Kings Plaza
Encyclopedia
Marine Park, Brooklyn
Marine Park is a public park located in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. Its 798 acres surround the westernmost inlet of Jamaica Bay. Most of the land for Marine Park, Brooklyn was donated to New York City to be turned into public park land by the Whitney family in 1920 and by Frederic B....
/Mill Basin
Mill Basin, Brooklyn
Mill Basin is a neighborhood in New York City in the southern portion of the borough of Brooklyn lying along Jamaica Bay and bounded to the north by Avenue U, and to the east, south, and west by the Mill Basin/Mill Island Inlet...
section of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, east of Flatbush Avenue. Owned by Vornado Realty Trust
Vornado Realty Trust
Vornado Realty Trust is a New York based real estate investment trust. It is the inheritor of real estate formerly controlled by companies including Two Guys and Alexander's.- History :...
, Kings Plaza originally hosted the now-defunct Alexander's
Alexander's
Alexander's was a department store chain in the New York metropolitan area. Catering to low- and middle-income consumers, Alexander's offered discounted designer fashions and high-quality private label goods. At its height, the company operated 16 stores. Its advertising slogan was "You'll find...
(itself owned by Vornado before being wound down), as well as Macy's
Macy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
department store chains. It began to operate a branch of Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Company
Sears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century...
in 1997, and underwent extensive renovations in 2001. Later, Kings Plaza closed the Waldenbooks
Waldenbooks
Waldenbooks , operated by the Walden Book Company, Inc., was an American shopping mall-based bookstore chain and a subsidiary of Borders Group. The chain also ran a video game and software chain under the name Waldensoftware as well as a children's edutainment chain under Walden Kids...
book store, Suncoast
Suncoast Motion Picture Company
Suncoast Motion Picture Company is an American chain of retail stores specializing in recorded videos, particularly movies but also carried television series. The stores have sold them in the VHS, Laser Disk, DVD, HD, and Blu-ray formats. The stores also carry various other items, including...
videos and Sam Goody
Sam Goody
Sam Goody was a music and entertainment retailer in the United States and United Kingdom, and was owned and operated by Trans World Entertainment which also runs FYE, Saturday Matinee, and Suncoast Motion Picture Company. It specialized in music, video, and video game sales...
music store. The Banana Republic store was closed and changed into a children's clothing store named Kidstown (which has also closed) and a Godiva
Godiva (chocolatier)
Godiva Chocolatier is a manufacturer of premium chocolates and related products. Godiva, founded in Belgium in 1926, was purchased by Turkish Yıldız Holding, owner of the Ülker Group, on Nov 20th, 2007...
chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
store was added. CVS also closed and was replaced by a furniture store. An Armani Exchange store was added to the mall.
With approximately 4,200 jobs in retail services and over 120 individual stores, Kings Plaza is the largest such shopping center within the borough of Brooklyn.
It is home to the world's first Sbarro
Sbarro
Sbarro is a bankrupt chain of pizza restaurants that specializes in traditional Italian cuisine, including its most popular menu item "pizza by the slice." Its headquarters is located in Melville, Huntington, New York.- History :...
pizza outlet.
Unlike traditional malls in the United States, shoppers visiting Kings Plaza have to pay for parking their cars on mall premises. The parking fee is currently $3 per vehicle. Kings Plaza closed its outdoor parking lot, where a Lowe's
Lowe's
Lowe's Companies, Inc. is a U.S.-based chain of retail home improvement and appliance stores. Founded in 1946 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the chain now serves more than 14 million customers a week in its 1,710 stores in the United States and 20 in Canada. Expansion into Canada began in...
home and hardware store has been built.
The mall acts as a terminal for the bus routes in the area. The B2, B9, B41, B46, and B47 terminate there, and the B3 and Q35 serve the mall as an intermediate stop.
Reputation
In its opening years, Kings Plaza was regarded as Brooklyn's mall of choice. For the 1970s and 1980s, Kings Plaza was considered to be an ideal family place with a carousel for children as well as offering many name brand stores. The mall's reputation swiftly declined in the 1990s and has been noted by many customers as the worst mall in Brooklyn. Over the years, although massive renavations has taken place to improve the mall, patrons still criticize the selection of stores offered, the "unfriendly" employees, maintenance, and the surroudning area that has been becoming more dangerous over the years. Another common complaint is the removal of the bookstore, food court, and the parking fee.