Riverside Mall
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| Riverside Center | |
| Mall facts and statistics | |
|---|---|
| Location | Utica, New York, USA |
| Opening date | 1973 |
| Developer | The Pyramid Companies (EklecCo) |
| Owner | The Pyramid Companies (EklecCo) |
| No. of anchor tenants | 7 |
| Total retail floor area | 670,000 square feet |
| Parking | Large lot |
| No. of floors | 1 |
Riverside Center is a 670,000 square-foot power center, located at the intersection of NY Routes 5, 8 and 12, near Exit 31 of the New York State Thruway in Utica, New York. Formerly a completely enclosed shopping mall that opened in 1973, the old Riverside Mall was reconfigured into its current layout in 1998. Rather than being a long strip with anchor stores at either end, the Riverside Center is now mostly comprised of larger anchor stores.
The primary stores include a Wal-Mart Supercenter, Lowe's Home Improvement, BJ's Wholesale Club, Linens N Things, Tractor Supply Company, A.C. Moore, and Steve and Barry's.
Contents |
[edit] Original Mall layout
When the Riverside Mall originally opened in 1973, it was the Utica area's very first enclosed shopping mall. (The only other nearby enclosed mall, Sangertown Square, came along 7 years later, also owned by The Pyramid Companies.) The Riverside Mall's layout was very similar to other malls of the 1970s and 1980s. There was a Bradlees store at the north end, and Montgomery Ward anchored the southern end. Smaller stores lined both sides of the hallway between the anchors. Small wings along the way led to restaurants including The Ground Round and Friendly's, as well as Hoyts Cinemas. Near the middle, sub-anchor stores included Steinbach and Present Company. The late 80's and early 90's saw expansions that provided for a food court and a third major anchor store, BJ's Wholesale Club. The Montgomery Ward store also expanded shortly before the chain went out of business, leaving the mall with a huge empty space. Further to the south, Wal-Mart constructed a standalone building, opening a regular store in 1995; it has since expanded to a Supercenter.
[edit] Power Center Conversion
In 1998, the Riverside Mall was converted into the present Riverside Center. Most of the smaller tenants were evicted, in order for most of the original mall building to be demolished. This conversion made way for what is now Lowe's Home Improvement. The original Montgomery Ward building remains, and now houses Linens N Things. Most of the northern part of the original building also remains; the original Bradlees space has seen tenants come and go, including Office Max, Old Navy and Steve & Barry's. BJ's Wholesale Club and its gas station remain in their original locations. The Hoyts Cinema portion of the mall was also allowed to remain in place (though separated into a standalone building), but went out of business in 2006. The cinema building remains empty. A handful of the mall's smaller tenants, including A.C. Moore and Radio Shack (which has since left) were permitted to stay in place, as the reconfiguration did not affect their spaces. In the latter three cases, new entrances were built to allow customers direct access to these retailers, since entrance through the mall was no longer possible. The conversion also included the construction of some outparcels, for Wal-Mart (which later expanded to a Supercenter) and an Applebee'srestaurant. One outparcel, formerly a Montgomery Ward auto center, was demolished to make room for the Applebee's. The other original outparcel, which has housed a Pearle Vision, continues to do so today.
[edit] Anchors
[edit] Current Anchors
- Wal-Mart
- Lowe's Home Improvement
- Linens N Things
- BJ's Wholesale Club
- Tractor Supply Company
- A.C. Moore
- Steve & Barry's
[edit] Former Anchors
- Bradlees
- Montgomery Ward
- Steinbach
- Old Navy
- Office Max
- Present Company
[edit] The name
The Riverside Center's name is presumably derived from the fact that it is within close proximity of the Mohawk River, even though the river is not visible from the mall property. Several parallel strips of highway (including the New York State Thruway and Interstate 790) lie between the property and the river.
[edit] Miscellaneous
- In addition to a food court, Riverside Mall also had a Burger King located in a "regular" retail space, presumably constructed as part of the original mall, well before the food court's existence. Other sit-down restaurants in non-food-court locations over the years included Friendly's, The Ground Round and Sbarro.
