Eastern Hills Mall slowly dying

[Pikapower]

The Eastern Hills Mall is a mall in the Williamsville/Clarence area. The mall opened in 1971, but was completed in 1972 at the time it was the largest mall in the Buffalo, NY area before the Walden Galleria Mall opened in 1989.

The three-screen cinema was owned and operated by General Cinema Corporation from 1971 to 1993. In 1998 it was converted to an independent/art film cinema owned by Dispon Theaters.

Dave and Buster's is going to be moving from the Eastern Hills Mall to Walden Galleria Mall, as if that mall doesn't have enough restaurants already. In my opinion when Dave Buster's moves out of Eastern Hills that mall is going to be even more "dead" that it already was.

Dave and Buster was a Jenss department store from 1971 to 1997 then from 1999 to 2004 it became a Burlington Coat Factory.

[buzz86us]

lol the same is happening here with the rotterdam mall it is in slightly better shape than your mall but their fate seems too intertwined with Sears Holdings which has me concerned.

[Pikapower]

^Well the Eastern Hills Mall isn't that "dead", but as I said before it's slowly "dying" and that's a shame since it has the largest parking ratio out without a ramp in the Buffalo, NY area and it's also on one the busiest road in Western New York, Transit Road.

[Pikapower]

There was kind of a thread to Eastern Hills Mall with photos circa 2005 and 2012

http://amesfanclub.com/forum/index.php?topic=234.0

[Pikapower]

The mall is currently at 70% occupancy now.

The mall was developed by the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation, the same company that originally owned the Century III mall in Pittsbrugh, PA. So I wonder if Eastern Hills is going to suffer the same fate as Century III?

[TheFugitive]

DeBartolo built a LOT of malls.  He owned the Pittsburgh franchise in the USFL which was
called the Maulers  (that was a specific job description inside the steel mills, but also a play
on the fact that he made his fortune building malls).

No reason why all of his malls would suffer the same problems as Century III.

[Hudsons81]

DeBartolo built a LOT of malls.  He owned the Pittsburgh franchise in the USFL which was
called the Maulers  (that was a specific job description inside the steel mills, but also a play
on the fact that he made his fortune building malls).

No reason why all of his malls would suffer the same problems as Century III.

He is-or was-also a minority owner of the San Francisco 49ers-that's why you may see a small presence from 49ers fans in the Youngstown, Ohio area.

[Pikapower]

DeBartolo built a LOT of malls.  He owned the Pittsburgh franchise in the USFL which was
called the Maulers  (that was a specific job description inside the steel mills, but also a play
on the fact that he made his fortune building malls).

No reason why all of his malls would suffer the same problems as Century III.

Excuse me for jumping to the conclusion of Eastern Hills Mall suffering the same fate as Century III. I could think only one solution to turn this dying mall around, turn it into a power center.

[HannafordHearts]

DeBartolo built a LOT of malls.  He owned the Pittsburgh franchise in the USFL which was
called the Maulers  (that was a specific job description inside the steel mills, but also a play
on the fact that he made his fortune building malls).

No reason why all of his malls would suffer the same problems as Century III.

Not to mention the Randall Park Mall in Ohio, which was once the world's largest mall. It closed in 2009 and is now undergoing demolition.

[Pikapower]

DeBartolo built a LOT of malls.  He owned the Pittsburgh franchise in the USFL which was
called the Maulers  (that was a specific job description inside the steel mills, but also a play
on the fact that he made his fortune building malls).

No reason why all of his malls would suffer the same problems as Century III.

Not to mention the Randall Park Mall in Ohio, which was once the world's largest mall. It closed in 2009 and is now undergoing demolition.

Was the Randall Park Mall in Ohio one of the malls that DeBartolo owned?

[HannafordHearts]

DeBartolo built a LOT of malls.  He owned the Pittsburgh franchise in the USFL which was
called the Maulers  (that was a specific job description inside the steel mills, but also a play
on the fact that he made his fortune building malls).

No reason why all of his malls would suffer the same problems as Century III.

Not to mention the Randall Park Mall in Ohio, which was once the world's largest mall. It closed in 2009 and is now undergoing demolition.

Was the Randall Park Mall in Ohio one of the malls that DeBartolo owned?

Yes, the DeBartolo company built the mall and owned it until 2004, I believe.

[JimSawhill]

DeBartolo built a LOT of malls.  He owned the Pittsburgh franchise in the USFL which was
called the Maulers  (that was a specific job description inside the steel mills, but also a play
on the fact that he made his fortune building malls).

No reason why all of his malls would suffer the same problems as Century III.

Not to mention the Randall Park Mall in Ohio, which was once the world's largest mall. It closed in 2009 and is now undergoing demolition.

Was the Randall Park Mall in Ohio one of the malls that DeBartolo owned?

Yes, the DeBartolo company built the mall and owned it until 2004, I believe.

Seth:

DeBartolo owns International Mall in Tampa. The mall is way upscale...(How upscale? The cheapest car on display is $40,000. At the mall entrance of Neiman Marcus is a Rolls Royce and a McLean F1)

[HannafordHearts]

DeBartolo built a LOT of malls.  He owned the Pittsburgh franchise in the USFL which was
called the Maulers  (that was a specific job description inside the steel mills, but also a play
on the fact that he made his fortune building malls).

No reason why all of his malls would suffer the same problems as Century III.

Not to mention the Randall Park Mall in Ohio, which was once the world's largest mall. It closed in 2009 and is now undergoing demolition.

Was the Randall Park Mall in Ohio one of the malls that DeBartolo owned?

Yes, the DeBartolo company built the mall and owned it until 2004, I believe.

Seth:

DeBartolo owns International Mall in Tampa. The mall is way upscale...(How upscale? The cheapest car on display is $40,000. At the mall entrance of Neiman Marcus is a Rolls Royce and a McLean F1)

Actually, Taubman owns International Plaza, and built it as well.

[Pikapower]

No reason why all of his malls would suffer the same problems as Century III.

Well, maybe there's a slight "sliver" of hope for poor Eastern Hills Mall to prevent it from facing almost the same fate at Century III Mall in Pittsburgh.  :-\

[Pikapower]

If anyone is interested, check out this thread featuring photos of EHM circa 2005 and 2012 the link's below! ;)

http://amesfanclub.com/forum/index.php?topic=234.0

[Pikapower]

First Dave & Buster's leaves Eastern Hills Mall, and now Macy's is closing at  Eastern Hills Mall!

What's next to close at Eastern Hills Mall, well here my wild guess

* Sears
* JCPenney
* The food court
* Bon-Ton

[JimSawhill]

DeBartolo built a LOT of malls.  He owned the Pittsburgh franchise in the USFL which was
called the Maulers  (that was a specific job description inside the steel mills, but also a play
on the fact that he made his fortune building malls).

No reason why all of his malls would suffer the same problems as Century III.

Not to mention the Randall Park Mall in Ohio, which was once the world's largest mall. It closed in 2009 and is now undergoing demolition.

Was the Randall Park Mall in Ohio one of the malls that DeBartolo owned?

Yes, the DeBartolo company built the mall and owned it until 2004, I believe.

Seth:

DeBartolo owns International Mall in Tampa. The mall is way upscale...(How upscale? The cheapest car on display is $40,000. At the mall entrance of Neiman Marcus is a Rolls Royce and a McLean F1)

Actually, Taubman owns International Plaza, and built it as well.

You are correct young man...DeBartolo lives in Tampa..

[MikeinBuffalo]

http://buffalonews.com/2018/03/28/uniland-officially-buys-into-eastern-hills-mall-next-up-town-center/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=puma&utm_medium=social&utm_source=Twitter#link_time=1522268523

Eastern Hills Mall has been bought by Uniland development, and its transformation into an outdoor lifestyle center is now all but certain. Explains why several stores are bailing, including Things Remembered and McKinney's Irish Imports, a mainstay at the mall for years.

[MikeinBuffalo]

Bon Ton is on its way out. Two out of four anchors are now gone. Yet, the mall is pretty full! The food court is not doing so well, having lost Subway and a place that made meat pies.

Does anyone know where the Ground Round was located in this mall? There are two empty fronts in the food court with glass doors and windows, one of which is now a sheriff's substation and the other was a photography studio for a while.

I believe that the old Arby's was walled off.

[Pikapower]

Where was the Arby's at Eastern Hills Mall?

[MikeinBuffalo]

If I'm correct, it was in the very back by the hallway to the restrooms/mall office. It's walled off, but it looks like there once was a counter. There also are holes in the ceiling for signage. I cannot confirm this.

Where was the Arby's at Eastern Hills Mall?

Also, since I last visited, the following stores have closed, moved or are in the process of closing.

Sears (bankrupt)
A Dollar (going out of business, former Steve's Clothing)
Sterling Optical (moved down the street to former Andrew's Jewlery store, which itself moved to a brand new location north of the mall)
Kay Jewelers (moved to new plaza)
Spencer's Gifts (went out of business, original mall tenant)

[MikeinBuffalo]

Three anchors are dead and more than half the tenants have left. They've walled over half the food court to cover up five empty spaces.

Former food court spaces, Eastern Hills Mall by Mike Pesarchick, on Flickr

Pics on my Flickr: https://flic.kr/p/S8iRun

[TheFugitive]

Actually, Taubman owns International Plaza, and built it as well.

Ironically enough, Alfred Taubman owned a franchise in the USFL also
(the Michigan Panthers).

The 49'ers were actually owned by DeBartolo's son, Eddie DeBartolo, Jr.