Saratoga Mall (Wilton, New York)

Saratoga Mall (demolished)

Location	Wilton, New York, U.S.
Opening date	October 18, 1973
Closing date	1999
Developer	The Pyramid Companies
Owner	Starwood Ceruzzi Properties, Inc.
No. of anchor tenants	3
Total retail floor area	450,000 sq ft (42,000 m2)
No. of floors	1

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.^[1]

Contents 1 Development 2 Opening 3 Initial Interior Features 4 Initial Tenants 5 Expansion 6 Later Tenants 7 Name change 8 Proposed strip mall 9 Montgomery Ward planned move to Wilton Mall 10 Stores in Saratoga Mall and Wilton Mall at the same time 11 Second run movie theater 12 Ownership 13 Demolition 14 Sources 15 External links

Development

Originally called Pyramid Mall Saratoga, the mall was built by The Pyramid Companies. Construction began in late 1972^[2]/early 1973. It was the first regional mall developed by the company.^[3]

The mall was on 45 acres (180,000 m²) of land. Landscaping included:^[3]

• 3,000 ft (910 m). grass sod
• 20 acres (81,000 m²) of land seeded for grass
• 172+ trees

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.^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[3]

Initial Interior Features

There were four major courts in the mall that had fountains, skylights, bridges, and pools.^[3]

Initial Tenants

Anchors^[3]

• Albany Public Markets, Inc. (free-standing 25,000 sq ft (2,300 m²). building)^[5]
• Barkers (discount department store in the chain - 70,000 sq ft (6,500 m²).^[5])
• Denby's (junior department store in the chain)
• The Carl Co. (36,000 sq ft.)^[5]

Smaller Tenants^[3]

• 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.)^[5] Remember the neat spiral staircase!!
• Frankel's Fabrics (5,000 sq ft.)^[5] or was it Joanne's Fabrics?
• Hallmark
• Hickory Farms
• Household Finance Co.
• Jade Valley Gifts (& jewerly)
• Jonathan Reed, Ltd. (5,300 sq ft.)^[5]

-Jo-Ann's Nut House

• Mack Drug Store^[5]
• Orange Julius
• RadioShack
• Schatz (stationary)
• Stuart's (women's clothing)
• Thom McAnn (shoes)

Unnamed Tenants^[3]

• 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).^[6] The addition included 113,502 square feet (10,544.7 m²). The Montgomery Wards store addition totaled 95,500 square feet (8,870 m²).^[7]

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.

Tenant Name	Date Opened
Mechanics Exchange Savings Bank	before February 28, 1975[8]
Kirsch	before April 20, 1975[9]
Hilton's Music	before October 21, 1975[10]
Montgomery Ward	before Spring, 1976[6]
Marine Midland Bank	before March 26, 1976[11]
Movie Cinemas (3 theaters)	before April 27, 1976[12]
Kinney Shoes	1976[13]
Carl's Drug (later became Fay's Drug)	before January 18, 1981[14][15]
Record Town	before June 17, 1981[16][17][18]
Penney Catalog Store	March 11, 1987[19]
Friar Tuck Bookshops	before November 26, 1989[20]
Wilton Town Supervisor's Office	before March 10, 1990[21]
McDonald's	before March 18, 1990[22]
Gifts & Novelties	before August 19, 1990[23]
New York State Labor Department Community Service Center	October 1, 1990[24]
KB Toys (simultaneously in Wilton Mall next door)	before December 9, 1990[23]
Jamesway	before July 24, 1991[25]
Fay's Drug (took over Carl's Drug)	before August 23, 1991[15]
Benson's Pet Shop	before October 12, 1991[26]
Saratoga Computer Shoppe	before July 31, 1998[27]
Service Merchandise	before December 15, 1991[28]
Ryan Jewelers	before December 15, 1991[28]
Price Chopper (60,000 sq ft. free-standing building)	1991[29]
Creative Fashion Eyewear	before July 26, 1992[30]
Van Arnum Flowers and Gift Shop	before July 26, 1992[30]
Hair 2000	before July 26, 1992[30]
Dime Savings Bank of New York	before July 26, 1992[30]
Papa Gino's	before July 26, 1992[30]
Lazer Pix	before April 11, 1993[31]
Short Stop	June 10, 1993[32]
General Nutrition Centers	before October 14, 1993[33]
Arcade (Games People Play?)	before October 14, 1993[33]
Eckerd (took over Fay's Drug - remained to the end and continued to new Wilton Square)	1997
The Gardeners	before April 3, 1998[27]
Spa.Net	before July 31, 1998[27]
Praises Christian Book Store	before September 3, 1998[34]
Senior Solutions	before September 4, 1998[34]
New Life Christian Church	before 1999[35]
Pasanno Paints	before 1999[36]

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.^[37][38]

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.^[39]

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.^[39] 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.^[40]

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.^[37]

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.^[41]

The final showings at the mall took place on Thursday, August 26, 1999. At the time, there were eight employees working for that cinema.^[41]

Ownership

The mall was originally owned and developed by The Pyramid Companies.^[3] The mall again changed ownership in 1987, changing its name from Pyramid Mall Saratoga to Saratoga Mall in the process.^[37] In 1991, it was owned by Pyramid Centers of Empire State Co.^[42] In 1999, it was sold by Pyramid Centers of Canada to Starwood Ceruzzi Properties, Inc., of Fairfield, Connecticut. This company completed demolition of 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.^[1]

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.^[43]

The Price Chopper portion of the property was subdivided from the rest of the mall in 1998.^[43]

Demolition of the mall was completed in Fall, 1999.^[43]

Sources

External links

• DeadMalls.com - Saratoga Mall
• Directory entry/map location of former mall
• I Remember The Pyramid Mall in Saratoga on Facebook

Albany, NY Metro Shopping Malls and Centers City of Albany Colvin Central Plaza (demolished)  · Crossgates Commons  · Westgate Plaza Town of Colonie Colonie Center  · Northway Mall  · Latham Circle Mall  · Latham Farms Town of Guilderland Crossgates Mall  · Stuyvesant Plaza Saratoga County Clifton Park Center  · Saratoga Mall (demolished)  · Wilton Mall at Saratoga Schenectady County Crosstown Plaza  · Mohawk Commons  · Rotterdam Square Mall Rensselaer County Hudson Valley Plaza  · Columbia Plaza  · Greenbush Commons