A Plaza to Mall to Commons in Camillus

Just like Shoppingtown, this mall actually started as a shopping center as well. Unlike Shoppingtown, it has returned to being a shopping center. Opening on the site of a former drive-in theater, the center opened in 1964 and was anchored by WT Grants, E.W. Edwards, Anderson Little, Witherills and an A&P supermarket. JCPenney would replace the Edwards store while Price Chopper, a second supermarket on the same property, took over WT Grants' space. Price Chopper would close in 1982 and be replaced by a Hills department store. This Hills never re-opened as Ames because Ames was an anchor for Fairmount Fair. (Detail on that mall turned plaza will be a featured in a future post.)

1981 saw a first portion of an enclosed mall to the complex open with a Kmart opening as an anchor on one end and a movie theater (opened as CinemaNational, converted to USA Cinemas, Loews and finally ending its run as a movie theater as Hoyts) on the other. The existing plaza remained a plaza during this time, but did eventually convert into a part of the mall in 1984. This resulted in P&C moving to the edge of the mall property opening alongside an Eckerd. The P&C and Eckerd buildings still stand today as a Tops supermarket and a Rite Aid respectively. Also, Witherills became Hess during this timeframe. Sears, having relocating from the nearby former Fairmount Fair, became a fifth anchor by having a store built at the mall at some point.

A 1995 satellite view of the layout of the mall with added anchor names and placements.

Just like with all the other malls in the area, Carousel Center (now Destiny USA) played a role in the decline of this mall. The 90s saw Kmart and other stores closing and JCPenney relocated to the Carousel Center. Sears was one of the last major stores to leave. Having already being a replacement to another store, this Sears store was not replaced. Chappel's replaced Hess in 1994 and Bon Ton would later replace Chappel's.

2003 satellite view of the complex.

2003 saw the entire mall complex, save for Bon Ton (which still operates a store on the site to this day), the P&C/Tops and the Eckerd/Rite Aid buildings. Half of  the former Kmart store building was torn down for a parking lot for Lowe's, while the other half remains as a bus parking garage for the school district next door. (The school district had also bought a part of the mall's land.) Denny's, although never connected to the mall remains as an outparcel near Bon Ton. By 2006, Walmart and Lowe's had replaced what was once the Camillus Mall.

2006 satellite view of the complex.

Former P&C now Tops.

Commons Sign

Former Eckerd now Rite Aid.

Half of the former Kmart building.

As of March 2016, this is also now the only remaining Bon Ton in the entire Syracuse and Rochester metro areas.

Wendy's is the newest addition to the complex having opened in September 2014.

2015 satellite view of the complex.

Information provided by Wikipedia. Satellite pictures courtesy of Google Earth.