Boulevard Mall facts for kids
| Location | Amherst, New York |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42°59′16″N 78°49′12″W / 42.987643°N 78.819952°W |
| Opening date | 1962 |
| Owner | Douglas Jemal |
| No. of stores and services | 77 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 5 (3 open, 2 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 902,000 square feet (83,798.5 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 (2 in JCPenney, Macy's, and former Sears) |
Boulevard Mall is a big shopping center located just north of the city of Buffalo. It's in the western part of the Town of Amherst in Erie County, New York, United States. The mall gets its name from Niagara Falls Boulevard (U.S. Route 62), which runs right by it.
The mall is quite large, with about 904,000 square feet of space for stores. JCPenney added a big three-story store in 1970. Later, a small part was added in 1978, and a food court opened in 1994. Sears also added a store in 2000. The whole mall got a big makeover in 1997.
Boulevard Mall first opened in 1962. It was the very first indoor shopping center in the Buffalo area. Since it opened, many other shops and businesses have grown up around it. Because the mall is close to the Canadian border, many shoppers from Canada like to visit it.
In 2016, the Sears store announced it would close, and it did in March 2017. Then, in October 2017, the Macy's Men's store also closed. It's not yet known what new stores will take their places. In 2017, the mall's owner gave it to the bank to avoid bigger money problems. Later, in 2019, a company called Douglas Development bought the mall.
Today, the main big stores at Boulevard Mall are Dick's Sporting Goods, JCPenney, and Macy's. These big stores are called "anchor stores" because they help attract many shoppers to the mall.
What's Next for Boulevard Mall?
In 2018, the town of Amherst started looking for money to change the mall area. They want to turn it into a "mixed-use" space. This means it could have shops, homes, and other community places all together. This plan is also looking ahead to a possible future extension of the Buffalo Metro Rail. The train might reach the University at Buffalo North Campus, which would make it easier for people to get to the mall.
