Saratoga Mall was an enclosed shopping mall in Wilton, New York near the city of Saratoga Springs, New York. It was demolished in 1999. It was previously known as Pyramid Mall Saratoga and was located on Route 50 just off Exit 15 on I-87 (the Adirondack Northway portion). After demolition, it was replaced by a big box strip center known as Wilton Square.
Video Saratoga Mall
Development
Originally called Pyramid Mall Saratoga, the mall was built by The Pyramid Companies. Construction began in late 1972/early 1973. It was the first regional mall developed by the company.
The mall was on 45 acres (180,000 m2) of land. Landscaping included 3,000 ft (910 m) of grass sod, 20 acres (81,000 m2) of land seeded for grass, and over 172 trees.
Maps Saratoga Mall
Opening
The mall opened for business on October 18, 1973 with fifty stores and no vacancies. The original size of the mall was 310,000 square feet (29,000 m2). It employed more than 450 people.
For opening day, Miss New York State, Susan Carlson, was set to cut the ribbon. There was a drawing for a free flight for two to Nassau in the Bahamas.
Mostly due to the new shopping mall, Wilton town supervisor Robert Gavin announced a property tax reduction of 54 percent one month after the mall's opening.
Initial Interior Features
There were four major courts in the mall that had fountains, skylights, bridges, and pools.
Initial Tenants
Anchors
- Albany Public Markets, Inc. (free-standing 25,000 sq ft (2,300 m2). building)
- Barkers (discount department store in the chain - 70,000 sq ft (6,500 m2).)
- Denby's (junior department store in the chain)
- The Carl Co. (36,000 sq ft.)
Smaller Tenants
- Anderson-Little
- Back Stage (restaurant)
- Baskin-Robbins
- Bavarian Pretzel
- Bay Street (jeans)
- Casual Corner (women's clothing)
- Casual Male and Female (clothing)
- Chess King (men's)
- Corbat's Shoes
- Endicott-Johnson (shoes)
- Erlanger's Fashions (8,400 sq ft.) Remember the neat spiral staircase!!
- Frankel's Fabrics (5,000 sq ft.) or was it Joanne's Fabrics?
- Hallmark
- Hickory Farms
- Household Finance Co.
- Jade Valley Gifts (& jewerly)
- Jonathan Reed, Ltd. (5,300 sq ft.)
- Jo-Ann's Nut House
- Mack Drug Store
- Orange Julius
- RadioShack
- Schatz (stationary)
- Stuart's (women's clothing)
- Thom McAnn (shoes)
Unnamed Tenants
- apparel stores
- banks (2)
- bookstore
- drug store
- gift stores
- liquor store
- restaurants (3)
- specialty stores
- supermarket
Expansion
In Spring, 1976, Montgomery Ward opened, bringing the total size of the mall to 435,800 square feet (40,490 m2). The addition included 113,502 square feet (10,544.7 m2). The Montgomery Ward store addition totaled 95,500 square feet (8,870 m2).
Later Tenants
Tenants in this list are based on articles or advertisements. Some of these tenants may be initial tenants that were not specifically named in the earliest articles.
Joanne's Nut House (candy)
Danielle's (formalwear rental)
Adirondack Dental?
Name change
The mall's name changed in 1987 when it came under new ownership.
Proposed strip mall
Owners of the Saratoga Mall in 1989 proposed a small strip mall called Wilton Square (the eventual name of the successor to the mall after demolition) of 29,000 square feet (2,700 m2) with 135 parking spaces. The number of parking spaces was not enough for Wilton town code. An exception was not made as it was for the Wilton Mall at Saratoga being developed next door to the Saratoga Mall.
Montgomery Ward planned move to Wilton Mall
Montgomery Ward planned to move to the newer Wilton Mall by 1991. At that time, the owner of the Saratoga Mall suggested the move would not be a problem but instead would be an opportunity to brand Saratoga Mall as a discount mall. Montgomery Ward never actually moved to Wilton Mall. When it announced its store closures for the area, its Wilton store was still located in the Saratoga Mall.
Stores in Saratoga Mall and Wilton Mall at the same time
A handful of stores opened in the new Wilton Mall while simultaneously having stores in the Saratoga Mall. They included:
- Kaybee Toys
- Record Town
- Friar Tuck Books
- Kinney Shoes
- RadioShack
Due to competition from its newer, larger neighbor, the mall began trying to develop a mixed-use strategy by attempting to attract office space and businesses such as doctor's offices to bring traffic to the remaining retailers.
Second run movie theater
In mid-1992, the movie theaters at Saratoga Mall were managed by Hoyts. Hoyts also had newer theaters in the Wilton Mall next door. On June 19, 1992, the Saratoga Mall theaters became a second-run theater with ticket prices at $1.99. At that point, the mall had six theaters.
The final showings at the mall took place on Thursday, August 26, 1999. At the time, there were eight employees working for that cinema.
Ownership
The mall was originally owned and developed by The Pyramid Companies. The mall again changed ownership in 1987, changing its name from Pyramid Mall Saratoga to Saratoga Mall in the process. In 1991, it was owned by Pyramid Centers of Empire State Co. In 1999, it was sold by Pyramid Centers of Canada to Starwood Ceruzzi Properties, Inc., of Fairfield, Connecticut. This company completed demolished the enclosed mall and built Wilton Square in its place. Starwood Ceruzzi Properties then sold the property in summer 2005 to Inland Western Saratoga Springs Wilton, LLC for almost four times what they paid.
Demolition
The possibility of demolition was announced in late 1998. Mall management began talking to big box retailers such as Target about location on the site. At the time, it was mentioned that this would offer flexibility in case the owners wanted to sell the mall. The mall was 450,000 square feet (42,000 m2) at that point and did not have any major anchors. Former anchors included Montgomery Ward, Jamesway, and Service Merchandise. At the time, the mall was owned by Pyramid Center & Co. Ltd.
The Price Chopper portion of the property was subdivided from the rest of the mall in 1998.
Demolition of the mall was completed in Fall, 1999.
Sources
External links
- DeadMalls.com - Saratoga Mall
- Directory entry/map location of former mall
- I Remember The Pyramid Mall in Saratoga on Facebook
Source of article : Wikipedia
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