Walt Whitman Shops (formerly known as Walt Whitman Mall) is a

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 ...

Huntington Station, New York Huntington Station is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Huntington in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York. The population was 33,029 at the 2010 census. History The hamlet was named for its railroad station, ...

Suffolk County, New York Suffolk County () is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of New York. It is mainly located on the eastern end of Long Island, but also includes several smaller islands. According to the 2020 United States census, the county's populatio ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. As of 2022, the mall currently features

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. Bloomingdale, Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the bus ...

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

Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street and ...

. The mall currently features notable brands

Lululemon lululemon athletica inc. (; styled in all lowercase) is a Canadian multinational athletic apparel retailer headquartered in British Columbia and incorporated in Delaware, United States. It was founded in 1998 as a retailer of yoga pants and ot ...

Brooks Brothers Brooks Brothers, founded in Manhattan, New York, in 1818, is the oldest apparel brand in continuous operation in America. Originally a family business, Brooks Brothers produces clothing for men, women and children, as well as home furnishings. B ...

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its produc ...

Vineyard Vines Vineyard Vines is an American clothing and accessory retailer founded in 1998 in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, by brothers Shep and Ian Murray. The brand markets high-end ties, hats, belts, shirts, shorts, swimwear, bags for men, women, an ...

Kate Spade New York Kate Spade New York is an American fashion house founded in January 1993 by Kate and Andy Spade. Kate Spade New York competes with Michael Kors. In 2017, the company was purchased by Tapestry, Inc., formerly known as Coach, Inc. Business hist ...

, and

Madewell J.Crew Group, Inc., is an American multi-brand, multi-channel, specialty retailer. The company offers an assortment of women's, men's, and children's apparel and accessories, including swimwear, outerwear, lounge-wear, bags, sweaters, denim, dr ...

The mall is owned and managed by

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 Indian ...

, one of the largest developers of shopping malls in the US. The mall is named for the poet

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...

due to the close proximity to his birthplace, a US National Historic Site, located near the mall.

Incidents

*November 13, 1984: A fire destroyed seven stores and damaged 25 others in the 76-store mall. *May 16, 1991: In 1993, a McCrory's worker pleaded guilty to tossing a lit cigarette into a display of silk flowers set on a block of styrofoam, causing significant damage to the store and killing two of his coworkers aged 20 and 27. *February 22, 2014: A carbon monoxide leak in a restaurant complex consisting of

Legal Sea Foods Legal Sea Foods is an American restaurant chain of casual-dining seafood restaurants mostly located in the Northeastern region of the United States. The current company headquarters is located in the South Boston Seaport District and as of 202 ...

The Cheesecake Factory The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is an American restaurant company and distributor of cheesecakes based in the United States. The company operates 219 full-service restaurants: 206 under The Cheesecake Factory brand and 13 under the Grand Lux ...

, and

Panera Bread Panera Bread is an American chain store of bakery-café fast casual restaurants with over 2,000 locations, all of which are in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters are in Sunset Hills, Missouri. The company operates as Saint Louis ...

attached to the mall killed one person and sickened 28 others. All three restaurants were evacuated.

Anchors

(225,000 square feet, 2 floors above ground, 1 floor below ground) Opened in 1962 as Macy's. Closed for renovation in 1998 and reopened as a Bloomingdale's. Macy's had opened in 1995 in the much larger spot vacated by Abraham & Straus that same year. This resulted in two Macy's stores at the same mall for over two years. *

(315,000 square feet, 3 floors above ground, 1 floor below ground) Opened in 1962 as Abraham & Straus, which was then closed and converted to Macy's in 1995. *

(100,000 square feet, 2 floors above ground) Opened in 1999 in mall expansion replacing the former McCrory Store which had closed in 1991 after being destroyed in a fire. This location is the only branch location in the state of New York, save for the flagship store in

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...

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 ...

Previous anchors

Abraham & Straus Abraham & Straus, commonly shortened to A&S, was a major New York City department store, based in Brooklyn. Founded in 1865, it became part of Federated Department Stores in 1929. Shortly after Federated's 1994 acquisition of R.H. Macy & Company ...

(original store) *

McCrory Stores McCrory Stores or J.G. McCrory's was a chain of five and dime stores in the United States based in York, Pennsylvania. The stores typically sold shoes, clothing, housewares, fabrics, penny candy, toys, cosmetics, and often included a lunch coun ...

Lord & Taylor Lord & Taylor was the oldest brick and mortar department store in the United States, in business from 1826 to 2020. The brand was purchased during former owner Le Tote's 2020 liquidation bankruptcy and relaunched by new owner, Saadia Group, as ...

References

External links

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Labelscar Retail History Blog
{{Walt Whitman Simon Property Group Shopping malls in New York (state) Huntington, New York Buildings and structures in Suffolk County, New York Tourist attractions in Suffolk County, New York Shopping malls in the New York metropolitan area Shopping malls established in 1962 1962 establishments in New York (state)