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Shopping
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| Photo:
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Clifton
Park Center Route
146, Clifton Park, 383-0059. www.shop-cliftonparkcenter.com.
The reinvented Clifton Country Mall is now part indoor mall,
part open-air plaza. Anchored by Marshalls Homegoods, Boscov’s,
and JCPenney.
Colonie
Center Central Avenue and Wolf Road, Colonie, 459-9020.
www.shopcoloniecenter.com. Continued renovations are redefining
the smaller of Albany’s major malls as an upscale shopping
center. Boasting the largest Macy’s this side of New York
City, the only Christmas Tree Shop upstate, Boscov’s, Sears,
the Gap and other typical retail chains. This fall, the mall
welcomes L.L Bean, Sephora, Barnes & Noble, and a new
Regal Cinemas Multiplex.
Crossgates
Commons Washington Avenue Extension, Albany. Nirvana for
the big-box-shopping crazed. Among the mainstays are Home
Depot, Circuit City, PetSmart, Michael’s, Old Navy, and Wal-Mart.
Crossgates
Mall 120 Washington Ave. Extension, Guilderland, 869-9565.
www.shopcrossgates.com. It’s big, big, big—the biggest mall
in the region, in fact. Now features more stores than we want
to count (around 230), restaurants and services, plus an 18-screen
Regal movie complex. Macy’s, JC Penney and Burlington Coat
Factory are among the department stores anchoring the behemoth.
You’ll also find Borders, Pottery Barn, H&M, FYE, and
Best Buy.
Delaware
Avenue Delmar. A suburban stretch offering strip-mall
fare at Delaware Plaza, including a Fashion Bug, Payless Shoes,
FYE and Friar Tuck Book Shop. At the Four Corners (where Kenwood
Avenue intersects Delaware), a collection of boutiques offers
children’s clothes, books, gifts, jewelry, gourmet foods and
more.
Downtown
Troy With new shops opening around every turn, downtown
Troy has truly begun to realize its potential. Some of our
favorites: Hummingbird Designs (handcrafted jewelry), Counties
of Ireland (authentic Irish gifts and clothing), and Aurora’s
Willow Creek (Specializing in Victorian and Czechoslovakian
jewelry). Don’t forget to explore River Street, which has
redefined itself as Troy’s Antique District. There you’ll
find the likes of Bournebrook Antique Center, its 12,000 square
feet filled with eclectic treasures by 38 dealers; Living
Room, where classic antiques meet contemporary design; and
Wachina Trading Co., where you can find everything from sculls
and statuary to parking meters and pachinko machines.
Downtown
Saratoga Springs Saratoga may not have old-time prices,
but it still has that old-time downtown feeling, with one
of the area’s classiest collections of boutiques and shops.
Don’t miss the off-price Saratoga Shoe Depot and the hot footwear
selection at Saratoga Soles. Check out Elevate Cycles for
bikes, snowboards and related accessories, and Soavé Faire
Fine Arts for discount art supplies. There are even a couple
of stores downtown that will satisfy your cravings for the
true shopping-mall experience: Borders Books and Music, the
Gap, Banana Republic, Starbucks and Eddie Bauer have all graced
Broadway with their chain-store presences. And where else
in the Capital Region can you buy a Vespa?
Jay
Street Schenectady. A little retail paradise in the middle
of the Electric City: A handful of gift shops flank a common
area that has been closed to traffic. The Open Door Bookstore
holds court at one end, and don’t forget to hop across the
street to check out Proctor’s Arcade, where there are a few
sweet gift shops and a sheet-music store.
Lark
Street/Lower Central Avenue Albany. An oasis of specialty
shops, restaurants and bars. There’s something for everyone
at the secondhand, antique, record, book and gift shops that
line these several blocks. Don’t miss Romeo’s Gifts, Cheeky
Tiki Monkey, Elissa Halloran Designs, and the Lark Street
Flower Market. Also, pop into Flamingo’s, a store packed to
the gills with retro kitsch treasures. Among the storefronts
on Central Avenue are Earthworld, for all your comic needs,
and a Central Avenue fixture: The Honest Weight Food Co-op,
a must for the organic food connoisseur.
Latham
Circle Mall Routes 9 and 7, Latham, 785-8363. Features
standard mall fare, plus a multiscreen cineplex. The mall’s
anchor stores are JCPenney and Burlington Coat Factory.
Manchester
Center, Vt. Routes 7A and 11/30, Manchester, Vt. www.manchesterdesigneroutlets.com.
A veritable outlet town nestled amid the Green Mountains.
Plenty of upscale, outlet-priced retail therapy at every turn.
And the added bonus: clothing is tax-free.
Mohawk
Commons State Street and Balltown Road, Niskayuna. Built
over the former site of Mohawk Mall, this big-box supercenter
hosts a number of stores, including Target, Barnes & Noble,
Lowe’s and Marshalls.
Northway
Mall Central Avenue and Wolf Road, Colonie. Mega strip-mall
featuring Target, Marshalls, Linens-N-Things, an Eddie Bauer
outlet and Jo-Ann Fabrics & Crafts, among others.
Prime
Outlets at Lee Route 20 East, Lee, Mass., (413) 243-8186.
www.primeoutlets.com. Outlet shopping just across the state
line, without the hefty New York State sales tax. Among the
stores, you’ll find J. Crew, the Gap, Bass, and Jones New
York.
Rotterdam
Square 93 West Campbell Road (I-890 Exit 2), Rotterdam,
374-3713. www.rotterdam mall.com. Featuring most of the usual
retail chains, anchored by Sears, T.J.Maxx, Macy’s and Kmart.
The mall also boasts a six-screen Loews cineplex.
Route
9, Latham With Hoffman’s Playland and miles of high-end
strip-malls, this area offers just about everything you could
want from suburbia. On the northern end of this stretch is
Latham Farms—a mega plaza with a big ’ol Wal-Mart, PetSmart,
Sam’s Club, Staples, CompUSA and more. Across Route 9, Price
Chopper Plaza offers A.C. Moore Arts and Crafts, Bon Ton,
and Marshalls. At Latham Retail Center, just west of Latham
Circle, you’ll find Target, Babies R’ Us, and Sports Authority.
Stuyvesant
Plaza Western Avenue and Fuller Road, Guilderland, 482-8986.
www.stuyvesantplaza.com. An upscale strip mall featuring some
distinctive (and pricier) clothing stores, including Circles,
Ann Taylor and Casual Set. The plaza is also home to the Book
House, the area’s largest locally owned bookstore; Hippo’s,
a haven for home-electronics connoisseurs; Stuyvesant Photo,
expert retailers of new and used photography equipment; 10,000
Villages, a not-for-profit store filled with exotic, affordable,
fair-trade furnishings and gifts; and much more.
Sutton’s
Marketplace Route 9, Queensbury, 798-1188. www.suttons
marketplace.com. An eclectic spot where you’ll find everything
from sophisticated women’s designer clothes, baked goods,
and gifts, to a furniture emporium and a “toy cottage.”
Upper
Union Street Schenectady. The other area of significant
retail concentration in the Electric City. Clothing, jewelry,
gifts, cards and fast food are all available.
Wilton
Mall Route 50, Saratoga Springs, 583-2138. www.wiltonmall.com.
Old Navy, Dick’s Clothing and Sporting Goods, Abercrombie
& Fitch, H&M and Aeropostale are among the features
of this complex, which also boasts old faithfuls JCPenney
and Se ars. And when you’re done shopping, you can catch a
flick at the eight-screen movie theater.
Wolf
Road Colonie. A gauntlet for the shopping crazed. If you
can get past Colonie Center, watch out . . . what lies in
store (pun intended) is a shopaholic’s paradise. To name a
few: Barnes & Noble; Bed, Bath & Beyond; Pier I Imports
and Borders Books & Music.
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