Chautauqua Mall is an enclosed

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

Lakewood, New York Lakewood is a village in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 2,993 at the 2020 census. The village is in the northern part of the town of Busti. Geography Lakewood is located at (42.100929, -79.321919), at the south ...

. Opened in 1971, the mall's anchor stores are

Planet Fitness Planet Fitness (PFIP LLC) is an American franchisor and operator of fitness centers based in Hampton, New Hampshire. The company reports that it has 2,039 clubs, making it one of the largest fitness club franchises by number of members and loc ...

Jo-Ann Fabrics Jo-Ann Stores, LLC, more commonly known as Jo-Ann (stylized as JOANN), is an American specialty retailer of crafts and fabrics based in Hudson, Ohio. It operates the retail chains ''JOANN Fabrics and Crafts'' and ''Jo-Ann Etc''. The headquarte ...

Dipson Theatres Dipson Theaters is a movie theater chain based in Western New York. History Dipson Theatres, Inc. began in 1939 in Batavia, NY. In 1939 Nikitas Dipson also moved into the Buffalo, NY region, acquiring three theaters Michael Shea (businessman), ...

, and

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...

. The mall is owned and managed by

Kohan Retail Investment Group Kohan Retail Investment Group is a shopping mall investment company based in Great Neck, New York. They primarily purchase endangered/troubled shopping malls. History Kohan bought Northland Mall from Developers Diversified Realty for $1.8 mill ...

History

The mall opened in 1971 under the development of Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr. (whose company is now part of

Simon Property Group Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/lifestyle centers. It is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States and is headquartered in India ...

), with

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

, Woolworth,

, and Quality Markets as its anchor stores. JCPenney vacated its store in 1986, which was later mostly converted to Jamesway that same year. (The remaining space was converted to Present Company). This new Jamesway store, the 100th in the chain, was a replacement for the first store in the Jamesway chain, located in nearby Jamestown. Jamesway and Woolworth closed in 1993, and Quality Markets moved outside the mall. In 1997, JCPenney returned to the mall in the portion of the former Jamesway space, while the former Woolworth store was expanded to become a

Bon-Ton Bon-Ton Holdings Inc. is an American online retailer and former department store chain founded in 1898. After rapid expansion in the 1990s and early 2000s, the original company had financial troubles, ultimately filing for bankruptcy in 2018 ...

. The remainder of the former Jamesway space later became OfficeMax. Several new stores were also added, including

Old Navy Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of the Old Navy stores are its ...

, Gap/GapKids,

Spencer Gifts Spencer Gifts LLC, doing business as Spencer's, is a North American mall retailer with over 600 stores in the United States and Canada. Its stores specialize in novelty and gag gifts, and also sell clothing, band merchandise, sex toys, room dec ...

, new locations for

Electronics Boutique EB Games (formerly known as Electronics Boutique and EB World) is an American computer and video games retailer. First established as an American company in 1977 by James Kim with a single electronics-focused location in the King of Prussia mal ...

and

Hallmark Cards Hallmark Cards, Inc. is a private, family-owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark is the oldest and largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In 1985, the company was award ...

, and a food court. The food court closed in 1999 due to the original owner of its vendors withdrawing from the mall, but it reopened that same year with

Orange Julius Orange Julius is an American chain of fruit drink beverage stores. It has been in business since the late 1920s and is noted for a particular drink, also called an Orange Julius. The beverage is a mixture of ice, orange juice, sweetener, milk, p ...

, Hot Stuff Pizza, and Mean Gene's Burgers. All of the restaurants closed by 2002, but the food court soon reopened again with local tenants and a Subway. In 2013, an Olive Garden restaurant opened in front of the mall. The Bon-Ton closed on August 29, 2018. On February 19, 2021, it was announced that

Ollie's Bargain Outlet Ollie's Bargain Outlet is an American chain of discount closeout retailers. It was founded in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania in 1982 by Morton Bernstein and Mark L. Butler with backing from Harry Coverman and Oliver E. "Ollie" Rosenberg; the latter ...

would open. In 2022, Kohan Retail Investment Group would become the new owners of Chautauqua Mall

References

External links

Chautauqua Mall
{{Shopping malls in Upstate New York Shopping malls established in 1971 Shopping malls in New York (state) Buildings and structures in Chautauqua County, New York Tourist attractions in Chautauqua County, New York 1971 establishments in New York (state) Kohan Retail Investment Group