Boulevard Mall

The Boulevard Mall opened in 1962, and was the first enclosed shopping center in the Buffalo area. Since its opening, periphery retail surrounding the mall, primarily on Maple Road, Niagara Falls Boulevard, and Sheridan Drive has exploded. Anchored by a large, two-level 220,000 square foot, Buffalo-based Sattler's and a two-level 80,000 square foot, Lockport-based Jenss, the mall opened with approximately 30 stores and became an immediate attraction to costumers. In 1970, JCPenney opened a three-level 180,000 square foot store across from Jenss, and in 1978 the mall was extended on the south end adding approximately 30 more stores. In 1981, Sattlers was bought out by Sibley's of Rochester, who were, in turn, bought out by Pittsburgh based Kaufmann's in 1990. In 1994, the mall underwent a major overhaul as three restaurants, Bonefish Grill, TGI Fridays, and Honey's opened along with the construction of a 9 bay food court on the mall's east side which featured a carousel, a 1990s mall staple. During this makeover, the mall lured many uspcale stores such as The Disney Store and Abercrombie and Fitch. Following the opening of the Walden Galleria, seven miles to the south in Cheektowaga in 1989, Boulevard Mall underwent the overhaul to firmly establish itself as the number two mall in Western New York.

In 1997, the mall again underwent a redesign, this time cosmetically, which saw the implementation of modern skylights, marble floors, columns, and other features aimed at modernizing the complex. In 1998, after over 100 years in business, Jenss filed for bankruptcy and closed their store in the fall. The store was quickly converted into a Kaufmann's Men's Store, but the second level was abandoned. In 2000, the mall was expanded once again, this time adding a new hallway connecting to a two-level, 122,000 square foot Sears on the south end of the mall along with the opening of CompUSA and Buy Buy Baby (these stores were part of the mall complex, but only accessible outside.) Sears held its grand opening in the fall of 2000, marking the opening of WNY's fifth location. The mall continued to serve as the number 2 option in Western New York throughout the 2000s and into the 2010s.

In 2006, May Department Stores, owner of Kaufmann's, was purchased by Macy's Inc and all stores became Macy's locations, including the department store and the men's store at the mall. In 2009, both Kay Bee Toys and The Disney Store left the mall. In 2013, after Abercrombie and Fitch closed, it was announced shortly afterward that H&M would take its place with an exterior entrance being constructed. In 2014, due to dwindling patronage, the food court was demolished and in its place, a brand new Dick's Sporting Goods was constructed. The store is 58,000 square feet and opened in October of 2015. As some food retailers remained when the food court was abandoned, they were dispersed throughout the mall, such as Subway and Taste of China sharing the former Honey's location.

2015 saw the beginning of what was to become a mass exodus of national chains. This began when Gap, after over 40 years in the mall closed its doors, followed by nearby tenants Aeropostale and Hollister and Pacific Sunwear and Radioshack further down the mall. This exodus was exacerbated when Sears announced on December 28, 2016, they would be closing their anchor and following its closure in early 2017, stores such as Regis Corporation, Foot Locker, 5-7-9, Crazy 8, Littman Jewelers, The Limited, Yankee Candle, Mastercut's, Francesca's, Brookstone, and Mrs. Fields and Teavana had departed as well. In October of 2017, showing further signs of the mall's struggle, Macy's unannounced, closed their Men's store, moving the men's department into the upper level of the main store. By 2019, other stores such as aerie, Gymboree, New York and Company, Payless ShoeSource, Banana Republic, Charlotte Russe, GNC, Justice, Laux Sporting Goods, Gamestop, and The Children's Place had closed as well. Combined with the ongoing retail apocalypse that has hurt malls tremendously, the COVID-19 pandemic has done significant damage to the mall. After being forced to close immediately like every other mall in New York, at the onset of the pandemic, stores that were on shaky ground before the pandemic simply could no longer afford to keep the business open once malls were finally allowed to reopen. With the mall already, quickly losing steam, stores such as Victoria's Secret and Pink, the BFLO store, (which had overtaken the Gap's space in 2018) and eateries such as Subway and Bonefish Grill all shuttered. In February of 2021 alone, Express and Express Men, Christopher & Banks, Kids Foot Locker, and Shoe Dept. all shuttered. As of March 2021, the mall stands at about 70% occupancy with two major anchor vacancies and a plethora of inline vacancies. The mall's future is murky at best given the current retail climate, and muddled plans that want to turn the mall into a lifestyle center.

In April of 2021, in a slight reversal of the mall's growing misfortune, it was announced that Gabe's, a discount store, would be occupying the first floor of the former Sears store, with plans to open later that summer.

In 2018, the town of Amherst was seeking a $10 million grant to retro-fit the mall property into a mixed-use site or community, in anticipation of a future extension of the Buffalo Metro Rail to reach the University at Buffalo North Campus via Niagara Falls Boulevard and Maple Road.[7][8]

In 2019, it was reported the Washington, D.C. based Douglas Jemal closed on the purchase of the 63-acre site of the mall, and the adjacent Wegmans property for $30 million. Current plans call for a 10-year project to transform it into a new town-center destination dubbed, Boulevard Place, with retail, office and residential elements, and new streets through the site. [9]

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