Unlike the previous two mall posts, this one is about a mall that is still operating to this day. Being my local mall, I can provide a lot of information on this smaller hometown mall built in 1976. Originally anchored by Hills and AM&As, it has seen multiple anchor changes in its anchors over the years. AM&As would become Bon Ton while Ames took over the Hills location. A former movie theater was turned into a JCPenney, which had moved from its location on the west side of town in a former Grant City. (Walmart now sits on the site.) As I mentioned in the first Bradford mall post, it is possible that JCPenney relocated to Olean as the two cities are only about 15 miles from each other.
Ames would eventually close with the rest of chain leaving its building to sit empty for a couple of years before JCPenney moved for the third time (possibly fourth) in the area to fill the larger space. As a result, the old JCPenney space sat empty until Steve and Barry's moved in. Of course, just like Ames before it, Steve and Barry's would suffer the same fate by going bankrupt and leaving the space with no activity. In the meantime, a number of stores were pulling out. Some of these stores included Radioshack, Gamestop, GNC, CVS and local store Poor Cow Leather. Being another victim of bankruptcy, Rex appliances also closed during this time-frame. Some good news came in 2012 when not only one store opened, but two stores did. Kohl's opened in the former Steve and Barry's while Sears opened shop inside the mall itself.
Let's start with some exterior photos:
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| The main entrance. |
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| One of the two back mall entrances. The back two entrances are exactly the same. |
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| You can see the exterior entrance to a former McDonald's to the left in this picture. |
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| Hills, then Ames and now JCPenney |
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| Closeup of the former McDonald's entrance. |
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| Peeking through the windows reveals the old McDonald's flooring style which can still be found at some older locations to this day. |
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| Originally AM&As, now Bon Ton |
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| Originally a movie theather, then JCPenney, followed by Steve & Barry's and now Kohl's. |
The only exterior changes that were made here the removing of a triangle-shaped entrance from JCPenney to what it is currently and the brown area behind the Kohl's logo. The rest of the exterior remains the same from its days as JCPenney with the exception of the side entrance (which was where the salon and other services were located) being closed. Although I do not have a picture of it, you can still see where the side entrance was to this day though.
The shape of the mall is a T with a slight angle on the Bon Ton and Kohl's end. That angle is where photos of the interior will start.
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| Kohl's only changed the area around the entrance. The marble on the side is from JCPenney. |
One thing that is odd about this mall is that two of the three anchors are right next to each other. As mentioned above, that is thanks to the old movie theater becoming JCPenney.
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| Rue 21 took over the former Gamestop (on the left side of its store) when it expanded. Suedehead, a local company, has closed its location at the Olean Center Mall after this picture was taken. |
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You can see the slight angle in the background occurring. Seasons, the store on the immediate right is a combination of Hallmark and a book store. Also, Bath and Body Works and Hallmark were previously across the hallway in a space that Kohl's has since taken over. Seasons combined Hallmark with an existing bookstore to make a larger store, just like Rue 21 did. Bath and Body Works relocated to the former Sterling Optical space. (seen below)
The bench and grey carpet was previously a mall fountain. |
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| This photo was taken in the same location as the picture above. You are just looking in the opposite direction. The white wall to the right was a Foot Locker. |
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| The 'Whiteout Wall' brought to you by Kohl's. Kohl's took over at least one of the old stores as a stockroom area. Previously Bath and Body Works and Hallmark had stores here. They have since relocated as mentioned above. |
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| A smaller FYE next to the 'whiteout wall.' |
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| Former Fashion Bug. Used as Spirit Halloween and ToyZam! seasonally. |
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| Moving on down the side, Shoe Dept. manages to hang on next to local store Gift World. |
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| The 'food court' portion as the mall owners call it. Not much food though. |
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| Former local store Poor Cow Leather. Kay has since had this '80s logo removed. A better picture of this particular logo can be found on my Flickr photostream. |
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| The intersection of the mall. |
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| A hometown Sears store now occupies the former CVS. |
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| Sears also uses this storefront. The majority of the storefront is used as Sears' stockroom while the front 1/3 is displays. For some reason the doors were closed at the time of the picture. Sears also uses another former vacant storefront on the left of the store for the same reasons. |
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| Former REX appliances now being used by Craft Co-op. Craft Co-op was previously in the former CVS space before Sears took it over. |
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| Former McDonald's up close, followed by a former KB Toys and GNC all in a row. The former KB Toys and GNC spaces are now being used as a fitness place since this picture. |
This mall isn't exactly healthy, but it isn't dead. I'm curious to see how the 'Walkable Olean' construction on the street that this mall is located on will effect this place. For now, it seems to do okay, but we'll see if that changes....
I leave you with a few historical ariel pictures, with credit given to Bing Maps.
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| Ames logo was still present for a couple of years before JCPenney took over the space. |
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| JCPenney's old location at the mall. |
