The shopping concourse at LONG RIDGE was decorated by several works of art. Here we see the Baschet Brothers Sculpture Number 1, which was a fixture of the mall's North -or McCurdy's- Court.
Photo from http://www.greecemallanthology.com / George Rhoads & Susan Park
"We've covered everything" was the slogan heard when LONG RIDGE PLAZA held its grand opening, in the fall of 1971. This circa-1972 plan shows the two separate -side by side- shopping venues. The newer complex, on the left, has sixty-five stores. It is nearly twice the size of its older rival on the right, which houses only forty-six.
LONG RIDGE MALL TENANTS 1972:
McCURDY'S (with Community Center auditorium and Country Kitchen restaurant) / B. FORMAN / J.B. HUNTER / SEARS (with Coffee House and attached Auto Center) / F.W. WOOLWORTH 5 & 10 (with Village Grill and Harvest House Grill Cafeteria) / STAR MARKETS (outparcel) / Animal Green toys / Bathique / Baker's Shoes / Bond Clothes / Candlelight Gifts / Carousel Snack Bar / Cheese Shop / Chess King / Children's Photographer / Community Savings Bank / Country Kettle / Delton Shoes / Disc Records / Dick Fischer Sporting Goods / Fanny Farmer Candies / Father & Son Shoes / Florsheim Shoes / Foxmoor Casuals / Friendly's Ice Cream / Hanover Shoes / Heath Kit / Hershberg's Jewelers / Hot Sam Pretzels / Interior Systems electronics / Jack B. Nimble Photographers / Jeans West / Jo-Ann Fabrics / Kennedy's of New England / Kinney Shoes / Lane Bryant / Lerner Shops / Lincoln Rochester Trust Company / Mary Jane Shoes / Maternity Modes / National Shirt Shops / Nature Food Centers / Nobil Shoes / Parklane Hosiery / Play 'N Learn juvenile furniture & toys / Plum Tree Gifts / The Rafter's, Limited / Rite Aid Drug / Sanford Sheldon, Limited / Schmanke's Shoes / Spencer Gifts / Tale O' The Whale restaurant / Waldenbooks / Waldencards / Williams Village Shop ladies' wear / Zales Jewelers
LONG RIDGE PLAZA (MALL)
West Ridge Road and Mitchell Road-Long Pond Road
Monroe County (Town of Greece), New York
Greater Rochester's (GREECE) TOWNE MALL celebrated its second anniversary in May 1969. By this time, the McCurdy Company was building a freestanding department store on an adjacent 73.4-acre property. The parcel was located at the southeast corner of the West Ridge and Mitchell-Long Pond Roads intersection.
The 2-level (136,000 square foot) McCurdy's was dedicated on October 2, 1969. Ground was broken on November 14th for an adjoining -30 million dollar- shopping mall. LONG RIDGE PLAZA was designed by George Yurchison, of Rochester, and developed by a joint venture of National Shopping Centers and the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company.
LONG RIDGE PLAZA was officially dedicated, with an initial thirty stores, on September 15, 1971. The fully-enclosed mall consisted of a single level of retail and encompassed approximately 724,000 leasable square feet. There would eventually be sixty-five tenant spaces.
In addition to McCurdy's, the complex was anchored by a 2-level (141,300 square foot) J.B. Hunter department store, 2-level (41,600 square foot) Rochester-based B. Forman and 1-level (67,100 square foot) F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10. A 1-level (125,600 square foot) Sears opened its doors on February 1, 1972.
Charter inline stores included Bond Clothes, Chess King, Disc Records, Foxmoor Casuals, Jo-Ann Fabrics, Plum Tree Gifts, a Rite-Aid Pharmacy and freestanding Star Markets grocery store. Within 6 months of its dedication, the name of the center had been changed to LONG RIDGE MALL. J.B. Hunter closed in late 1974 and was replaced with Rochester's first full-line J.C. Penney. This store made its debut in September 1975.
The two adjacent retail facilities in Greece, New York competed against one another, as well as with EASTVIEW MALL (1971) {17.1 miles southeast, in Ontario County (Town of Victor)}, THE MARKETPLACE MALL (1982) {9 miles southeast, in Monroe County (Town of Henrietta)} and IRONDEQUOIT MALL (1990) {5.7 miles east, in Monroe County (Town of Irondequoit)}.
