The Bon-Ton

[store215]

I'd thought I would start a new topic for this as seeing some other bon-ton related chatter.

There is only one Bon-Ton store near me is in Doylestown, PA. They seem to have better stuff than Kohl's with sales like JcPenney. I don't shop there too often as it is out of the way, but looks like a good store.

There was once a Bon-Ton as an anchor for the Neshaminy Mall in Bensalem, PA until around 1995. (I believe this store was added on later to the mall, i don't know too much history about this paticular mall) It quickly converted into a Boscov's which it still is today.

[Zayre88]

I only know one The Bon-Ton location, in Concord NH at The Steeplegate Mall, the store replaced Steinbach.

[amesman]

There are two Bon Ton stores in Albany, in Wilton Mall, and in Latham on Route 9(former Ames).

[Anonymous]

Which was (before Ames) a Bradlees, and before that (so I have heard) it was one of those membership store (Gem, Gex or such).

Originally posted by amesman
There are two Bon Ton stores in Albany, in Wilton Mall, and in Latham on Route 9(former Ames).

[amesman]

oh, cool. Thanks fr the info man! So, that means the former Ames on Hoosick Street in Troy was the same? They both looked the same.

[Anonymous]

An old Bon-Ton, Looks like a 70's-80's logo:

[Jag67]

Here's one at the Eastern hills Mall that was once an AM&A's. Built in '71.

[Jag67]

This one was also an AM&A's, and before that, Hens & Kelley's. Built in 1961 (Can't you tell??)

[Caldor1999]

the bon ton mankes me think of thoughs frozen treats named BON BON's :insane:

[Jag67]

WHAT IS GOING ON BON TON???!!!

"The Bon Tn" -huh:P

[Jag67]

They are going WAYYYY downhill

(sorry about the double-post, i accidentally put the above in an old post, so it counted it as an edit)

[jmn3]

Even without the missing "O," Bon-Ton just never got up hill in my book.  Ever since they bought out the AM&A's chain, they have never been a store that I enjoy shopping in.  They dismanteled and de-AM&A's-ed everything about the stores ten years ago and really never seem to have caught on in WNY.  Now they seem to be a hybrid of Penney's and Kaufmann's (centralized registers like JCP, and some of the same brand names like Kaufmann's has).  I don't know what it is..but I am just not a Bon Ton fan!

[ameskmart1]

Gift Card

[dayville81]

HAMDEN, CT
The only Bon Ton in CT is in the Hamden Mart shopping plaza. It's sort of like a mix of Filene's and JC Penney. That particular store has a left and right side of the store with the right side considerably bigger. Ramps with glassed off mini stair cases take you from the main part of the store (women's clothes mostly) to the Men and Home Store. Home Store had a good selection of tacky clearance items but also had a good selection of the types of small appliances, domestics, and silverware one would see at a Filene's type store. They have All-Day Shopping Pass coupons and I believe you could get a good deal on something if you timed a % of sale in conjuntion with coupon esp if you sign up for their credit card and get 10% off.

BLOOMSBUG, PA
I was at a Bon Ton a few years ago in Bloomsbug at the Columbia Mall. They have at least two outside entrances and a mall entrance. Was the middle anchor of the mall, only had one floor and in a "small" mall also anchored by Sears, JC Penney, and Hills. Hills became Ames and now Ames sits vacant with its outside Ames sign still standing while the sign at the mall entrance was taken down. They blacked out the windows but I saw the store right after it closed and pretty much it was stripped down to nothing. A large shopping center moved across the highway a few miles away with WalMart and Lowe's and other stores. Some smaller stores in the mall were dependent on the mall traffic from Hills/Ames and consequently closed up. Anyways, this Bon Ton seemed more high-scale than the Hamden one was.

[d_fife]

here is the logo for the bon-ton in warren pa. the mall opened 1979. here is the old school lettering. it is 50,000 square feet.

from http://www.statelineeriezspeedway.com/5th_Turn/Archives/Mall04/MALL%20003.jpg

[d_fife]

Originally posted by d_fife
here is the logo for the bon-ton in warren pa. the mall opened 1979. here is the old school lettering.

from http://www.statelineeriezspeedway.com/5th_Turn/Archives/Mall04/MALL%20003.jpg

here is the bon-ton inside entrance to the warren mall pennsylvania location.

from http://www.statelineeriezspeedway.com/5th_Turn/Archives/Mall04/MALL%20014.jpg

[d_fife]

the bon-ton near albany is in latham. I haven't seen it yet. There are a lot I hear around Bufallo new york. There is a BOn-ton in the university mall in south burlington vermont where steinbach was and it is 60,000 square efet.

In COncord NH Bon-ton replaced the 51,000 square foot SAge Allen in november 1999 and in november 1999 it replaced 36,000 square feet of the old 53,000 square foot STeinbach.

there is a bon-ton in Glens falls new york where caldor was. there is one in SAratoga mall. one in massena in the st. lawrence centre mall.

this is the picture of the indoor entrance of the bon-ton the aviation mall in glens falls / queensbury new york.

from http://www.pyramidmg.com/portfolio/aviation_mall.asp

[d_fife]

the bon-ton is closing in the walden galleria mall. it said it is 150,000 square feet and it closes later this month!!! WHY IS IT CLOSING. IT said the one in eastern hills will be the largest when it closes!

[jmn3]

Basically that store at Galleria never really fit the Bon-Ton's mold.  For that matter, that building made no sense for Bon-Ton's predecessor, AM&A's.  The building was originally built in 1989 with the rest of the mall and was designed for the upscale NYC-based chain, B Altman & Co.  Very fancy marble floors and chandeliers are incorporated throughout the building.  Altman's went out of business in 1989 just as the mall was opening.  Signage went up on the store but the chain never actually opened up at Galleria.  

Originally, AM&A's was not an anchor at the mall.  They were still operating a store at the Thruway Mall down the street.  AM&A's original plan was to open a Galleria store around '90 or '91 when their Thruway Mall lease expired.  Instead of constructing a new building for AM&A's (I believe it was to be located in the rear of the mall where DSW/Steve & Barry's is currently), AM&A's just opted to go into the vacant Altman's space.  This was a very Buffalo-chain - middle class merchandise, nothing extremely fancy.  Compared to the other AM&A's locations, the Galleria store was ten times fancier.  

When Bon-Ton took over in 1995, they also never fit into the mold of that location.  It always seemed something was off in there.  Both chains tried to make that location more upscale, at the same time alienating the thing that made the chains attractive to their core buyers, the middle class.  I don't think their sales were ever that great at Galleria - and as the top shopping destination in WNY, the rent must have been much much more than their other locations (those that they don't actually own outright).

The big question is what will open in Bon-Ton's place?  Everyone would love to see a Nordstrom, but I don't think the market is there to support it.  H&M is located in all of the other I-90 cities (Rochester, Syracuse, Albany)...it would make sense for them to open an outlet, but even one floor of Bon-Ton would be too big.  I think they need to target an upscale retailer (a la Nordstrom or maybe convince Federated to open a Bloomingdale's).  Galleria doesn't really have any top-shelf anchors.  Lord & Taylor is the only upscale retailer, followed by Kaufmann's (Macy's).  There needs to be something high-end to balance out JCPenney and Sears.

[amesman]

Eastern New York doesn't have as many Bon Tons as Western New York does. There's only two locations in Albany(Latham and Saratoga), and locations in Glens Falls, Syracuse, and I think that's it for Eastern NY.

[KyleRF]

There is no The Bon-Ton by me, but when I was vacationing in the Poconos, I went to the one in the Stroud Mall in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Pretty nice store, I guess. One floor, pretty large.

[d_fife]

here is the inside of bon-ton in newburgh ny in the newburgh mall

from http://www.urbanretail.com/urpweb.nsf/Properties?OpenFrameset

[BillyGr]

Originally posted by amesman
There are two Bon Ton stores in Albany, in Wilton Mall, and in Latham on Route 9(former Ames).

Here's a picture of the Latahm store (former Ames, Bradlees, membership store)

[StarSage]

Originally posted by amesman
Eastern New York doesn't have as many Bon Tons as Western New York does. There's only two locations in Albany(Latham and Saratoga), and locations in Glens Falls, Syracuse, and I think that's it for Eastern NY.

There's a Bon Ton in Big Flats, New York (near Elmira) at the Arnot Mall

[d_fife]

this bon ton in latham ny looks wierd.

[d_fife]

bon-ton hamden ct in hamden mart

[d_fife]

bonton in massena ny in mall that opened in 1990.

[d_fife]

bon ton in watertown ny in the mall

[d_fife]

Originally posted by d_fife
bon ton in watertown ny in the mall

watertown ny

[KyleRF]

Does anyone have any pictures of the Bon Ton in Brick, New Jersey, Phillipdsburg, New Jersey, or Westfield, Massachusetts?