Crossgates Commons

Crossgates Commons

Inside of Walmart at Crossgates Commons, the largest Walmart in the United States
Location	Albany, New York, United States
Coordinates	42°41′49″N73°50′51″W / 42.69694°N 73.84750°W / 42.69694; -73.84750
Opening date	1994
Developer	The Pyramid Companies
Management	The Pyramid Companies
No. of stores and services	15

Crossgates Commons is a large shopping plaza in Albany, New York 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. When Europeans arrived in the early 17th century, the Pine Bush was in use as hunting grounds and firewood supply of the Mohawk nation of the Haudenosaunee to the west along the Mohawk River, and the Mahican 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 (then branded as Wal-Mart), Sam's Club, Home Depot, Media Play, Old Navy, 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 260,000 square feet (24,000 m²) over two floors. ^[1]

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 1,300,000 square feet (120,000 m²) of retail space. Although Crossgates Commons is relatively young, it has already undergone an expansion, and some locations have had high turnover rates.

Tenants

(left to right)

Upper level

• The Home Depot
• At Home
• Kitchen 216 (Outparcel)
• McDonald's (Outparcel)
• Skechers Outlet
• T.J. Maxx (downsized early 2018, part now American Freight)
• American Freight
• Panera Bread (part of expansion project)
• Party City (part of expansion project)
• Walmart—2nd Floor (department store floor)

Lower level

• Walmart—1st Floor (supermarket floor). ^[2]
• Urban Air & Trampoline Park
• PetSmart
• Albany Ninja Lab
• My Hot Tub
• Planet Fitness
• Michaels
• Mattress Xpress

Former tenants

• Media Play (original tenant on upper level, 1994-1997) Later became HomePlace
• HomePlace (1997-1998) (upper level) Moved into former Media Play in 1997; later became Bob's Stores
• MJ Designs (original tenant on lower level, 1994-1999) Now Michaels
• The Big Party (1996-2000) (upper level) Now Party City
• Mars Music (2000-2003) (lower level) later became Sears Outlet
• Kids "R" Us (1996-2004) (Moved from Northway Mall in 1996 to the upper level of Crossgates Commons) later became Giant Book Sale
• Bob's Stores (1998-2004) (upper level) Later became Sports Authority. Location now occupied by part of At Home.
• Sam's Club (original tenant, 1994-May 1, 2006) closed in favor of the nearby Latham branch, and the location is now the supermarket/pharmacy level of Walmart Supercenter
• Giant Book Sale (2006) later became Golf Galaxy
• General Carpet Outlet (1998-2006) (lower level) later became Ollie's Bargain Outlet
• Tweeter (2001-2007) Closed in a wave of underperforming stores, now part of At Home
• Old Navy (1994-2008) Original tenant on upper level, and one of the first in the entire chain, closed in favor of existing branch at Crossgates Mall. Space now part of At Home.
• Circuit City (1999-2009) Part of expansion project on upper level. Closed on March 8, 2009, when the chain shuttered all of its American stores. Replaced by Ultimate Electronics. Now the site of T.J. Maxx and American Freight.
• Jeepers! (1998-September 2010) later became Pump 'n Jump
• Ultimate Electronics (June 2010-April 2011) replaced by Fastrax Raceway, Now occupied by T.J. Maxx and American Freight
• Fastrax Raceway (2012-2014) - closed unexpectedly due to owners being evicted for nonpayment; replaced by K1 Speed, now T.J. Maxx and American Freight
• Sears Outlet (original location; 2013–2018) relocated to portion of downsized T.J. Maxx, later became third location of Mattress Xpress
• Sports Authority (2006-2016) Now part of At Home
• K1 Speed (2015-2016) Replaced by TJ Maxx
• Mattress Xpress (original location, 2015-2016) now part of At Home
• Pump 'n Jump (2015-2016) Replaced by Tuesday Morning
• Golf Galaxy (2007–2018) later became second location of Mattress Xpress
• Mattress Xpress (Second location, 2018) now Skechers Outlet
• Mattress Xpress (third location, 2018-2023) now Urban Air & Trampoline Park
• Noodles & Company (2017-2018) Replaced by Zaitoon Kitchen
• Sears Outlet (second location; 2018–2020) now American Freight
• Tuesday Morning (2016–2020) now My Hot Tub
• Ollie's Bargain Outlet (2013–2021) now fourth location of Mattress Xpress
• Zaitoon Kitchen (2019–2021) now Kitchen 216

Square footage

• The Home Depot (103,000 sq ft (9,600 m²))
• Michael's (35,000 sq ft (3,300 m²))
• At Home (90,000 sq ft (8,400 m²))
• Walmart (260,000 sq ft (24,000 m²))
• T.J. Maxx (34,000 sq ft (3,200 m²))

References

1. DeMasi, Michael (March 17, 2008). "Biggest U.S. Wal-Mart Supercenter opening in May-in Albany, N.Y." The Business Review .
2. TU Story ^{[ permanent dead link ]}

External links

• Crossgates Commons (Pyramid Company web site)
• Times Union article about Crossgates Commons' expansion
• Crossgates Mall