Eastern Hills Mall (fictional)

Eastern Hills Mall is a shopping mall located 11 miles northeast of Buffalo, New York on the western border of the Town of Clarence in Erie County, New York, United States. It lies on Transit Road (New York State Route 78). The mall is north of the junction of NY-78 with NY-5, and Main Street. The name "Eastern Hills" refers to the very low hills that contribute to a slightly higher elevation than the bordering areas along the Onondaga Escarpment. Eastern Hills Mall is part of a long commercial strip on Transit Road. It consists of two long wings running north and south and one short wing running east and west, which connects the north-south wings in a "double L-shaped" formation. A major department store is at the end of each wing. A food court is located adjacent to the end of the long south wing. A three-screen movie theater showing second run films is also located in the mall. The ratio of the mall is so large, it provides the highest parking ratio of any Buffalo area mall.

History
The Eastern Hills Mall was developed by the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation. The mall was originally to be named "Buffalo Mall", but the name was changed to Eastern Hills Mall at the request of the town of Clarence. Construction began in 1969. Fourteen stores opened by November 8, 1971, and the mall was completed by 1972. The original anchors were AM&A's, JCPenney, Sears, Jenss, Woolworth and Hengerer's. Hengerer's became Sibley's in 1981. The mall underwent an extensive overhaul in 1987 that added a food court. The only other expansion the mall sought was a Lechmere store next to JCPenney, but never opened. Originally the largest mall in the Buffalo, NY area, the mall lost that title to the Walden Galleria in 1989. Sibley's became Kaufmann's in 1990. AM&A's became The Bon-Ton in 1994. By the 1990s the mall was in a state of decline losing many national tenants. In 1997 after ceasing operations, Woolworth closed their store and later that year Jenss closed. In 1998, Burlington Coat Factory moved into the former Jenns location and remained open until 2005. Another renovation to the small east-west center concourse and food court took place in 2005, largely cosmetic in nature. New floor tile was installed in both the center concourse and food court, and imitation fireplaces, small flat screen televisions, and new seating were installed. The longer north-south concourses remained untouched during this second renovation, causing a break in a pink zig-zag floor tile line pattern, which prior to the 2005 renovation could be followed through the entire mall from end-to-end, but now remains only in the north-south concourses, broken by the new tile in the center concourse. In 2006, Federated Department Stores acquired May Company and converted all local Kaufmann's stores to Macy's. By this time, the mall was seeing a minor revival in foot traffic and featured many younger national chains.

Anchor stores

 * Macy's
 * JCPenny

Other stores

 * Abercrombie & Fitch Outlet
 * Aeropostale
 * American Eagle Outfitters
 * Claire's
 * Express
 * Gap
 * Hot Topic
 * Spencer's

Food court

 * Auntie Anne's
 * Burger King
 * China Panda
 * LaRosa Pizza
 * Subway

Restaurants

 * Circus Playhouse &amp; Food Emporium