Syracuse's Saks Off 5th Gets Sacked

While Destiny USA is still Syracuse's go-to mall, it too is not immune to store closures. Take this, for example. Saks off 5th was one of the outlet stores to open as part of the Destiny expansion from the Carousel Mall days. While the loss of Saks will leave a vacancy, I don't expect it to hit the mall hard. Saks' parent company has been looking to close locations in an effort to be more viable. And with new tenants, such as LEGO, already announced to open elsewhere in the mall, it doesn't look the mall is losing steam anytime soon.

While in the area visiting family, we took a trip to the mall and I decided to get some photos before this store is gone forever.

The Destiny of Sports Authority in Syracuse

The Twin Tiers is not immune to the closings the so-called 'authority of sports' as the Destiny USA location is among the many closures. This particular location is (soon to be was) the only Sports Authority within the entire Twin Tiers coverage area. I recently had the opportunity to visit its liquidation, so here's some pictures:

Here's a picture from late 2014 when Sports Authority was alive and well. Sports Authority has both a mall and exterior entrance. The exterior entrance is located around the side of the building. (It was a former Ames.)

Mall's entrance.

Gearing up for a great closing....

The first of possibly many left behind shoe boxes. Not nearly as bad as the closing Melbourne, FL liquidation though!

Bicycle seem to be clearing out fast.

The store does have a path of sorts through some of the store while in other parts it does not.

The signs are already giving up.

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.