Hornell's Peebles

As many are already aware, the Stage family of stores (consisting of Stage, Bealls, Palais Royal, Goody's and of course Peebles) have, are in the process, or will soon be converting the various brands to Gordmans or closing down altogether. Evidently, the company is going all in on the off-price concept, which makes total sense given the success of TJMaxx and its family of banners.

This particular Peebles store in Hornell, NY is well underway in its 'store closing' sale, but it has already been confirmed this 3-story location will become a Gordmans. For myself personally, I'm glad to hear that this location will continue, as you will see from the photos, because it is in a downtown setting. I must say I enjoyed visiting this location as it reminded of the former JCPenney in Coudersport, PA which I had spent a lot of time in as a kid.

The back entrance

I did find this fitting room in the home department somewhat amusing.

Eastern Hills Mall

Opening partly in late 1971 with 14 stores, the Eastern Hills Mall (planned to be called Buffalo Mall by the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation) was completed by 1972. With anchors of AM&A's, JCPenney, Sears, Jenss, and Hengerer's, the mall was the largest in the Buffalo market at the time. The mall also had a Woolworths store as a junior anchor right up until 1997 when the company closed all its stores. Kaufman's would take the Sibley's space over in 1990 while in 1994 AM&A's became Bon-Ton. The mall saw a period of decline in the 1990s, likely thanks to the 1989 opening of the Walden Galleria. Jenss would close its doors in 1997, and a Burlington Coat Factory would move in the following year until closing in 2005. Kaufman's became Macy's in 2006. Dave & Buster's, which I believe took over the former Burlington, moved to the Walden Galleria in 2015 and a lot of stores either followed or closed. Macy's closed in spring 2017, but was quickly replaced by a vendor marketplace. Sears closed in fall 2018. 

The good news is that even with the loss of Bon-Ton and Sears, replacement stores have already been found. Bon-Ton is set to become a Raymour & Flanigan furniture store while Sears will be replaced with a local Buffalo-themed retailer. Long-term plans call for the mall to be redeveloped into an open-air shopping center, but it would seem that the anchor buildings would likely stay since they are filled or will be.