Lockport Mall was an enclosed

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 South Lockport, New York located on Transit Road ( NY 78). It opened in 1971 and included three

anchor store In North American, Australian and New Zealand retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are ...

s as well as a movie theater. The mall closed in 2006 except for the Bon-Ton department store. First announced in 2007, plans for a

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 ...

supercenter would displace the rest of the former mall building. The mall's demolition began in April 2011.

History

Lockport Mall opened in 1971 and was acquired by

General Growth Properties GGP Inc. (an initialism of General Growth Properties) was an American Commercial property, commercial real estate company and the second-largest shopping mall operator in the United States. It was founded by brothers Martin Bucksbaum, Martin, Ma ...

seven years later. Original tenants included Family Bargain Center (F. B. C.), which soon after opening was sold to AM&A's (Adam, Meldrum & Anderson Company), as well as

Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a mail-order business and later a department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001; its common nickname was "Monkey Wards". ...

and

The Sample The Sample, also known as The Sample Dress Shop or The Sample Shop, was a family-owned, high end department store specializing in upscale ladies clothing and furnishings based in Buffalo, New York. The original store was established by Anne W. ...

. Also within the mall were Kinney Shoes, Fanny Farmer, Morse Shoes,

Hickory Farms Hickory Farms, LLC is an American food gift retailer with headquarters in Chicago. Richard Ransom established the company in 1951 when he began selling handcrafted cheese at local fairs. By 1959, the company added summer sausage and opened its ...

, Deb Shops, CVS Pharmacy, Fashion Bug, Kay Jewelers, Jo-Ann Fabrics,

Radio Shack 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 ...

, Aladdin's Castle, Merle Norman Cosmetics, Regis Salons, Waldenbooks, and a movie theater. A 1984 expansion added Hills Department Store. The Sample closed in 1991, while AM&A's sold to

The 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 ...

in 1995. Hills became Ames in 1999; the same year, Montgomery Ward closed and became Rosa's Furniture. Due to the closing of Montgomery Ward, the mall started to decline. Ames closed in 2002, followed by many other mall stores. Plans were first announced in 2003 to demolish everything but the Bon-Ton building and replace the mall structure with a

supercenter. By late 2004, only nine stores remained operational at the mall, which at that point was slated for closure. Rosas closed in 2005. The theaters closed in January 2006. The mall sat for several years until 2011, when it was finally demolished except for The Bon-Ton. Construction of the Walmart has repeatedly been halted due to

seagull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...

s nesting on the site. In October 2013, construction finally continued on the site, and it opened in 2015 The Bon-Ton announced its closure in 2018.

References

External links

Lockport Mall at deadmalls.comLockport Mall demolition pictureView of Lockport Mall interior hallwayFlickr - some pictures of the mall
{{Buffalo, New York Demolished shopping malls in the United States Shopping malls in New York (state) Shopping malls established in 1971 1971 establishments in New York (state) 2006 disestablishments in New York (state) Buildings and structures demolished in 2011 Shopping malls disestablished in 2006 Demolished buildings and structures in New York (state)