Tanglewood Mall, Roanoke, Virginia. West interior court, circa 1990. (Virginia Film Office )

Previously on LiveMalls
Tanglewood Mall, Roanoke, Virginia

Sears, Friendly Center, Greensboro, North Carolina. Main store building, circa 1990. (Sears Roebuck & Co.)

Previously on LiveMalls
Sears, Friendly Center

JCPenney, Four Seasons Town Centre, Greensboro, North Carolina. Level One mall entrance, circa 1990. (J.C. Penney Co.)

JCPenney, Four Seasons Town Centre, Greensboro, North Carolina. Escalator well. Photographed with camera phone 8/26/05.

Previously on LiveMalls
JCPenney, Four Seasons Town Centre

Manhattan Mall

Manhattan Mall (former Gimbel's), New York, New York. Photographed 12/9/06. (Nicholas DiMaio)

Note from Steve: Thanks to the generous contribution of Nicholas DiMaio of The Caldor Rainbow, I am able to present even more photos of the Manhattan Mall. Nick's photos were taken just before Christmas 2006, and show a lot of the details that I was not able to caputre in my pictures, including possibly the most neon-coverd McDonald's I've ever seen. LiveMalls thanks Nick extensively for his offering.

Manhattan Mall is located in Herald Square at the corner of 33rd Street and Sixth Avenue in New York. The building originally opened in 1910 as the flagship store for the iconic Gimbels department store chain, and was open until 1986 under that nameplate.

When Gimbels closed, the massive store was modernized and reconfigured as a vertical mall originally called A&S Plaza, which opened in 1989 with an 8-story Abraham & Strauss department store as its pimary anchor.

A&S's parent company, Federated Deaprtment Stores, merged with R.H. Macy Co. in 1994, and eventually combined the A&S and Macy's nameplates into a single Macy's brand. Since Macy's already had a store two blocks away, Federated transfered the former A&S to its Stern's division.

With Stern's as an anchor, the mall changed its name to Manhattan Mall and witnessed a gradual but distinct drop in popularity, hurt at least partly by the sudden proliferation of national chain stores taking up residence in nearby storefronts closer to Macy's, which culminated in near failure when the Stern's nameplate was discontinued in 2001.

The mall was drastically reconfigured, eliminating nearly half of its original shopping levels, and replacing Stern's with a relocated food court and smaller anchors like Steve & Barry's University Sportswear and Charlotte Russe. The changes increased occupancy, but compared to its original opening, Manhattan Mall is not the gem it once was.

In an effort to stem the tide of losses and increase poplarity, the Manhattan Mall will soon be reconfigured again. On April 18, 2007, JCPenney announced that it would open a 150,000 square foot store at the mall, its first in Manhattan, in 2008 or 2009. The new store will take up much of the existing mall space, but will add a popular anchor that may help the mall viable in the future.

Manhattan Mall (former Gimbel's), New York, New York. Exterior entrance at 6th Avenue and 33st Street. Photographed 4/28/07.

Manhattan Mall (former Gimbel's), New York, New York. Interior atrium. Photographed 4/28/07.

Manhattan Mall (former Gimbel's), New York, New York. Interior atrium. Photographed 12/9/06. (Nicholas DiMaio)

Manhattan Mall (former Gimbel's), New York, New York. Interior atrium. Photographed 12/9/06. (Nicholas DiMaio)

Manhattan Mall (former Gimbel's), New York, New York. Interior atrium. Photographed 12/9/06. (Nicholas DiMaio)

Manhattan Mall (former Gimbel's), New York, New York. Exterior of McDonald's. Photographed 12/9/06. (Nicholas DiMaio)

Manhattan Mall (former Gimbel's), New York, New York. Interior of McDonald's. Photographed 12/9/06. (Nicholas DiMaio)

Trump Tower, Fifth Avenue, New York, New York. Waterfall fountian in atrium. Photographed 4/28/07.

Trump Tower, Fifth Avenue, New York, New York. Closeup of waterfall fountian in atrium. Photographed 4/28/07.

Saks Fifth Avenue, 611 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York. Photographed 4/28/07.

Saks Fifth Avenue, 611 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York. Photographed 4/28/07.

Saks Fifth Avenue, 611 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York. Photographed 4/28/07.

Previously on LiveMalls
Merry Christmas from LiveMalls

Macy's, Herald Square, New York, New York. Chandelier on main floor. Photographed 4/28/07.

Macy's, Herald Square, New York, New York. Exterior lighting along 34th Street. Photographed 4/28/07.

Previously on LiveMalls
Macy's, Herald Square

Fortunoff, Fifth Avenue, New York, New York. Photographed 4/28/07.

Bloomingdale's, 59th Street and Lexington Avenue, New York, New York. Entrance for the subway to Metro Level. Photographed 7/12/08.

Bloomingdale's, 59th Street and Lexington Avenue, New York, New York. Interior display on main floor. Photographed 4/28/07.

Bloomingdale's, 59th Street and Lexington Avenue, New York, New York. Escalator well between Children's and Domestics departments. Photographed 4/28/07.

Former Northridge Mall (now Granville Complex), Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Parking lot view showing Sears and Boston Store anchors, circa 2003. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Sears, Oak Hollow Mall, High Point, North Carolina. Escalator well. Photographed with camera phone 8/04/05.

Sears, Oak Hollow Mall, High Point, North Carolina. Misses Sportswear department. Photographed with camera phone 8/04/05.

Sears, Oak Hollow Mall, High Point, North Carolina. Domestics department. Photographed with camera phone 8/04/05.

Previously on LiveMalls
Sears, Oak Hollow Mall

Bamberger's (now Macy's), Monmouth Mall, Eatontown, New Jersey. Vintage advertisement, circa 1981. (scanned by Pat Richardson)

JCPenney, Monmouth Mall, Eatontown, New Jersey. Vintage advertisement, circa 1981. (scanned by Pat Richardson)

JCPenney, Monmouth Mall, Eatontown, New Jersey. Vintage advertisement, circa 1981. (scanned by Pat Richardson)

Previously on LiveMalls
JCPenney, Monmouth Mall

Monmouth Mall, Eatontown, New Jersey. Vintage advertisement, circa 1981. (scanned by Pat Richardson)

Monmouth Mall, Eatontown, New Jersey. Vintage Easter advertisement, circa 1981. (scanned by Pat Richardson)

Monmouth Mall, Eatontown, New Jersey. Vintage Home Show advertisement, circa 1981. (scanned by Pat Richardson)

Previously on LiveMalls
Monmouth Mall, Eatontown, New Jersey

JCPenney, Oak Hollow Mall, High Point, North Carolina. Lower level entrance. Photographed with camera phone 8/19/06.

Previously on LiveMalls
JCPenney, Oak Hollow Mall

Belk (former Leggett), New River Valley Mall, Christiansburg, Virginia. Mall entrance. Photographed with camera phone 3/23/07.

JCPenney, Piedmont Mall, Danville, Virginia. Upper level entrance. Photographed with camera phone 3/23/07.

Previously on LiveMalls
JCPenney, Piedmont Mall

JCPenney, Hanes Mall, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Former Fine Jewelry department awaiting renovation. Photographed with camera phone 4/14/07.

JCPenney, Hanes Mall, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Former Men's Shoes department awaiting renovation. Photographed with camera phone 4/14/07.

Previously on LiveMalls
JCPenney, Hanes Mall

Belk, Friendly Center, Greensboro, North Carolina. Rebuilt 1997 building, photgraphed 2007. (Greensboro News & Record)

Sears, New River Valley Mall, Christiansburg, Virginia. Primary mall entrance, unaltered since 1989. Photographed with camera phone 3/23/07.

Sears, New River Valley Mall, Christiansburg, Virginia. Secondary mall entrance. Photographed with camera phone 3/23/07.

Sears, New River Valley Mall, Christiansburg, Virginia. Original exterior signage, unaltered since 1989. Photographed with camera phone 3/23/07.