Walt Whitman Shops (formerly known as Walt Whitman Mall) is 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 Huntington Station, New York, on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. The mall features the traditional retailers

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1861 by Joseph Bloomingdale and Lyman Bloomingdale. It was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1930, which purchased the Macy's department store chain in 1994, ...

, and

Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain founded in 1867 by Andrew Saks. The first store opened in the F Street and 7th Street shopping districts, F Street shopping distric ...

. The mall is named for the poet

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...

due to the close proximity to his birthplace, a state historic site, located near the mall. The mall is owned and managed by

Simon Property Group Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/lifestyle centers. It is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States and is headquartered in Indian ...

, one of the largest developers of shopping malls in the US.

History

Walt Whitman Shopping Center

Built as New York's first indoor shopping mall, the facility cost $20 million at included 75 stores. It opened around anchors R.H. Macy & Company and Abraham & Straus in November 1962. It was the first time both companies directly competed with each other in the same location. The Walt Whitman Shopping Center, as it was called then, was built by the Winston-Muss Corporation and featured a Japanese garden, aviary, and sculpted mobile based on the poetry of Walt Whitman. By January 1963, the facility was fully rented. In May, a single-screen movie theater opened, operated by

Century A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. ...

Walt Whitman Mall

By the early 1970s, the location was being referred to as the Walt Whitman Mall. Winston-Muss sold the mall to N.K. Winston, Inc. in 1973, who sold it to Corporate Property Investors three years later. On November 13, 1984, a fire destroyed seven stores, damaged 25 others, and collapsed part of the roof. It took seven fire companies four hours to get the blaze under control; 13 people were treated for minor injuries. Two thirds of the stores were able to reopen soon after, while the rest were sealed off for repair. On May 16, 1991, a fire killed two people and injured 36 others. It was the fourth fire at the

McCrory's McCrory Stores or J.G. McCrory's was a chain of five and dime stores in the United States based in York, Pennsylvania. The stores typically sold shoes, clothing, housewares, fabrics, penny candy, toys, cosmetics, and often included a lunch co ...

location in six months. In 1993, a McCrory's worker pleaded guilty to tossing a lit cigarette into a display of silk flowers set on a block of styrofoam, causing significant damage to the store and killing two of his coworkers, aged 20 and 27. The store never reopened. By 1995, CPI was planning a massive, $50 million expansion project that would grow the mall 30% by adding a second floor, 80 stores, food court, multiscreen cinema, and two new garages. However, the plan faced significant protest from local homeowners. When

Federated Department Stores Macy's, Inc. (previously Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American holding company of department stores. Upon its establishment in 1929, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus (departm ...

merged A&S into Macy's in 1995, the Walt Whitman Mall became the only location in the country to have two Macy's storefronts. The original Macy's store would remain opened well into 1996 but eventually closed by 1997.

was brought in 1998 to serve as a new anchor store where the first Macy's was. In February 1998, Simon DeBartolo Group purchased CPI and took control of the mall. Simon completed a $85 million renovation in March 1999, adding 32 stores, marble floor tiles, vaulted ceilings, skylights, and a glass domed center court to expand the mall to . Programmable advertising displays and traffic monitoring features were also installed. Walt Whitman's poem "

Leaves of Grass ''Leaves of Grass'' is a poetry collection by American poet Walt Whitman. After self-publishing it in 1855, he spent most of his professional life writing, revising, and expanding the collection until his death in 1892. Either six or nine separa ...

" was etched onto the outside of the building.

opened in March 1999, joining new tenants

Williams Sonoma Williams Sonoma is an American retailer of cookware, appliances, and home furnishings. It is owned by Williams-Sonoma, Inc. and was founded by Chuck Williams (author), Charles E. (Chuck) Williams in 1956. History In 1947, Chuck Williams settle ...

L'Occitane L'Occitane en Provence (; ), commonly known as L'Occitane, is a French luxury retailer of body, face, hair and home products, as well as fragrances. Based in Manosque, France, it was founded in 1976 by Olivier Baussan with the purpose of creati ...

Sephora Sephora is a French multinational retailer of personal care and beauty products, offering nearly 340 brands alongside its own private label, the Sephora Collection. Its product range includes cosmetics, skincare, fragrance, nail color, beauty t ...

, and

Brooks Brothers Brooks Brothers Inc. is an American clothing brand founded in 1818 which is the oldest apparel brand in continuous operation in the United States. Originally a family business, it is currently owned as a joint venture between Authentic Brands G ...

. By June 2000, sales had increased by 18%, putting it ahead of the national sales average. In July, Legal Seafoods opened a standalone location next to the mall. The Whitman Theater closed in 2002. In May 2003, an Apple Store opened at the mall.

Walt Whitman Shops

In February 2012, Simon received approval for another expansion project that would add to the upper and lower levels of the mall and 30 new storefronts. Indoor renovations were completed in summer 2013 and the Walt Whitman Shops, as it was now called, was unveiled in November. The walls featuring quotes from "Leaves of Grass" were removed and replaced by a bronze statue of Walt Whitman at the Mall's new main entrance. In August 2013, an

Urban Outfitters Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) is a multinational lifestyle retail corporation headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Operating in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, select Western European countries, Poland, the United Arab Em ...

opened. On February 22, 2014, a carbon monoxide leak at Legal Seafoods killed one person and sickened 28 others. All three restaurants in the complex (Legal Sea Foods, The Cheesecake Factory, and Panera Bread) were evacuated. The leak was blamed on a faulty water heater pipe. The restaurant permanently closed at the end of the year. On March 2, 2016, 10 people were hospitalized after Panera Bread suffered another carbon monoxide leak that originated from the construction site where Legal Seafoods used to be. On March 19, 2020, the Walt Whitman Shops closed due to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and didn't reopen until July 10. On August 27, 2020, it was announced that Lord & Taylor would shutter its traditional brick-and-mortar format as a direct result of the

. The previous Lord & Taylor outpost is in the approval stages to become reconstructed for a vibrant modern office use concept. In 2025, a Garage store and a

Mavi Jeans Mavi is a Turkish brand of denim and jeans founded in 1991 in Istanbul, Turkey. The company manufactures jeans for both women and men, targeting a younger age group. The global operation is headquartered in Turkey, with subsidiaries in the USA, Ca ...

will open at the mall.

References

External links

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Labelscar Retail History Blog
{{Walt Whitman Simon Property Group Shopping malls in Suffolk County, New York Huntington, New York Buildings and structures in Suffolk County, New York Tourist attractions in Suffolk County, New York Shopping malls in the New York metropolitan area Shopping malls established in 1962 1962 establishments in New York (state)