THE MALL AT GREECE RIDGE (CENTER)
West Ridge and Long Pond Roads
Monroe County (Town of Greece), New York

Rochester's Wilmorite Properties acquired LONG RIDGE MALL and, in March 1993, embarked on a 70 million dollar project to merge two adjacent shopping centers into a single structure. A connecting corridor was built which extended between the TOWNE MALL west entrance and McCurdy's store at LONG RIDGE MALL.

When the remodeled complex was dedicated on March 15, 1994, a new name had been bestowed; THE MALL AT GREECE RIDGE CENTER. The 1.5 million square foot shopopolis contained 215 stores and services and was billed as the second-largest enclosed mall in the Eastern United States.

A 2-level (164,400 square foot) J.C. Penney was the centerpiece of the connecting concourse. The store was dedicated May 4, 1994. A 9-bay Food Court was also housed in the new mall section. Existing structures were given interior and exterior face lifts to make them more consistent with new construction.

The mall's retail roster changed over the years. The first anchor rebranding occurred in April 1990, when Sibley's became 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 its 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 location in the old (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 the old (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 an outparcel- southeast of Sears. The new discount store opened in the fall of 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, made its debut in early 2014.

With this renovation, the gross leasable area of THE MALL AT GREECE RIDGE was reduced to 1,537,000 square feet. A charter LONG RIDGE / GREECE RIDGE anchor pulled up stakes in July 2018. Sears shuttered their 46-year-old store as part of their 2010s retail retreat.

Sources:

The Democrat Chronicle (Rochester, New York)

The Greater Greece Press (Rochester, New York)
The Catholic Courier (Rochester, New York)
http:''www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.labelscar.com
http://www.greeceridgecenter.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
www.wilmorite.com / Wilmorite Management Group