Shopping Downtown Buffalo, July 1962
Although many Buffalonians have fond memories of a bustling shopping district
downtown in the 1950's, in truth the city
lost 47,373 residents from 1950-1960 and retailers were feeling the economic
fallout. In 1962, when these photos were taken,
the Cuban missile crisis unfolded, John Glenn orbited the earth, 90% of Americans
owned at least one TV, and the
Boulevard Mall opened.
This intersection, photographed from the corner of Main and West Eagle Streets,
would be
eliminated within 5 years when the Main Place Mall was constructed . The A.M.
& A's store at right was moved across
Main Street into the location you see here in 1961, a building formerly occupied
by the J.N.Adam department store (closed 1960).
Between 1960 and 1966, the city lost another 51,000 residents to the suburbs.
In an attempt to stem the loss of downtown
shoppers, the American Block containing the old A.M. & A's building and
nearly all buildings on the west side of Main from Court
Street to Church Street were demolished for the construction of the Main Place
Mall (opening 1968). As more suburban malls
were constructed (Seneca, 1969; Eastern Hills, 1971; McKinley, 1985; Walden
Galleria, 1989), downtown stores closed at an
accelerating pace: W.T. Grant's in the mid-1970's (company bankruptcy), Hengerer's/Sibley's
in the mid-1980's, Kleinhan's in
1990, L.L. Berger in 1991, A.M.&A's/Bon-Ton 1995, Woolworth's in 1998. The
downtown center ceased to be a shopping destination.
Photos by Frank Mayer.
For more information about the A.M. & A's building pictured, look here.