Fingerlakes Mall

Bass Pro Shops, the last thing going at Fingerlakes Mall

 Fingerlakes Mall on NY 5 & US 20 in Auburn is a classic textbook example of a small town dead mall. The easternmost city of a wine-growing region which the city itself is best known for a prison, Harriet Tubman and John Walsh. The mall opened in 1980 and once had JCPenney, kmart, Sears, Radio Shack (one of the very last was across town, but that's for another day), CVS/pharmacy, Rex, Friendlys, Great Outdoors RV, FYE, TCBY and Chappells. Bass Pro Shops came in 2003 and was thought to be the catch of the day, but it is the one holdout as one of the few in Upstate NY; the one other in CNY being in Utica around the former Montgomery Ward in Riverside Mall in Deerfield off NY 8 & 12 in proximity to the Mohawk Valley, Adirondacks and Catskills. I used to go to the Auburn one now and again, but not in a few years since they had less of what I needed and is less convenient for me today.

In recent years, local events are held at the mall, but being the de facto event center for Cayuga County is not enough. It could be a real mall again. It could have Target, Ross Dress for Less, Barnes & Noble and Hobby Lobby. FYE could come back, and there could be a combination of local and national smaller stores in the hallway. Not everyone can go all the way to Syracuse or Rochester. The potential is right there in front of them, even with inflation and online shopping looming over all of us. Auburn isn't as tight a squeeze as other smaller communities. The sister plaza across the street could also have spots left. Auburn is not just another Rust Belt former factory town. Fingerlakes Mall is ready for a renaissance like their competitors in the next county.