100 West 33rd Street

History

The structure was originally built as the flagship of the Gimbels department store chain. It was designed by famed architect Daniel Burnham and opened on September 29, 1910. The store was located in the cluster of large department stores that surrounded Herald Square, in Midtown Manhattan. It offered 27 acre of selling space. A major selling point was its many doors leading to the Herald Square New York City Subway station. On the other hand, by the time Gimbels closed in 1986, the store had the highest rate of "shrinkage", or shoplifting losses, in the world. Doors also opened to a pedestrian passage under 33rd Street, connecting Penn Station to the 34th Street (New York City Subway) and 33rd Street (PATH) stations. This Gimbels Passageway was closed in the 1990s for security reasons during a period of high crime.

Gimbels closed in 1986. After a renovation, the structure reopened in 1989 as A&S Plaza, anchored by an A&S department store. The mall was originally 13 stories high, but difficult access to upper floors made the whole mall a financial failure.

A&S became Stern's in 1995 and the structure was renamed Manhattan Mall. In September 2000, Federated Department Stores announced that it would close the Stern's location in Manhattan. The store closed in January 2001 shortly before Federated decided to discontinue the Stern's chain as a whole. The anchor store was divided into smaller spaces, including a Steve & Barry's and a relocated food court. The upper ten levels were converted to office space shortly after the closure of Stern's.

Venture bought the building in 1999 for $135 million and sold it to Vornado Realty Trust in 2006 for $689 million.

On April 18, 2007, JCPenney announced that it would open a 150000 sqft anchor store on the lower levels of the mall. It was the first JCPenney store in Manhattan. The mall's food court, which contained the only Arby's restaurant in Manhattan at the time, along with retailers such as Steve & Barry's, Brookstone and Nine West were closed in 2008 to make way for the new store. The store officially opened on July 31, 2009. On July 7, 2020, JCPenney closed permanently as part of a plan to close 151 stores nationwide. As of November 2021, clothing store Aeropostale moved into the former Express in the front of the mall having an external entrance, leaving LensCrafters as the last store in the mall. The mall has closed to foot traffic and LensCrafters is only accessible by appointment.

List of notable tenants

Gallery

File:19100923 Gimbels - The Realization of an Ideal - The New York Times.jpg|Advertisement celebrating the grand opening of Gimbels' flagship store, 1910 File:New York (6035571938).jpg|Aerial view of Manhattan Mall File:Manhattan Mall renovation jeh.jpg|Under renovation File:Manhattan Mall upper floors jeh.jpg|Former shops, now offices File:Manhattan_Mall_(48128098987).jpg|Exterior of the former JCPenney

References

References

1. Shulkin M.D, Mark Weiss. (May 19, 2011). "100 Years In America: A History of a Jewish Family a Century After Immigration". iUniverse.
2. Hochswender, Woody. (September 5, 1989). "A.&S. Makes a Big Bet In Manhattan Retailing".
3. (1995-04-21). "A&S Plaza changed its name to Manhattan Mall on April 30.(in New York, New York)(Brief Article)". [[Daily News-Record]].
4. (September 20, 2000). "LIGHTS OUT FOR STERN'S". [[New York Daily News]].
5. (September 20, 2000). "LIGHTS OUT FOR STERN'S". [[New York Daily News]].
6. (February 9, 2001). "STERN'S Retailer is history". [[The Star-Ledger]].
7. Weiss, Lois. (November 29, 2006). "Herald Square Dance: Frenzy of Commercial Deals in Retail Mecca". New York Post.
8. Kavilanz, Parija B.. (April 18, 2007). "JCPenney to open first Manhattan store: Department store chain announces it will open its first Big Apple location in the Manhattan Mall; ups first-quarter profit guidance". [[CNN]].
9. Brooks, Zach. (March 3, 2008). "R.I.P. Manhattan Mall Food Court (and the only Arby's In Manhattan)".
10. Stone, Madeline. (July 7, 2020). "JCPenney is closing 2 more stores for good". [[Business Insider]].