The Galleria at White Plains is a soon to be defunct

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 ...

located in downtown

White Plains, New York (Always Faithful) , image_seal = WhitePlainsSeal.png , seal_link = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = U.S. state, State , su ...

, US, a commercial and residential suburb north of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. As of 2023, the mall currently maintains the major retail staple H&M. On December 21, 2022, it was announced that the Galleria at White Plains will be permanently closing in March 2023 to replace the mall with a mixed use site.

History

Built by Cadillac Fairview, a Canadian developer, the , four-level mall is located on two large city blocks of former

urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...

land. It opened in the summer of 1980 and was the first of three Gallerias to open in the fall of 1980 around the nation, the others being Sherman Oaks and

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

. Its anchor stores are

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

and Sears, which were relocated to the mall from nearby locations on Main Street to replace the original anchor stores. Abraham & Straus occupied the east anchor spot until converting to Stern's in 1995 and being replaced by

on July 15, 2001. The west anchor

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 ...

closed on April 28, 2001, and was left vacant until September 2003 when Sears moved in. Martin Luther King Blvd. runs directly underneath the mall. The Galleria was constructed adjacent to a large two-block-long parking garage that is connected directly to the mall at various levels. Shopping floors were color coded blue, green, yellow, and red representing Street Level, Garden Level, the Garden food court area, and Fashion Level 1 and 2, respectively when the mall opened. During the holiday season, the mall's promotional slogan was "We bring more good things to Christmas." The Galleria underwent a substantial renovation in the 1990s that undid many original elements; the glass elevator is the only significant feature dating from the mall's opening that survives relatively untouched. During the 1990s remodel, the waterfall and stage in the center court were replaced with two miniature fountains between the escalators. In recent years, the mall has experienced competition from newer and more upscale retail developments, such as The Westchester mall and

The Source at White Plains The Source at White Plains is a large urban-style shopping complex in downtown White Plains, New York, owned and managed by 'New England Development'. The Source is located next to The Westchester and Crowne Plaza hotel, and features several major b ...

. A late 1990s promotional advertisement featured the tag line "Shopping for the real world," a subtle jab at the more upscale and affluent clientele and stores at The Westchester roughly a half-mile away. On September 18, 2006, Philip Grant, a homeless man with a track record of sex offenses including rape, was convicted in NY State Supreme Court at White Plains of murder as a hate crime for stabbing Concetta Russo-Carriero to death in a Galleria parking garage on June 29, 2005. Interior shots of the mall were used in the 2018 film ''

Eighth Grade Eighth grade (or grade eight in some regions) is the eighth post-kindergarten year of formal education in the US. The eighth grade is the ninth school year, the second, third, fourth, or final year of middle school, or the second and/or final ye ...

'' as well as the 2022 film ''

Somewhere in Queens ''Somewhere in Queens'' is a 2022 American comedy film directed by Ray Romano from a screenplay by Romano and Mark Stegemann. The film stars Laurie Metcalf and Romano. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 10, 2022. It is scheduled ...

''. On November 10, 2020, it was announced Sears would close. On January 5, 2021, Macy's announced as part of a strategy to focus on their highest achieving locations that they would be closing. In November 2022, it was announced that the owners of The Galleria at White Plains are teaming up with two prominent development firms to update the mall as a vibrant mixed-use center which will be enfolded by residential development and amenity-based retail. One of the developers, Louis R. Cappelli, has had a presence in White Plains for decades and is known for developing the nearby 46-story Ritz-Carlton towers. On December 21, 2022, PRCP announced that the Galleria at White Plains would close in March, 2023 for redevelopment.

Current Junior anchor store

* H&M

Former anchor stores

* Abraham & Straus (opened in 1981 and closed in 1995 and became Stern's) * Stern's (opened in 1995 in the former Abraham & Straus space and closed in 2001 and became Macy's) *

(opened in 1981 and closed in 2001 and became Sears) * Sears (opened in 2003 in the former JCPenney space and closed on January 24, 2021) *

(opened in 1996 in the former Stern's space and closed on March 21, 2021) *

Forever 21 Forever 21 is a multinational fast fashion retailer headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. Originally founded as the store Fashion 21 in Highland Park, Los Angeles in 1984,Forever 21History & Facts, n.d. Retrieved 27 April 2014 ...

(opened in 2013 and closed in 2023)

References

External links

Galleria at White Plains official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galleria at White Plains, The Buildings and structures in White Plains, New York Shopping malls in New York (state) Defunct shopping malls in the United States Shopping malls established in 1980 Shopping malls in the New York metropolitan area Shopping malls disestablished in 2023