The Summit, formerly Summit Park Mall, was an enclosed

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

Wheatfield, New York Wheatfield is a town in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 18,117 at the 2010 census. The name stems from the agricultural use of the town lands, the growing of wheat. The Town of Wheatfield is east of Niagara Falls In ...

. Opened in 1972, the mall became largely vacant by the late 1990s. It underwent renovations in 2004 and 2005 which added new

anchor store In North American, Australian and New Zealand retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are ...

s and tenants, but after the mall's developers filed for

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

protection in 2009, the complex was closed except for three

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

The Bon-Ton Bonton Holdings Inc. operating as Bonton () was an American department store chain and group founded in 1898. It operated in Western New York, Pennsylvania, Western Maryland, and throughout the Midwestern United States. The former York, Pennsy ...

and

Save-A-Lot Save A Lot Food Stores Ltd. is an American discount supermarket chain store headquartered in St. Ann, Missouri, in Greater St. Louis. It has about 720 independently owned and operated stores across 32 states in the United States with over ...

, with two more vacant anchors last occupied by

Steve & Barry's Steve & Barry's was an American retail clothing chain, featuring casual clothing, footwear and accessories. Headquartered in Port Washington, New York, the chain operated 276 stores in 39 states before liquidating throughout 2008 and 2009. The ...

and a

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

closeout store. As of September 2017, Save-A-Lot has closed permanently, leaving only Sears and The Bon-Ton still open in the mall. On April 18, 2018, it was announced that The Bon-Ton would be closing in August 2018 as it is going out of business, leaving Sears as the only tenant left. On May 7, 2018, Sears announced that would also be closing in August 2018. In December 2019, within Sears' old location, The Niagara International Sports & Entertainment facility opened. In 2020, a plan was proposed to revitalize the location, converting part of the mall into mixed use spaces, as well as offering lodging for visitors. Developers plan to expand the project to eventually include ice rinks, shops, and eateries. The Summit was located on Williams Road, south of

US 62 U.S. Route 62 or U.S. Highway 62 (US 62) is an east–west United States Highway in the southern and northeastern United States. It runs from the Mexican border at El Paso, Texas, to Niagara Falls, New York, near the Canadian bo ...

(Niagara Falls Boulevard) and north of

NY 265 New York State Route 265 (NY 265) is a long state highway located in the western part of New York (state), New York in the United States. NY 265 is a north–south route that roughly parallels the western parts of the Niagar ...

and

NY 384 New York State Route 384 (NY 384) is a state highway in Western New York in the United States. It is a north–south route extending from the city of Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, Erie County, New York, Erie County to the city of Niagara ...

(River Road).

History

The original

s of Summit Park Mall were

and three local department stores: AM&A's (bought out by

in 1995),

Hens & Kelly Hens and Kelly, established in 1892 by Mathias J. Hens and Patrick J. Kelly, was a chain of department stores based in Buffalo, New York. They were early adopters of S&H Green Stamps as a promotional incentive for repeat customers. The downtown s ...

, and Jenss, with other major tenants including

Child World Child World was an American toy retailer founded in 1962. It grew to 182 sites and revenues of $830 million (~$ in ) before failing in 1992. It was known for the distinctive stylized castle store exterior adopted after its 1975 purchase of the C ...

and McCrory. Hens & Kelly moved out in 1982, and remained vacant until October 1992, when

opened its first closeout store in the space. Also in 1992, Child World closed its store, which was converted to a

Toys "R" Us Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1948 in Washington, D.C.; its first store was built in April 1948, with i ...

by year's end. The Macy's closeout store closed in 1995 and was never replaced by another anchor. By the late 1990s, the mall was 40% vacant, and its owners had expressed interest in converting portions of it to office space. Jenss closed in 1998. In 2004, a local developer purchased the mall for $5 million, with plans to rename the complex Destination Niagara USA. At that point, the mall was 65% vacant. The mall was then renamed The Summit, and new tenants were added, including a

, which opened in 2005 in the former Jenss space, a children's play center in the former McCrory and the Niagara Aerospace Museum, although this institution later moved to the former Niagara Falls International Airport's old terminal on Niagara Falls Boulevard. The mall's sales increased by 18% in 2007. Toys "R" Us closed its store in early 2006 as part of the chain's reorganization plan. Two years later, a

grocery store opened in half of the Toys "R" Us building. Steve & Barry's closed in 2008. In May 2009, the mall's owners, Oberlin Plaza One, announced that the mall would close on June 6 following the company's filing for

protection. At the time, twenty-five stores operated within the mall. The mall was allowed to stay open beyond this date after the U.S. Bankruptcy Court decided to extend the deadline for closure, although many of the twenty-five remaining tenants relocated. By August 2009, the mall's last three inline tenants moved out, leaving only Sears, The Bon-Ton and Save-A-Lot operational until its closure. In January 2013, the mall building was flooded with up to six inches of water from a pipe, in what was believed by

Niagara County Niagara County is in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 212,666. The county seat is Lockport. The county name is from the Iroquois word ''Onguiaahra''; meaning ''the strait'' or ''thunder of ...

police to be an act of vandalism. In March 2014 Zoran Cocov purchased the mall for 4.2 million dollars. Cocov revealed plans in late 2014 to revive the space adding stores, museums, a sportsplex, wine tasting center, and a

business incubator A business incubator is an organization that helps startup companies and individual entrepreneurs to develop their businesses by providing a fullscale range of services, starting with management training and office space, and ending with venture ...

. Cocov also received tax breaks for 700,000 dollars for five years for renovations to revive the space. In 2016, it was announced that a brewery project was to be added to the current mall project. In 2018 both the Sears and Bon-Ton anchor locations at the mall began liquidation sales due to declining sales locally and nationally. This represented the final ceasing of the mall as an operating retail complex pending other plans. The Niagara International Sports and Entertainment Center project was estimated to finish by the fourth quarter of 2018. However, recent site revision complications have delayed some of these plans. Currently operating in the mall is Niagara International Sports & Entertainment (www.niseevents.com), 7 Gates Screampark (www.7gatesniagara.com), Play University (www.theplayuniversity.com), and others...

References

External links

Summit Park Mall at deadmalls.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Summit Abandoned shopping malls in the United States Shopping malls established in 1972 Shopping malls in New York (state)