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 shopping center located north of the city of Buffalo at the western edge of the Town of Amherst in Erie County, New York, United States. The name derives from its location on Niagara Falls Boulevard (U.S. Route 62), which divides Amherst from the Town of Tonawanda. Boulevard Mall features a gross leasable area of 904,000 square feet (84,000 m²). JCPenney added a large three-story store in 1970 (the third floor contains offices and storage). A small southern extension was added in 1978, a food court was added in 1994, and Sears added a store in 2000. The mall underwent a major renovation in 1997.
Boulevard Mall opened in 1962 as the first indoor shopping center in the Buffalo area. Since its opening, a large commercial zone has grown up around it. Because of its proximity to the Canadian border, Boulevard Mall is a frequent destination for Canadian shoppers. On December 28, 2016, Sears announced that its store would be closing as part of a plan to close 30 stores nationwide. The store closed in March 2017. On October 13, 2017, Macy's Men's (originally Jenss and later Kaufmann's Men's, which operated on the first floor) closed. It is unknown at this time what will replace the two empty anchor stores at the mall.
In December, 2017 the mall was turned over by its owner Forest City Enterprises to the lender in order to avoid foreclosure. It was later sold in 2019 to Douglas Development.
Today the mall is anchored by Dick's Sporting Goods, JCPenney, and Macy's (originally Sattler's, later Sibley's, then Kaufmann's).
Future
In 2018, the town of Amherst was seeking a $10 million grant to retro-fit the mall property into a mixed-use site or community, in anticipation of a future extension of the Buffalo Metro Rail to reach the University at Buffalo North Campus via Niagara Falls Boulevard and Maple Road.
