Courtesy Glens Falls Business Journal
By Paul Post
Aviation Mall is gearing up for a second half-century of business with a go-kart racing attraction for local families, summer vacationers and serious competitors alike.
Scheduled to open Nov. 1, ADK Karting Experience is the newest in a series of sports, fitness and entertainment-type tenants, as the 50-year-old mall reinvents itself in the face of 21st-century consumer demands.
“When you have a very large facility to maintain with costly utilities, insurance and the like, you have to take on opportunities that might not be traditional,” said James Griffith, mall general manager. “We’ve always looked at different uses for getting people in the shopping center because that’s how we’re measured by our tenants. They want to know, ‘What is your foot traffic?’”
“We welcome anything, whenever we can justify that it brings more traffic,” he said.
ADK Karting will occupy the 80,000-square-foot former Sears space at the east end of the mall, near the Food Court.
Aviation Mall was a major, region-wide retail shopping destination when it opened in October 1975 with JC Penney, still there, and Denby’s as anchors. Caldor and Sears joined not long afterward, but later closed in addition to The Bon-Ton, which replaced Caldor.
Target, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet are anchors now along with JC Penney, but filling smaller spaces with retail tenants has been a challenge for malls across America, including this one.
“You can’t run away from it, online buying is how people make their purchases now,” Griffith said.
