McKinley Mall facts for kids
McKinley Mall Logo
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| Location | Buffalo, New York |
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| Coordinates | 42°47′04″N 78°48′27″W / 42.7844°N 78.8074°W |
| Opening date | 1985 |
| Developer | Zamias Services, Inc. |
| Management | The Woodmont Company |
| No. of stores and services | 54 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 5 |
| Total retail floor area | 800,000 square feet (74,322.4 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 |
McKinley Mall is a large shopping center in Buffalo, New York, that first opened in 1985. It's located in Hamburg, New York, at the corner of McKinley Parkway and Milestrip Road, very close to the New York State Thruway. This mall is an important shopping spot for the Southtowns area of Erie County, New York.
The main stores at McKinley Mall are Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy, Old Navy, Barnes & Noble, and JCPenney. Some large spaces are currently empty, which used to be home to stores like Sears, The Bon-Ton, and two Macy's stores.
Contents
Mall History: How It Grew
The McKinley Mall first opened its doors in 1985. Back then, its main stores were Sears, AM&A's, and The Sample. The mall had about 80 smaller shops and a food court called "The Garden." In 1986, a movie theater with six screens opened, but you could only get to it from outside the mall.
Building the mall caused some debate in Hamburg in the early 1980s. People in the town had different ideas about whether it should be built. The land used for the mall was mostly parkland, and the areas around it were undeveloped.
New Stores and Changes in the 1980s and 1990s
In 1988, a local store called L.L. Berger opened a big new shop at the back of the mall. The next year, in 1989, Sibley's moved into McKinley Mall from another shopping center called Seneca Mall. Also in 1989, the Walden Galleria mall opened about 10 miles north. This new, very large mall caused many older malls nearby, like Seneca Mall, to close. However, McKinley Mall continued to do well because it served the Southtowns area.
In 1990, JCPenney moved to McKinley Mall from the Seneca Mall, which helped lead to the Seneca Mall's closure. Also in 1990, Sibley's changed its name to Kaufmann's. In 1991, L.L. Berger closed and became a Kaufmann's Home Store.
Throughout the 1990s, the success of McKinley Mall led to many other stores and restaurants opening nearby. Outside the mall, you could find places like Circuit City, Pier 1 Imports, Dollar Tree, Olive Garden, and Red Lobster. Even more stores opened on McKinley Parkway and Milestrip Road, such as Home Depot, BJ's Wholesale Club, Toys "R" Us, and Wegmans. In 1994, The Bon-Ton department store opened after buying AM&A's.
The 2000s: More Stores and Challenges
McKinley Mall stayed strong through the rest of the 1990s and into the 2000s. In 2005, Bed Bath and Beyond opened a store in the Sears part of the mall. A year later, in 2006, Best Buy opened next to Bed Bath and Beyond. Later that year, Kaufmann's and its home store became Macy's. In 2008, Barnes & Noble opened a bookstore.
Around 2008, a tough economic time called the Great Recession affected many malls, including McKinley Mall. Some stores like The Disney Store, Kay Bee Toys, and Hollister Co. left the mall. However, in 2009, ULTA Beauty opened, and in 2011, Old Navy moved into the mall.
Recent Changes and Closures
The 2010s brought more challenges for the mall. Many well-known stores, including Gap, Aeropostale, and Radioshack, started to close their locations at the mall. By 2016, Macy's announced it would close both of its stores at the mall, leaving a lot of empty space. This led to more closures, such as Payless ShoeSource and Hallmark. In 2018, The Bon-Ton closed due to bankruptcy, and ULTA Beauty moved to a different location nearby.
With The Bon-Ton gone, a large part of the mall became empty. In 2019, Sears, one of the original stores, announced it would close its last location in the area. This store closed in February 2020, leaving a very large empty space.
The closure of Sears, along with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, caused more difficulties for the mall. Many malls had to close temporarily, and the economic changes led to more stores closing at McKinley Mall, including GNC and New York & Company. The food court, which once had many places to eat, became completely empty. However, in late 2020, an indoor sports facility called Academy of Sports opened in the former food court area. While it didn't bring in shoppers for other stores, it did bring more people into the mall. In 2021, American Eagle Outfitters and Christopher & Banks also closed their stores at the mall.
