Camillus Mall
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Camillus Plaza (later Camillus Mall) and now known as Camillus Commons, was a
shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...
in
Camillus, New York Camillus is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York (state), New York, United States. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 25,346. The Town of Camillus is west of Syracuse, ...
. Camillus Plaza opened in 1964 as a strip mall on the site of a former Kallet
drive-in theater A drive-in theater/theatre or drive-in cinema is a form of movie theater, cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand, and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, c ...
. Early anchors included A&P (later Great American) and P&C supermarkets, E.W. Edwards, Witherill's, and WT Grant department stores, Goldberg's Furniture and Anderson Little. After Edwards and WT Grant left, they were replaced by
JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC , Trade name, doing business as JCPenney (colloquially Penney's and abbreviated JCP) is an American department store chain store, chain with 649 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. It is managed as part of the Catalys ...
and a Price Chopper supermarket respectively. In 1981 an enclosed "mall" section was opened, with a two-screen movie theatre (originally CinemaNational, then USA Cinemas, Loews, and finally
Hoyts The HOYTS Group of companies in Australia and New Zealand includes HOYTS Cinemas, a cinema chain, and Val Morgan, which sells advertising on cinema screens and digital billboards. The company was established by dentist Arthur Russell in Melbo ...
), and a new
Kmart Kmart ( ), formerly legally registered as Kmart Corporation, now operated by Transformco, is a department-store chain and online retailer in the United States and Territories of the United States, its territories. It operates four remaining Kma ...
anchoring the far end. However, much of the original plaza retained its strip mall format. An aptly named "Mall Entrance" took the place of the strip mall's original Anderson-Little store, and Anderson-Little relocated to the enclosed mall.
Silo A silo () is a structure for storing Bulk material handling, bulk materials. Silos are commonly used for bulk storage of grain, coal, cement, carbon black, woodchips, food products and sawdust. Three types of silos are in widespread use toda ...
added a store on the back side of the strip mall, facing the new enclosed section, but not connecting to it. Price Chopper closed in 1982, and made way for
Hills A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as mountains. Hills fall und ...
.


Camillus Mall

In 1984, most of the remaining strip mall was enclosed. As part of this conversion, Witherill's was replaced by
Hess's Hess's, originally known as Hess Brothers, was a department store chain based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company was founded a single store in 1897, and grew to nearly 80 stores by its commercial peak in the late 1980s. The chains stores were ...
. P&C moved to a newly constructed freestanding store at the corner of the plaza's property, a Carl's Drugs (later Fay's Drugs, Eckerd, and finally
Rite Aid Rite Aid Corporation is an American drugstore chain based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1962 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, by Alex Grass under the name Thrift D Discount Center. Prior to its first bankruptcy in 2023, it was the th ...
) was attached to P&C, and an additional entrance was added to JCPenney so that mall patrons could enter the store without leaving the enclosed mall. Additionally, the entire complex was renamed Camillus Mall. In 1987,
Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...
moved from their previous location in Fairmount Fair, adding an store to the mall. Silo expanded around the same time, adding an entrance accessible from within the mall. An additional four movie screens were added, however they were not in the same location as the original two, so patrons needed to determine whether their film was showing in "one and two" or "three through six". Eventually, the original two screens were closed, and Hoyts Cinemas expanded "three through six" into the adjacent vacant Silo space, creating a single ten screen facility. In its prime, the enclosed mall featured five anchors, and smaller tenants such as
Arby's Arby's is an American fast-food restaurant, fast food sandwich restaurant chain with more than 3,300 restaurants. The flagship property of Inspire Brands, it ranked third in systemwide sales in the United States in the quick-service and fast-ca ...
,
Bill Gray's Bill Gray's is a chain of restaurants based in Webster, New York (a suburb of Rochester, New York) that currently has 14 restaurants in the Rochester area in western New York, including seven tap room-style restaurants, and one tavern-style grill ...
,
Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...
,
CVS Pharmacy #REDIRECT CVS Pharmacy {{R from other capitalisation Company now has a new name to go along with it's anti-tobacco changes. New name is CVS Health ...
,
Reeds Jewelers Reeds Jewelers is a U.S. retail jewelry company founded in 1946 by Bill and Roberta Zimmer in Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 as of the 20 ...
,
RadioShack RadioShack (formerly written as Radio Shack) is an American electronics retailer that was established in 1921 as an amateur radio mail-order business. Its parent company was purchased by Tandy Corporation in 1962, which shifted its focus from ma ...
,
Fanny Farmer Fanny Farmer was an American candy manufacturer and retailer. Fanny Farmer was started in Rochester, New York, by Canadian politician and businessman Frank O'Connor in 1919, and grew to over 400 stores before being bought and consolidated. His ...
,
Lane Bryant Lane Bryant Inc. is an American women's apparel and intimates specialty retailer focusing on plus-size clothing. The company began in 1904 with maternity designs created by Lena Himmelstein Bryant Malsin. Lane Bryant, Inc., is the largest pl ...
, Doc's Pizzeria and Afterthoughts.


Decline

Camillus Mall's decline began in 1990, just as the newer and larger
Carousel Center Destiny USA (stylized as destiny usa and also known by its former name Carousel Center) is a six-story Shopping mall#Super-regional mall, super-regional shopping, dining, and entertainment complex on the shore of Onondaga Lake in the city of Syra ...
(now Destiny USA) opened only seven miles away, concurrent with the beginning of a shift in the area's demographics. Also, Camillus Mall was not convenient to most major highways. In 1994 Hess's closed and became Chappell's (later
Bon-Ton Bonton Holdings Inc. operating as Bonton () was an American department store chain and group founded in 1898. It operated in Western New York, Pennsylvania, Western Maryland, and throughout the Midwestern United States. The former York, Pennsy ...
, closed on August 29, 2018). In the years to follow, a number of anchor stores and smaller shops began to close, including Silo, Kmart, and Hills. By 2001, Sears and JCPenney had closed as well, leaving only a few small stores and the "Hoyts Cinema 18" left in operation.


Camillus Commons

In 2003, the entire mall was torn down, except for Bon-Ton, the newly constructed freestanding
Applebee's Applebee's Restaurants LLC. is an American company that develops, franchises, and operates the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill + Bar restaurant chain. The Applebee's concept focuses on casual dining, with mainstream American dishes such as salads, ...
(now split between Adelita's Cocina and
Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...
), the P&C Supermarket (now
Tops Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) is a computer system for managing railway locomotives and rolling stock, known for many years of use in the United Kingdom. TOPS was originally developed between the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), ...
), the attached Eckerd (now
Rite Aid Rite Aid Corporation is an American drugstore chain based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1962 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, by Alex Grass under the name Thrift D Discount Center. Prior to its first bankruptcy in 2023, it was the th ...
), and the vacant former
Kmart Kmart ( ), formerly legally registered as Kmart Corporation, now operated by Transformco, is a department-store chain and online retailer in the United States and Territories of the United States, its territories. It operates four remaining Kma ...
building, which was sold to the West Genesee School District for extra classroom space while the adjacent school was renovated, and ultimately became the school's bus garage and transportation office. A new plaza, called ''Camillus Commons'', was constructed on the site of the old mall, construction began in late 2004.
Lowe's Lowe's Companies, Inc. ( ) is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States. As of October 28, 2022, Lowe's and i ...
opened in January 2006.
Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...
's Fairmount Fair location was a former
Caldor Caldor, Inc. was a discount department store chain founded in 1951 by husband and wife Carl and Dorothy Bennett. Referred to by many as "the Bloomingdale's of discounting," Caldor grew from a second story "Walk-Up-&-Save" operation in Port Ches ...
store and could not be expanded (since replaced by
Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...
), so in June 2006 they moved to a newly constructed
Supercenter A big-box store, a hyperstore, a supercenter, a superstore, or a megastore is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The ...
next to Lowe's. A
Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...
branch also opened in the plaza as well as a
Verizon Wireless Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the div ...
outlet (which relocated to a new Verizon store in Camillus in the late-2010s).
Wendy's Wendy's International, LLC, is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (businessman), Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of D ...
opened a restaurant behind
Denny's Denny's (also known as Denny's Diner on some locations' signage) is an American table service diner-style restaurant chain. It operates over 1,400 Restaurant, restaurants in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and several other internationa ...
in late 2014. After Bon-Ton closed in the summer of 2018, the building became composed of medical offices such as St. Joseph’s Health, which opened in 2019, and Empire Dermatology, which opened in 2022.


References


External links


DeadMalls.com writeup
{{Shopping malls in Upstate New York Demolished shopping malls in the United States Shopping malls established in 1964 Shopping malls in New York (state) Buildings and structures in Onondaga County, New York