Summary:
Southside Oneonta was once large swathes of farm land, vastly different to the lit-up commercial promenade it is today. The development of Southside is not mainly due to the construction of the highway (Interstate 88), but the argument could be made that the ease of transport (easier than the railroad even) between Binghamton and Albany would benefit shoppers going to these places, or indeed bringing shoppers to Oneonta.
Eventually, a few businesses including a few car dealerships and small stores would build outside of Oneonta's city limits. The plan to create Southside Mall was formed from JCPenney and KMart's desire to build in Southside, thus the mall was placed in between them, and it opened in the summer of 1983. The mall continued to expand and add stores throughout the 1980s, and more stores continued lining the sides of Route 23.
Eventually, supermarkets were being constructed, seeing the addition of Hannaford, Aldi, BJ's and the most well known of them all, Walmart. National fast-food restaurants like McDonald's and Wendy's were also setting up in Southside. Many of these stores/factors combined were enough to hamper the other businesses across Oneonta, notably downtown stores like Bresee's or Woolworth's, which eventually led to their closures in the mid-late 1990s. Even KMart was out of business by 2003.
In the years since, Southside has continued to grow to become the homes of the majority of Oneonta's chain businesses and restaurants/franchises; this in turn means downtown Oneonta has more of the local establishments, with fewer chain stores present. As recently as February 2024, the mall added the craft supply chain-retailer Michaels as part of the mall, with other chain retailers such as TJMaxx, Dick's Sporting Goods, and the original JCPenney (to name a few) making up some of the larger stores of the mall.
As evidence, answer the following question:
How might Southside Mall compare to other current standing malls, for example, Crossgates Mall near Albany, NY?
As evidence of practice:
Visit the mall! Visit any store
in Southside! You may already have to for some kind of grocery shopping,
or maybe you're picking something up fun in any of the stores. Take a
photo of yourself in one of the businesses in Southside, maybe
explain what you did or what you bought while you were there!
1. ERIC - Economy