Latham Circle Mall

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Mall facts and statistics
Latham Circle Mall

Location	Latham, New York
Opening date	1957 (Open-air), 1977 (Enclosed)
Owner	Eugene Weiss
No. of stores and services	40
No. of anchor tenants	4
Total retail floor area	660,000 ft²
No. of floors	2
Website	http://www.lathamcirclemall.com

Latham Circle Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located adjacent to the Latham Traffic Circle in Latham, New York. It is anchored by JCPenney, Regal Cinemas, Burlington Coat Factory, and Lowe's Home Improvement.

[edit] History

Latham Circle Mall was opened in 1957 as an open-air plaza before being converted into an enclosed mall in 1977. The new mall featured a JCPenney (which stayed over from the original mall), Woolworth, and Boston Store as anchors. Other stores included a mix of national and local stores such as Deb, Jonathan Reid, Lerner New York, Casual Corner, Denby's, Papa Gino's, and Waldenbooks. The mall was expanded in 1988 to include a Caldor, a new JCPenney store to replace the old one and a second level which would house the ten screen movie theater. The two level space occupied by The Boston Store closed in the late 1980s, however, due to a fire that ripped through the upper floor. The store closed for remodeling and was replaced by Burlington Coat Factory in the early 1990s. In 1998, a Stein Mart was added as an anchor, moving into the old Woolworths which closed in 1995, but closed just a few years later. Also, Caldor closed in 1998 when the chain went out of business, but the vacated building remained until 2003, when it was demolished to make way for a new Lowe's Home Improvement store. The new Lowe's was opened in late 2003; however, it is primarily served by an exterior entrance. Several other stores have recently left the mall, including Klein's All Sports (a local sporting goods store that went out of business in 2005), McDonald's, Gateway Computers, Gold's Gym, CVS Pharmacy, and much of the Food Court. The mall has fallen on hard times during the past decade due to the growing popularity of other regional shopping centers such as Crossgates Mall and Colonie Center. In 2005 it was announced that the mall's developer would be sinking money into reviving the property and that Regal Cinemas signed a new lease and would expand their theaters. No new news or construction has materialized as of 2006. Recently the mall has come under criticism for violations of building codes which have reportedly kept any new construction from occurring and any new tenants from opening.

[edit] Anchors

JCPenney (One level location at north end of mall)
Regal Cinemas (Cinema Multiplex in the upper level of the mall)
Burlington Coat Factory (Two level location near the center of the mall)
Lowe's (Connected to the mall with an exterior entrance, but no entrance from inside the mall.)

Restaurants include an Old Country Buffet and Malt River. There is a Hot Dog Charlie's in the Food Court.