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The Pig Trough! Whoever ate the whole thing would get a ribbon to wear, too. lol I googled Farrell's Massapequa and this image came up. What a great place it was for a kid.
During the 70's and early 80's Sunrise Mall was decent. No empty storefronts and parents felt comfortable letting their teen daughters go shopping there without adult supervision. The only thing bad about the mall at that time was the foul-mouthed parrot at the pet store. Macy's, Gertz and Korvettes were the big anchors.
It started getting a little questionable. There were the occasional car break-ins, an auto theft or two, and some muggings. We stopped going after dark.
JC Penney was also there from day 1, as well as Woolworth's as a junior anchor.
The Pig Trough! Whoever ate the whole thing would get a ribbon to wear, too. lol I googled Farrell's Massapequa and this image came up. What a great place it was for a kid.
WOW!!! That really brings back the memories. Thanks for sharing.
JC Penney was also there from day 1, as well as Woolworth's as a junior anchor.
Don't forget the nine tiny movie theaters.
I was blanking out on JC Penneys, didn't recall Woolworth. It has been 42 or 43 years since I was first dragged to the mall with my mom as a 9 year old, so some things are fuzzy.
The movie theaters..they were tiny! I had forgotten how many were there. My friend and I talked some older boys in front of us into buying us tickets for Saturday Night Fever as it had an R rating. We were 13 or 14 at the time. The ticket window person was fairly lax about the whole thing.
The Newsday website often runs headlines about the closing of a restaurant here, a restaurant there. Yes, the restaurant business seems risky. However, I never see Newsday articles about the empty-store problems of Long Island's shopping centers, probably because the department stores that anchor the malls are heavy advertisers in the newspaper.
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Yesterday, we visited Westfield Sunrise Mall in Massapequa and my wife looked for some clothing in Macy's. Later, I tried to find her there, and I discovered that at least a fifth of the floor space in the three-level store was empty, probably because whole sections were being moved around. Upon inquiry, I learned that one department was moved from the 3rd level and placed in an inadequate spot on the first floor.
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Roosevelt Field appears to be thriving, and Tanger Riverhead has few empty stores. However, Sunrise Mall has had about ten empty stores for years, the spaces sometimes temporarily filled by a Hallowe'en store or two. Mall management cleverly camouflages the vacant spaces with a variety of false fronts.
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Would anyone comment on other malls (large shopping centers with chain stores as anchors), which are doing well, which are doing poorly?
Thanks.
Walt Whitman in Huntington seems to be doing pretty well since the renovations, especially with the addition of new restaurants like Zinburger and more recently Del Frisco's. I used to frequent Roosevelt Field a lot, but due to a lot of sketchy patrons I usually end up sticking with Whitman. The Americana Manhasset seems to be doing as well as always too, but I don't shop there much anymore so I can't say.
I'm the original poster, and today I walked around Sunrise Mall in Massapequa taking notes on open and closed stores. The south anchor is Macy's. The north anchor is Sear's. At the center is a closed J. C. Penney, a huge loss. Significant also in the center of the lower floor is that Dunkin' has replaced Starbucks.
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My counts could have errors. On the upper level, 2.2.2019, a chilly Saturday, the number of shoppers was modest. Some stores even had a customer or two. In the south half, seventeen stores were open, eight storefronts were closed, and one open store had the sign, "Store closing."
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In the north half of the upper level, I counted sixteen stores open. three closed. Many people were seated in the food court at 1 p.m., but only four vendors were open: Taco Bell, a Chinese Wok, Wetzel's Pretzels, and (with the only line) a Philly Cheesesteak place. Many food courts in other shopping centers have triple the vendors. The north half of the top floor, west side, may have the highest usage, both north and south of the Sbarro passageway.
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On the lower level, with the parking lot to the sunrise, at the south end I counted nine open stores and about eleven closed storefronts. Thankfully, Home Goods has arrived, filling a large space that used to have a savings bank.
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In the north end of the lower level, I found seventeen stores open, including a large H & M. and six closed store fronts. Dick's appeared well-stocked, an adequate replacement for Walmart.
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Maybe 60 stores were open, 28 closed.
Yeah, the Walt Whitman Mall used to cater to all classes; now it is just about exclusively upscale.
About 10 years ago, I remember the McDonalds that they got rid of. I also remember long lines of working class looking people waiting for the bus right in front of one of the mall entrances.
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Farrell's
That really brings back the memories. Thanks for sharing.
