West Ridge and Long Pond Roads
Monroe County (Town of Greece), New York
When construction dust settled, on March 15, 1994, a new name had been bestowed; THE MALL AT GREECE RIDGE CENTER. The 1.6 million square foot shopopolis contained 215 stores and services. It was billed as the second-largest enclosed mall in the Eastern United States.
The mall's retail roster changed over the years. The first anchor rebranding occurred in April 1990, when Sibley's morphed into a Pittsburgh-based Kaufmann's. Woolworth's folded and was replaced by Dick's Sporting Goods in August 1994. The old J.C. Penney was subdivided into a Burlington, New Jersey-based Burlington Coat Factory (lower level) and Woburn ["woo-burn"], Massachusetts-based Lechmere ["leech-meer"] (upper level). The Burlington store welcomed first customers in April 1995.
McCurdy's had shut down in July 1994. The building was renovated and re-opened as a Kaufmann's; this replacing an original Kaufmann's location in GREECE TOWNE MALL. The vacant Kaufmann's space was assumed by York, Pennsylvania-based The Bon-Ton, who opened for business in August 1996.
Caldor, at the southwest corner of GREECE TOWNE MALL, was shuttered in June 1996. The building was demolished and replaced by the Hoyts Greece Ridge Cinema 12, which was dedicated on July 10, 1998. The cinema became a Regal venue in 2004.
Meanwhile, new stores had opened in THE MALL AT GREECE RIDGE CENTER. These included Old Navy (1994), Bed, Bath & Beyond (1998), Circuit City (1998-2009) and Michaels (1999). A 1-level (124,000 square foot) Target was built -as a freestanding structure- southeast of Sears. The new discount store opened on October 6, 1999. Kaufmann's (in the original LONG RIDGE MALL) was rebranded as a Macy's in September 2006.
Wilmorite Properties had become a subsidiary of the Santa Monica-based Macerich Company in April 2005. In September 2006, the official name of their Greece, New York complex was shortened to THE MALL AT GREECE RIDGE (sans "CENTER").
A renovation of the northeast corner commenced in April 2012. The Bon Ton, which had closed in March, was demolished. It was replaced by a 15 million dollar, open-air lifestyle component, known as the State Street Wing. This housed seven tenants, with five dedicated to food service and two being apparel retailers.
Bar Louie became the first State Street Wing business to open, on October 30, 2013. It was followed by Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Moe's Southwest Grill, Hooplah Frozen Yogurt, LOFT and Chico's. The final business, Benucci's Italian Restaurant, debuted in early 2014. With this renovation, the gross leasable area of THE MALL AT GREECE RIDGE was reduced to 1,537,000 square feet.
Three LONG RIDGE-GREECE RIDGE anchors pulled up stakes. Sears shuttered their 46-year-old store in July 2018, with Macy's closing its two units in March 2025. The abandoned Sears was repurposed as True Storage, which began leasing units in October 2024. The Regal Cinema shut down on March 9, 2023. It briefly re-opened -under the Apple Cinemas banner- in June. The theater closed again and was renovated. It was rededicated in 2025.
York, Pennsylvania's Boscov's chain gutted the center section of the former LONG RIDGE MALL. A 1-level (175,000 square foot) store space was created. The new Boscov's held its official grand opening on November 1, 2025.
Sources:
The (Greater) Greece Press (Rochester, New York)
The Brighton-Pittsford Post (Pittsford, New York)
The Catholic Courier (Rochester, New York)
https://www.cinematreasures.org
https://www.labelscar.com
https://www.greeceridgecenter.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://www.themallatgreeceridge.com
http://www.wilmorite.com / Wilmorite Management Group (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
