Walt Whitman Shops

History

Walt Whitman Shopping Center

Built as New York's first indoor shopping mall, the facility cost $20 million at included 75 stores. It opened around anchors R.H. Macy & Company and Abraham & Straus in November 1962. It was the first time both companies directly competed with each other in the same location.

The Walt Whitman Shopping Center, as it was called then, was built by the Winston-Muss Corporation and featured a Japanese garden, aviary, and sculpted mobile based on the poetry of Walt Whitman. By January 1963, the facility was fully rented. In May, a single-screen movie theater opened, operated by Century.

Walt Whitman Mall

By the early 1970s, the location was being referred to as the Walt Whitman Mall. Winston-Muss sold the mall to N.K. Winston, Inc. in 1973, who sold it to Corporate Property Investors three years later.

On November 13, 1984, a fire destroyed seven stores, damaged 25 others, and collapsed part of the roof. It took seven fire companies four hours to get the blaze under control; 13 people were treated for minor injuries. Two thirds of the stores were able to reopen soon after, while the rest were sealed off for repair.

On May 16, 1991, a fire killed two people and injured 36 others. It was the fourth fire at the McCrory's location in six months. In 1993, a McCrory's worker pleaded guilty to tossing a lit cigarette into a display of silk flowers set on a block of styrofoam, causing significant damage to the store and killing two of his coworkers, aged 20 and 27. The store never reopened.

By 1995, CPI was planning a massive, $50 million expansion project that would grow the mall 30% by adding a second floor, 80 stores, food court, multiscreen cinema, and two new garages. However, the plan faced significant protest from local homeowners.

When Federated Department Stores merged A&S into Macy's in 1995, the Walt Whitman Mall became the only location in the country to have two Macy's storefronts. The original Macy's store would remain opened well into 1996 but eventually closed by 1997. Bloomingdale's was brought in 1998 to serve as a new anchor store where the first Macy's was.

In February 1998, Simon DeBartolo Group purchased CPI and took control of the mall. Simon completed a $85 million renovation in March 1999, adding 32 stores, marble floor tiles, vaulted ceilings, skylights, and a glass domed center court to expand the mall to 1,000,000 ft2. Programmable advertising displays and traffic monitoring features were also installed. Walt Whitman's poem "Leaves of Grass" was etched onto the outside of the building. Saks Fifth Avenue opened in March 1999, joining new tenants Williams Sonoma, L'Occitane, Sephora, and Brooks Brothers. By June 2000, sales had increased by 18%, putting it ahead of the national sales average. In July, Legal Seafoods opened a standalone location next to the mall. The Whitman Theater closed in 2002. In May 2003, an Apple Store opened at the mall.

Walt Whitman Shops

In February 2012, Simon received approval for another expansion project that would add 72,000 ft2 to the upper and lower levels of the mall and 30 new storefronts. Indoor renovations were completed in summer 2013 and the Walt Whitman Shops, as it was now called, was unveiled in November. The walls featuring quotes from "Leaves of Grass" were removed and replaced by a bronze statue of Walt Whitman at the Mall's new main entrance.

In August 2013, an Urban Outfitters opened. On February 22, 2014, a carbon monoxide leak at Legal Seafoods killed one person and sickened 28 others. All three restaurants in the complex (Legal Sea Foods, The Cheesecake Factory, and Panera Bread) were evacuated. The leak was blamed on a faulty water heater pipe. The restaurant permanently closed at the end of the year. On March 2, 2016, 10 people were hospitalized after Panera Bread suffered another carbon monoxide leak that originated from the construction site where Legal Seafoods used to be.

On March 19, 2020, the Walt Whitman Shops closed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and didn't reopen until July 10. On August 27, 2020, it was announced that Lord & Taylor would shutter its traditional brick-and-mortar format as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The previous Lord & Taylor outpost is in the approval stages to become reconstructed for a vibrant modern office use concept.

In 2025, a Garage store and a Mavi Jeans will open at the mall.

References

References

1. [https://www.simon.com/mall/walt-whitman-shops/about "About"], Walt Whitman Shops official website
2. "About Walt Whitman Shops". [[Simon Property Group]].
3. (September 10, 2013). "Walt Whitman's Long Island Roots".
4. Lisicky, Michael J.. (2017). "Abraham and Straus: It's Worth a Trip From Anywhere". The History Press.
5. Porterfield, Byron. (November 24, 1962). "Big Garden-Like Mall Dedicated At Huntington Shopping Center". The New York Times.
6. (November 1, 1988). "David Muss, 74, a Real-Estate Developer". The New York Times.
7. (January 3, 1963). "Whitman S.C. 100% Rented". The Observer.
8. (May 28, 1963). "Century Whitman Theatre opening". Newsday (Suffolk Edition).
9. Andelman, David A.. (January 5, 1973). "G.I. Bus Company Seeks Run To City". The New York Times.
10. (June 9, 2000). "An expensive facelift pays off".
11. (November 23, 1984). "L.I. Mall Still Assessing Fire Losses". The New York Times.
12. McQuiston, John T.. (November 14, 1984). "13 Are Injured as Stores Burn in Huntington". The New York Times.
13. Mitchell, Ellen. (November 18, 1984). "Mall Fire Dims Holiday Hopes". The New York Times.
14. (November 15, 1984). "The Region; 16 Stores Reopen After Fire at Mall". The New York Times.
15. Logeman, Henry G.. (May 17, 1991). "Two killed in spectacular Long Island mall blaze".
16. Lyall, Sarah. (May 18, 1991). "Fatal Fire Is 4th in 6 Months at Store in Long Island Mall". The New York Times.
17. Wasserman, Elizabeth. (February 3, 1993). "Guilty Plea in Deadly Mall Fire Ex-guard set blaze at McCrory's". Newsday.
18. Lyall, Sarah. (September 28, 1991). "Store Detective Held in Blaze At Suffolk Mall". The New York Times.
19. Ain, Stewart. (October 29, 1995). "With Eye on Roosevelt Field, Walt Whitman Mall Plans Expansion". The New York Times.
20. Kellerman, Vivien. (August 20, 1995). "Huntington Projects Draw Fire". The New York Times.
21. Bernstein, James. (January 22, 1996). "Bloomie's Comes to Soffolk". Newsday.
22. Benkelman, Susan. (December 28, 1995). "New Name, New Face, For Mall's 2 Macy's". Newsday.
23. Bernstein, James. (July 15, 1997). "Accord on Walt Whitman Mall". Newsday.
24. Madore, James T. (August 13, 1998). "Bloomie's Comes to Suffolk". Newsday.
25. Bagli, Charles V.. (February 20, 1998). "Simon DeBartolo Wins Fight For a Prime Group of Malls". The New York Times.
26. Ain, Stewart. (January 9, 2000). "Retailers Got What They Wanted". The New York Times.
27. Madore, James T.. (March 11, 1999). "New Saks Marks A Rebirth at Mall / Walt Whitman stays on an upscale course". Newsday.
28. Staff, LIBN. (May 26, 2000). "Seafood chain drops anchor on the Island".
29. Everitt, David. (October 12, 2003). "Old Movie Palaces: Can They Be Saved?". The New York Times.
30. Sellers, Dennis. (May 7, 2003). "Apple stores open Sat. in Bellevue, Wa., Long Island".
31. Morris, Keiko. (February 16, 2012). "Walt Whitman mall gets OK for expansion".
32. Robinson, Pam. (November 21, 2013). "Whitman Shops Celebrates Its New Look".
33. Robinson, Pam. (April 7, 2013). "Whitman Mall Renovations to Be Done by November".
34. (November 21, 2013). "Walt Whitman Shops, formally the Walt Whitman Mall, reveals renovation with live entertainment, giveaways".
35. Robinson, Pam. (November 27, 2013). "Mall Plans New 9/11 Tribute".
36. Robinson, Pam. (June 24, 2013). "Urban Outfitters to Open at Whitman Mall".
37. (February 22, 2014). "1 Dead, 28 Others Exposed to Carbon Monoxide at NY Mall". NBC News.
38. (February 23, 2014). "Water Heater Pipe Blamed In Deadly L.I. Mall Carbon Monoxide Leak".
39. Genn, Adina. (December 29, 2014). "Legal Sea Foods in Huntington Station Closes".
40. Paige, McAtee. (March 2, 2016). "Carbon Monoxide Incident at Panera in Walt Whitman Mall Sends 7 to Hospital".
41. Tanner, Jeremy. (March 2, 2016). "LI Panera Bread workers hospitalized after carbon monoxide leak".
42. (March 19, 2020). "5 Long Island malls to close today amid coronavirus outbreak".
43. DeSantis, Michael. (July 10, 2020). "2 Suffolk Malls To Reopen".
44. Parrish, Tory N.. (August 20, 2020). "Lord & Taylor to close store at Walt Whitman Shops".
45. Robinson, Pam. (March 10, 2023). "Medical Office Use Planned for Former Lord & Taylor Store at Mall".