CLARENCE, N.Y. — When the Eastern Hills Mall closes its inside concourse Sunday, not all business will go away. Several business owners shared their plans to stay open beyond the closing of the mall.
Uniland Development Company released a list of 19 businesses that will still have open store fronts, after January 14th.
Although the mall is set to close Sunday, every store with an exterior entrance will be permitted to continue operations in their same location.
This includes the big box stores like JCPenny as well as Raymour & Flanigan, and as Erie County Clerk Michael Kearns explains, even the DMV will stay put.
“We are staying here. We will not close,” Kearns. “You come in through the Duff’s entrance to use our facility.”
He shared that this Clarence location is one of the most popular DMVs in Erie County, with roughly 50,000 transactions, so he made sure it wasn’t going anywhere.
“We were initially evicted, like everyone else,” Kearns. “We have doubled the number of people that have used this facility.”
After Sunday, Uniland’s redevelopment plan will start partial demolition and redevelopment on the concourse before beginning construction on the outdoor town center’s stores, office space, and residences.
Other local staples like WBBZ-TV and Chrusciki Bakery will be welcoming in visitors, but only from the outside.
“We are happy that we are able to stay,” said WBBZ-TV’s promotion and production director, John DiSciullo. “We look forward to what the future is going to bring. It’s an interesting concept to bring this lifestyle center.”
“We are excited to see things start to happen, and it’ll be cool to see everything unfold,” said manager of Chrusciki Bakery Cody Klink.
DiSciullo with WBBZ feels it will just have to be a slightly different experience for guests.
“We will miss the opportunity for the public to come in and out of our studio to see our shows… but we have a rear entrance,” DiSciullo said.
The inside of the mall will continue to be open through Saturday.
