History
Prior to the construction of the mall, the land was occupied by the Staten Island Airport, which opened in 1941. The site was sold in 1955 with a shopping and amusement center envisaged, known as the Staten Island Center. In 1964 it was announced that Macy's and Abraham & Straus (A&S) would open stores across from E. J. Korvette.[2] Construction of the mall commenced in 1970 and it opened on August 9, 1973,[3] with Macy's and Sears. The A&S store was not built on the property as announced years earlier. The shopping center was developed by Feist and Feist Realty Corp. and sold to The Rouse Company in 1980. Rouse remodeled the mall by removing the small shops in the center court known as the "Honeycomb", adding escalators to the original six, and installing additional trees and several new fountains throughout the mall.
The mall was renovated and expanded in 1993 when the JCPenney wing was completed. JCPenney relocated to the mall from its longtime occupancy at the Forest Avenue Shoppers Town. The mall was originally a two-story building shaped like a letter "T", with a large outdoor plaza on the Richmond Avenue side, gross leasable area (GLA) of 1,274,000 ft2[4] and a tenant GLA of 622,000 ft2.
By the mid-2010, higher-end shops such as Michael Kors, Pandora, and Armani Exchange opened for business, and by 2011, numerous new brands (Adidas, Love Culture, etc.) were relocating or updating their looks while new tenants continued to revive the mall's image.
The mall was expanded by 242,000 ft2[5] between 2016 and 2019, which included the addition of a new retailers including Zara, Ulta Beauty, Dave & Buster's, Barnes & Noble, Lidl, and AMC Theatres. The food court was moved from its former area into the newly expanded area in the mall, renamed the "Food District".[6] On March 15, 2017, Primark opened one of its first American locations. Sears closed, but The Container Store opened on an out parcel.[7] A Krispy Kreme
By 2023, Staten Island Mall had announced several additions, among them are Newbury Comics, Miniso, Charlotte Russe, Sugar Bear, Hobby Lobby, and Rainbow.[8] In April 2024, Uniqlo, a Japanese retailer and manufacturer, announced that it would reopen in Staten Island after 10 years.[9] That October, Brookfield Properties announced that it planned to add 41000 ft2 to the mall.[10][11]
