bon-Ton in 2005, plans were once again announced to expand the Walden Galleria. Under these new plans, The Bon-Ton's former store was demolished for a new concourse composed of more than 250,000 square feet (23,000 m2) of new retail space. The mall's existing theater complex, which was located next to The Bon-Ton, was also demolished for a future Barnes & Noble bookstore, and a newer, larger theater complex, which opened at the end of May 2008.[29][30] Several new restaurants, including The Cheesecake Factory and The Melting Pot, were also added, as was Ruehl No.925, a concept clothing store owned by Abercrombie & Fitch.[30][31]

Walden Galleria is the largest mall in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area,[29] as well as the busiest, with more than 18 million shoppers annually.[30] Anchor stores in 2008 include Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Dick's Sporting Goods, DSW Shoe Warehouse, JCPenney, Lord & Taylor, Macy's, Old Navy, Sears, Roebuck and Company and Steve & Barry's.[32]

It also attracts many Canadian shoppers, as Canada's border is located nearby. Most of those shoppers are from the major city of Toronto, about a 90 minute drive away.

References

  1. ^ "Directory of Major Malls". International Council of Shopping Centers. Retrieved 2008-05-20.
  2. ^ "Galleria set for opening on Monday: Area awaits impact of new megamall". The Buffalo News. 1989-04-30. Retrieved 2007-10-01. {{cite news}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Unknown parameter |Last= ignored (|last= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "COMPANY NEWS; Hooker Corp. Receivables". The New York Times. 1989-09-26. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  4. ^ "AM&A sets new Buffalo, N.Y. unit. (brief article)". Daily News Record. 1990-09. Retrieved 2007-10-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Thruway Mall sues AM&A's chain for moving to Galleria". The Buffalo News. 1990-06-12. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  6. ^ "AM&A's loses court ruling in mall dispute". The Buffalo News. 1990-10-11. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  7. ^ a b c d "Cinema Treasures: Walden Galleria 12". Cinema Treasures.org. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  8. ^ "Berger files Chap. 11 (brief article)". Daily News Record. 1991-01. Retrieved 2007-10-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ "Lord & Taylor, Filene's Basement set for Galleria construction to start soon for the two stores as well as additional parking". The Buffalo News. 1990-12-01. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  10. ^ "Linens & Wares taking Sample Galleria space". The Buffalo News. 1991-03-27. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  11. ^ "Filene's Basement closing Galleria store". The Buffalo News. 1994-01-21. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  12. ^ "Loehmann's exits Buffalo market for the second time". The Buffalo News. 1994-10-04. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  13. ^ "The Cynthia Wiggins case". Retrieved 2008-05-17.
  14. ^ "Buffalo, NY, Family Settles For $2.55 Mil. In Suit Charging Woman's Death Was Due To Racism At Mall (Jet)". Retrieved 2008-05-17.
  15. ^ "Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. takes case of black teen killed by dump truck on her way to mall". Retrieved 2008-05-18.
  16. ^ "Bonwit Teller downsizing Walden Galleria store". The Buffalo News. 1996-07-20. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  17. ^ "Bed Bath & Beyond opens first area store in Galleria". The Buffalo News. 1997-05-01. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  18. ^ "Bonwit Teller store closing". The Buffalo News. 1996-10-18. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  19. ^ "Galleria adding big Finish Line apparel store". The Buffalo News. 1996-06-11. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  20. ^ "Parent company plans to close Lechmere stores". The Buffalo News. 1997-08-01. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  21. ^ "Six new stores have leased space in Walden Galleria". The Buffalo News. 1998-10-13. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  22. ^ "Off-Price Shoe Retailer Plans Cheektowaga, N.Y., Store". Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. 1999-10-12. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  23. ^ "Furniture added at Kaufmann's location". The Buffalo News. 1999-11-03. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  24. ^ "Buffalo, N.Y., Shopping Mall to Add Wing with Stores, Eateries, Parking Deck". The Buffalo News. 2000-12-04. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  25. ^ Haarlander, Lisa (2003-05-08). "Best Buy Decides against Opening Store in Buffalo, N.Y., Mall". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  26. ^ Lindstedtn, Sharon (2006-02-23). "Best Buy plans to build store at Walden Galleria near Sears". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  27. ^ "Collegiate Apparel Store Opens in Buffalo, N.Y., Galleria". The Buffalo News. 2003-07-23. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  28. ^ "Bon-Ton closing Walden Galleria store". Business First of Buffalo. 2005-11-16. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  29. ^ a b "Expansion plans filed by Galleria". Cheektowaga Times. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  30. ^ a b c Fink, James (2007-06-16). "Walden Galleria getting bigger". Business First of Buffalo. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  31. ^ Fink, James (2008-05-13). "Three new retailers come to Galleria". Bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2008-05-14.
  32. ^ "Walden Galleria". Pyramid Management. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
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