Crossgates Commons is a large shopping plaza in Albany,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

along Washington Avenue Extension. It is owned and managed by Pyramid Management Group, Inc., who also own and manage the nearby Crossgates Mall.

History

Crossgates Commons is built within the Albany Pine Bush, one of the largest of the world's 20 inland

pine barrens Pine barrens, pine plains, sand plains, or pineland areas occur throughout the U.S. from Florida to Maine (see Atlantic coastal pine barrens) as well as the Midwest, West, and Canada and parts of Eurasia. Perhaps the most well known pine-barre ...

. When Europeans arrived in the early 17th century, the Pine Bush was in use as hunting grounds and firewood supply of the

Mohawk nation The Mohawk, also known by their own name, (), are an Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous people of North America and the easternmost nation of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the Five Nations or later the ...

of the

Haudenosaunee The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

to the west along the Mohawk River, and the

Mahican The Mohicans ( or ) are an Eastern Algonquian Native American tribe that historically spoke an Algonquian language. As part of the Eastern Algonquian family of tribes, they are related to the neighboring Lenape, whose indigenous territory was ...

to the east, along the Hudson River. One of the largest remaining remnants of the Pine Bush is located across Washington Avenue from the plaza, and is managed as the Pine Bush Preserve. When the shopping center first opened in 1994, it had six original tenants:

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

(then branded as Wal-Mart),

Sam's Club Sam's West, Inc. (doing business as Sam's Club) is a chain of membership-only warehouse club retail stores in the United States owned by Walmart. It was founded in 1983 and named after Walmart founder Sam Walton as Sam's Wholesale Club. , Sam's ...

Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., often referred to as Home Depot, is an American multinational corporation, multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportat ...

Media Play Media Play was a chain of retail stores founded in 1992 by Musicland that sold VHS, DVDs, laserdiscs, music, electronics, toys, video games, anime, books, and board games similar to Hastings Entertainment, 2nd and Charles, and Half Price Boo ...

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, San Francisco, Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of t ...

, and MJ Designs. The Walmart located at Crossgates Commons became the largest Walmart in the United States (and the largest outside of China) in 2008, when it expanded into a Walmart Supercenter, now occupying over two floors.

Description

The shopping center has a split-level design with stores on the upper level accessible from the front and stores on the lower level accessible from the rear. It opened in 1994 and has of retail space. Although Crossgates Commons is relatively young, it has already undergone an expansion, and some locations have had high turnover rates.

Square footage

The Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., often referred to as Home Depot, is an American multinational corporation, multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportat ...

() * Michael's () * At Home () *

() * T.J. Maxx ()

References

External links

Crossgates Commons (Pyramid Company web site)Crossgates Mall
{{Shopping malls in Upstate New York The Pyramid Companies Buildings and structures in Albany, New York Guilderland, New York Shopping malls in Albany County, New York Tourist attractions in Albany, New York