Sunrise Highway and North Bedford Avenue
Suffolk County (Town of Islip), New York
The fifth shopping mall on Long Island would be the last of its newly-built, open air shopping centers. It was developed on an 85-acre tract, located 46.6 miles east of Times Square, in Suffolk County's Town of Islip.
SOUTH SHORE MALL was built by R.H. Macy & Company and the Seattle-based Winmar Realty Company. Ground was broken on February 6, 1962. Macy's would anchor the original 685,000 square foot shopping venue with a 3-level (318,800 square foot) store. This location, the ninth in the chain, held its grand opening on August 29, 1963.
The mall's original forty-five stores and services opened in stages, beginning on August 29th. On October 3rd, a "3-Day Welcome Celebration" commenced. This included the "1964 Auto Show On The Mall" and "Hootenanny '63." Nine folk-singing acts were presented in this hour & a half program. All the while, free admission tickets to the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair were given out. The dedication festivities ended with a Fireworks Spectacular, held in the north parking area, on the evening of October 5th.
Charter mall tenants included Bond Clothes, Pergament Paint & Wallpaper, Walgreen Drug, Hartfield's ladies' wear, Lorry's Town & Countyman men's wear, Luane's Card & Party Center, a Hills Super Saving Center grocery and F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10.
Work commenced on a 3-level (202,100 square foot) J.C. Penney in April 1966. The store made its debut on April 6, 1967. Its grand opening was followed by the August 2, 1967 dedication of the freestanding Loew's South Shore Mall Theatre. With these improvements, the shopping complex spanned approximately 802,100 leasable square feet.
A 3-level (240,000 square foot) Gimbels-New York was proposed as an addition to SOUTH SHORE MALL in September 1971, but the store was never built. However, Captree Corners welcomed its first shoppers in March 1976. This marina-motif mall-within-a-mall housed boutiques such as World of Music (music boxes), Timely Treasures (clocks & timepieces) and Along the Navajo Trail (Native American handicrafts). The Fabulous Food Four, a group of restaurants, included Nino's pizzeria, Charlie's Coney Island Hot Dogs, Rickshaw Chinese and Breyer's Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Parlour.
Major shopping centers in the SOUTH SHORE MALL trade area included GARDINER MANOR CENTER (1959) {1.7 miles southeast, in Suffolk County}, WALT WHITMAN
CENTER (1962) {9.9 miles northwest, in Suffolk County}, SMITH HAVEN
MALL (1969) {10.3 miles northeast, also in Suffolk County} and SUNRISE
MALL (1973-2022) {10.4 miles southwest, in Nassau County}.
To compete effectively with these -and other- shopping centers, SOUTH SHORE MALL was fully-enclosed and climate-controlled. This renovation was completed in early 1975. On October 29, 1978, the mall's movie house re-opened as the Loew's South Shore Mall Twin.
To compete effectively with these -and other- shopping centers, SOUTH SHORE MALL was fully-enclosed and climate-controlled. This renovation was completed in early 1975. On October 29, 1978, the mall's movie house re-opened as the Loew's South Shore Mall Twin.
Australia's Westfield acquired the shopping complex in November 1986. The next major SOUTH SHORE MALL remodeling got underway in 1996. As part of this 45 million dollar project, the northern end of the center was demolished. 40,000 square feet of inline store space was added, along with a newly-built, 3-level (216,300 square foot) Sears. This store opened on September 17, 1997.
Interior common area was also refurbished with new flooring and skylights and a 10-bay Food Court was installed in existing store space. The remodeling was completed with the dedication of a 2-level (120,000 square foot) Lord & Taylor, which was held on November 18, 1998. At this time, the official name of the retail hub was changed to WESTFIELD SHOPPINGTOWN SOUTH SHORE. This was truncated to WESTFIELD SOUTH SHORE in June 2005.
Westfield embarked on an 80 million dollar renovation of their property in 2012. New tiled floors were installed, along with updated lighting. Restrooms were revamped and the Food Court rebuilt to reflect a more upscale "cafe-style dining experience."
The circa-1963 Macy's had been shuttered on March 5, 2012. The building was demolished and replaced by a new (200,000 square foot) store. It held its grand opening August 24, 2013. On the exterior of the mall, entrances were rebuilt. Moreover, a small restaurant Streetscape was installed on the southeast corner. The Cheesecake Factory welcomed its first diners on December 9, 2014. Blaze Fast Fire d'Pizza opened January 15, 2015.
With these modifications, WESTFIELD SOUTH SHORE housed approximately 1,184,300 leasable square feet, with a retail roster of 115 stores and services. Sears pulled the proverbial plug on their WESTFIELD SOUTH SHORE store in May 2015. The building was renovated. It re-opened, as a Dick's Sporting Goods, on April 21, 2017.
Westfield's American and European property portfolio was merged into the holdings of Paris-based Unibail-Rodamco in June 2018. A new company, known as Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield was created. Westfield shopping centers in Australia and New Zealand were not included in the merger.
The circa-1963 Macy's had been shuttered on March 5, 2012. The building was demolished and replaced by a new (200,000 square foot) store. It held its grand opening August 24, 2013. On the exterior of the mall, entrances were rebuilt. Moreover, a small restaurant Streetscape was installed on the southeast corner. The Cheesecake Factory welcomed its first diners on December 9, 2014. Blaze Fast Fire d'Pizza opened January 15, 2015.
With these modifications, WESTFIELD SOUTH SHORE housed approximately 1,184,300 leasable square feet, with a retail roster of 115 stores and services. Sears pulled the proverbial plug on their WESTFIELD SOUTH SHORE store in May 2015. The building was renovated. It re-opened, as a Dick's Sporting Goods, on April 21, 2017.
Westfield's American and European property portfolio was merged into the holdings of Paris-based Unibail-Rodamco in June 2018. A new company, known as Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield was created. Westfield shopping centers in Australia and New Zealand were not included in the merger.
The shuttering of the Lord & Taylor chain left WESTFIELD SOUTH SHORE with a vacant anchor space. Lord & Taylor closed their 22-year-old mall store on December 29, 2020. Three years later, the shopping complex changed hands. It was sold to a joint venture of Great Neck, New York's Namdar Realty Group and Mason Asset Management in January 2023. Following the close of the sale, the name of the shopping hub reverted back to SOUTH SHORE MALL.
Sources:
The New York Times
The New York Times
The Long Island Advance (Hempstead, New York)
The Islip Bulletin (Patchogue, New York)
Suffolk County News (Patchogue, New York)
The Islip Bulletin (Patchogue, New York)
Suffolk County News (Patchogue, New York)
Newsday Suffolk Edition (Melville, New York)
http://www.fultonhistory.com / Old Fulton NY Post Cards By Tom Tryniski
http://www.westfield.com / The Westfield Group)
Suffolk County, New York tax assessor website
http://www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.reuters.com
http://www.fultonhistory.com / Old Fulton NY Post Cards By Tom Tryniski
http://www.westfield.com / The Westfield Group)
Suffolk County, New York tax assessor website
http://www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.reuters.com
